Multidevice mobile sessions: A first look

TL;DR

This paper investigates how users interact with multiple mobile devices simultaneously, revealing that half of device interaction time involves multidevice usage, which has been understudied in prior research.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis of multidevice mobile sessions using device-based monitoring on smartphones and tablets.

Findings

50% of device interaction time involves multidevice usage

Characterization of individual multidevice sessions

Estimation of device usage substitution

Abstract

The increasing number of users with multiple mobile devices underscores the importance of understanding how users interact, often simultaneously, with these multiple devices. However, most device based monitoring studies have focused only on a single device type. In contrast, we study the multidevice usage of a US-based panel through device based monitoring on panelist's smartphone and tablet devices. We present a broad range of results from characterizing individual multidevice sessions to estimating device usage substitution. For example, we find that for panelists, 50% of all device interaction time can be considered multidevice usage.