With consumers becoming increasingly dependent on their iPhones in their everyday tasks, Apple has made it a priority to make access to its devices easier for users without sacrificing their security.
During a conference at Apple's headquarters on Friday, April 15, company executives highlighted just how much iPhone owners use their devices in a day and how important it is to make each access secure.
Ben Bajarin, an analyst for the tech website Techpinions who was present at Apple's security "deep dive," said that based on the company's statistics, the average iPhone user tends to unlock his or her device 80 times in a day.
This means that iPhone owners access their smartphones an average of six to seven times an hour, or roughly once every 10 minutes, provided that they use their devices for 12 hours a day.
While the stat doesn't appear to be too excessive, given that Android users tend to unlock their smartphones an average of 110 times a day, there is also the possibility that some iPhone users unlock their devices at a much higher rate than others.
Apple revealed this data to show just how much easier it is for consumers to log in to their smartphones using the iPhone's Touch ID fingerprint system compared to using password or PIN code systems.
According to Bajarin, Apple is trying to establish industry-leading security by enhancing user experience, something that has never been done before at an industry level.
He said that before the introduction of the Touch ID system, smartphone users were required to enter long PIN numbers. Apple provided a contrast between this old security system and its own Touch ID by emphasizing how frequent iPhone users unlock their devices each day.
With Apple set to have iCloud secured, it is critical for the company to strike a balance between user experience and user security to prevent issues such as the inability to retrieve lost passwords.
Apple is focused on making security features on its devices a top priority and not just an aspect of software design. However, the company is aware that it still needs to make entering passwords an easier task for users, to convince them to use the security features on iPhones.
