Nearly two-thirds of Americans are now smartphone owners. And for many, these devices are a key entry point to the online world according to Pew Internet and Life’s latest research on US Smartphone Use. The report offers “A Portrait of Smartphone Ownership” and an examination of “Usage and Attitudes Toward Smartphones,” along with an innovative approach to analyzing smartphone usage called “A Week  in the Life.”

Among the many insights uncovered:

• Four-in-ten smartphone owners ages 65 and older use their phone at least occasionally to keep up with breaking news, half use it to share information about local happenings, and one-third use it to stay abreast of events and activities in their community.
• 68% of smartphone owners use their phone at least occasionally to follow along with breaking news events, with 33% saying that they do this “frequently.”
• 62% of smartphone owners have used their phone in the last year to look up information about a health condition.
• 30% of smartphone owners use their phone to take a class or get educational content.
• 75% of younger smartphone owners indicated using their phone to watch videos at least once over the study period, compared with 31% of those 50 and older (a difference of 44 percentage points).
• 64% of younger adults used their phones at one time or another to listen to music or podcasts — a 43-point difference compared with the 21% of older users who did so.