Do You Use Your Phone While Sitting on the Toilet?

We Took a Poll, and The Average Answer Might Surprise You

For the millions of people who watched the 1990s sitcom Friends, the character Joey Tribbiani had many habits that are funny in the realm of comic TV but might seem less charming in real life. Including his odd bathroom behaviors, such as eating a sandwich and a pickle in the shower. 

Another scene that springs to mind is when the gang visits Joey’s new apartment, and Monica discovers a phone hanging on the wall next to the toilet. She asks Joey to do her a favor, and promise to never call her from that phone. 

At the time, it seemed ridiculous to have a phone installed in the bathroom next to the toilet. Who would want to have a phone conversation while doing their private business? Even worse, who would want to talk to someone while they are doing their private business? 

Without access to a crystal ball, we never could have conceived that there would come a time when people would casually chat with others while doing the deed. What’s more, it’s so common we hardly register that we might be doing something weird or inappropriate.

The Findings of Our Poll

In our recent poll, we asked: “Have you ever checked your phone while on the toilet?” Of the 1,000+ participants, 63% said yes. Perhaps that’s only because the poll was anonymous. How many of us would answer honestly if the person we were texting asked us if we were sitting on the toilet?

Do these findings surprise you? Or did you think the number of people who said yes would be higher (or lower)? 

Why We Take Our Phones Everywhere

When did it become acceptable to spend date night sitting at a table in a fine restaurant looking at your phone? When did we start allowing smartphones at the family dinner table? When did we decide it was acceptable to communicate with others while sitting on the toilet?

The answer to the latter question is perhaps, somewhere between the invention of the smartphone, and the moment someone realized the bathroom was the only place they could get 90 seconds of uninterrupted quiet. Although the ‘phone-on-the-toilet” culture didn’t officially begin on any single date, researchers can trace it to a few clear shifts.

The Timeline of the Bathroom Phone Era

The iPhone launched in 2007, and Android followed suit shortly afterwards. Suddenly, people start carrying tiny internet portals with them 24/7. Before we knew it, bathrooms became the last semi-private refuge for checking email, scrolling media, and playing Fruit Ninja.

By 2011, 35% of Americans already owned a smartphone. The next big shift came in 2010 when social media addiction took root. Notifications became constant, feeds became infinite, and people realized the bathroom was the only place where no one expected anything from them, at least for a few minutes. Before we knew it, studies showed that three in four smartphone users took their phones to the toilet with them.

By 2014, people realized that everyone was doing it, and shame evaporated. Toilet scrolling became the escape hatch, the procrastination station, and the doomscroll bunker. By 2019, multiple surveys showed over 80% of smartphone users admitted to phone-in-the-bathroom behavior.

When remote work became normalized in 2020, bathroom breaks became key ways to find personal time. Parents, workers, and stressed-out adults everywhere began treating bathroom time as the one place where children, bosses, and life couldn’t find them. Smartphones became the bathroom companions no one asked for, but everyone quietly accepted. 

Now, experts are even worried that phone-toilet behavior has led to an increase in hemorrhoids.  

A Wisephone Reflection: What Are We Really Seeking?

In a world overflowing with noise, the bathroom has become the last quiet corner, and our phones quickly filled it. But here’s the truth: We deserve moments of stillness that aren’t filled with screens. What if we vow to reclaim that moment? What if bathroom time became a pocket of peace rather than another scroll session?

Phones followed us everywhere because we never created any boundaries. But we are only cheating ourselves. Because even the smallest moments of presence matter—including the ones spent behind a locked bathroom door.