Key Highlights
- UScellular has launched US Mode, an in-store and online experience to help customers reset their relationship with technology and encourage human connection.
- US Mode offers customizable native focus settings on smartphones, including time limits on social media apps, disabling non-human push notifications, and enabling pre-set quiet times.
UScellular has introduced US Mode, an innovative in-store and online customer experience designed to encourage genuine and meaningful human connection. Smartphones have become an essential part of everyday life, with many Americans spending significant time staring at their screens.
According to a recent consumer survey commissioned by UScellular, almost half of smartphone users say their device enhances their lives, and nearly one-third agree they could spend less time on their phones.
The survey also found that many adults would rather endure emotional pain, embarrassment, and discomfort than be without smartphones. For example:
- 65% of smartphone users would rather go on a terrible date or sit beside a crying baby on a plane than lose their phone.
- 62% of users would rather get stuck in traffic every day of the week than lose their phone.
- 76% would rather show coworkers an embarrassing childhood photo than lose their phone.
US Mode Helps Reset Relationship With Technology
US Mode is an effort to help smartphone users nationwide reset their relationship with technology by better utilizing customizable native focus settings on their smartphones.
UScellular will assist any smartphone owner, regardless of their carrier, to enable and design their own US Mode settings, including the following:
- Time limits on social media apps
- Disabling non-human push notifications
- Eliminating red notification bubbles for apps
- Enabling pre-set quiet times
- Customizing app displays
US Mode can be set up online or at any UScellular location for free. According to Eric Jagher, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at UScellular, “As technology has advanced, it’s become apparent that we’ve entered a time where we need to reset our relationships with our smartphones.”
US Mode’s Approach To Altering Smartphone Use To Benefit Users’ Connections With Others
To illustrate the benefits of US Mode, UScellular has enlisted Dr. Marisa Cohen, a relationship scientist, and marriage and family therapist. Cohen asserts that a simple action like customizing smartphone functionality can significantly impact our relationship with technology and, in turn, with each other.
“Technology in and of itself isn’t problematic,” said Dr. Cohen, “Rather, how we use it has the potential to impact our connections. US Mode is a wonderful way to work with smartphone users by allowing them to alter their relationship with their device in a way that is tailored to their needs.”
US Mode is the latest extension of UScellular’s “Built For US” brand platform, created to lead the conversation around developing healthier relationships with our smartphones.
