[roncesvalles]

I remember when cable TV used to be "addictive". Now I can't watch even 10 minutes of it without getting bored and pulling out my phone. Also something I learned recently: checking your phone at the movies is no longer the faux pas that it used to be.

There's definitely some hedonic treadmill type thing going on with attention and stimuli.

[6031769]

Using your phone in a cinema was, is and ever will be a massive faux pas. I have no idea at all why you think it might be otherwise.

[Melonai]

Think the difference is between "using your phone", meaning calling someone and audibly talking to someone, thus disrupting the movie for others, and "checking your phone", which is just looking at it, though inaudibly, though there might be some amount of light pollution depending on the screen brightness. First one has and will continue to be taboo, second one however, in my experience, used to be viewed with distaste, but is pretty common nowadays.

[Anthony-G]

I’ve asked people sitting nearby to stop checking their phone as the glare can be very distracting. I might be immersed in the film but keep getting pulled out of the story by the distractingly bright light.

I also try to patronise cinemas that remind viewers at the start of the screening not to use their phone at all. I stopped going to the Cineworld near me because there was too much phone use (both calls and checking alerts) – and Cineworld had stopped the reminders at the start of the film for people to switch off their phone.

[ryandrake]

As someone who miraculously doesn’t feel this urge to constantly “check” his phone, I have to ask: what are you people “checking” for, exactly? It’s still there—it hasn’t gone anywhere. Is it the notifications? Why not just turn them off? I can assure you that there’s nothing on your phone that can’t wait an hour or so until the movie is done.

Out of 10,000 people “checking” their phones, probably around 1 of them is actually waiting for something urgent and important. The rest are doing it out of pure addiction.

[duskdozer]

Everything wants to hijack your attention via your phone now, whether it's apps spamming notifications or companies spamming SMS. And arguably every once in a while there is something you would like to know quickly, but any channel that comes on just gets abused by cruft.

If it's addiction, it's addiction through exploitation.

[graemep]

I think checking your phone unless you are actually expecting an important notification is a symptom of the problem we are discussing here.

[robertlagrant]

Faux pas or not, it now happens much more than it used to.

[svachalek]

The guy next to me at the last movie I went to was scrolling TikTok. Seriously what the hell, you can do that anytime and you actually paid to be in that seat.

[danhodgins]

He should go to TikTok headquarters and watch a movie on his phone next to complete the circle.

[Brian_K_White]

I have no idea at all what lost Xanadu theater you found where people don't check their phones. They weren't saying they like it or that it's actually ok. The word "apparently" tells you that this is something they have observed happening and were surprised to observe.

[danhodgins]

Solid Xanadu reference. I wonder what percentage of the current generation of young people would have any idea what this is from. I'm not a film buff, but took a film course in college, and learned all about Orson Welles and Citizen Kane.

[inigyou]

Using your phone used to mean talking. Now it means silently browsing and that's not so bad.

[CamelCaseName]

Please never check your phone while the film is playing. Major faux pas.