The bright red lights shone onto the ground at pedestrian crossings around Hong Kong so that phone-absorbed zombies know the "Don't Walk" signal is active were billed as a public safety measure.
It was also, quite literally, a sign of the times, speaking volumes about Hongkongers' deep connection with their handsets.
A survey released in August 2024 by Tung Wah Group of Hospitals' Integrated Centre on Addiction Prevention and Treatment found that Hong Kong parents are struggling to control their children's use of gadgets, resulting in hostile relationships.
The centre polled 712 parents of children aged six to 18 between September and December 2023, with 28.5% saying they had overreacted to their children's use of electronic devices with verbal insults, physical threats or unreasonable punishment.
Meanwhile, a survey of 1,000 Hong Kong residents by language learning app Preply found that 63.4% were addicted to their smartphones, with 36.5% admitting to using them in the toilet.
It also yielded information about phone users' sleep patterns, with younger people more likely to use their devices in bed despite it being widely reported that using electronic devices immediately before going to bed can have a significant negative effect on sleep quality.
The Preply survey also found 35.8% of respondents had experienced anxiety about their phone battery running low, 28.7% had rushed home to use their phone, and 20% had missed public transport stops because they were distracted by their phone.
Nearly one in 10 confessed to risky behaviours such as texting or browsing while driving.
Hong Kong-based psychologist Quratulain Zaidi says it is important to be aware of the potential risks of smartphone misuse.
"We have all seen it - people on busy sidewalks or in shopping malls looking at their phones and bumping into each other because they are not paying attention … some even put themselves at risk when crossing roads," she says.
Commuters use their smartphones while waiting for transport at a bus station in Bangkok. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)
Even more concerning, she says, is the negative impact phone addiction can have on mental health.
"Research shows that excessive smartphone use is associated with conditions including depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," Zaidi says. For adolescents and young adults, the risks are greater.
"For these groups, smartphone use may cause problems with emotional regulation and cognitive function, impulsivity, and low self-esteem," she says.
It can also cause insomnia, migraine, and physical changes including changes to the volume of grey matter, which makes up the outer layer of the brain, she says.
Zaidi adds: "In recent years I have seen an increase in the number of teenagers impacted by various mental health challenges including anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, eating disorders … the list goes on."
What both surveys highlight, Zaidi says, is the urgent need for strategies to help people manage and reduce their smartphone usage.
To help diagnose phone addiction, she looks out for certain symptoms.
These include a recurring inability to resist the impulse to use your smartphone; anxiety or irritability after a period without using your smartphone; using a smartphone for longer than intended; unsuccessful attempts to quit or reduce your smartphone use and spending excessive time using a smartphone despite physical or mental problems resulting from it.
She has seen the damaging impact phone addiction can have on relationships, as well as on productivity at work and at school.
"The physical impacts of headaches and lack of sleep and motivation then leads to a lack of functioning in various facets of life - this has certainly increased," she says.
"My kids use the phone for everything else other than what it was originally designed for, which is calling people. That's so ironic."
Quratulain Zaidi's tips to help break the smartphone habit:
1. Limit the amount of time you spend on the phone.
Put it away for periods of time, such as at mealtimes. Limit your time on social media and do not look at your phone for the first 30 minutes when you wake up or before you go to bed. And go to the toilet without it - if there is an emergency, people will call.
2. Find alternatives to fill in the time when you put the phone away.
Engage in activities such as reading, cooking, walking or swimming. Make plans to meet friends face to face rather than talking to them online or scrolling social media for hours.
3. Multitasking leads to multi-failing, so do only one thing at a time, such as eating, sleeping or going to the toilet.
Take a walk without listening to a podcast and look around you - be more in the moment. Research shows that our brains are not biologically made to multitask; it takes two minutes and 45 seconds for our brain to shift attention from one task to another. When you multitask, you are not doing anything to your full potential.
4. Turn off notifications.
You do not have to be available at a moment's notice to respond to the overwhelming information overload that you have created around you. In August 2024 in Australia, a new law came into effect giving employees the right to ignore emails and phone calls from employers outside work hours, unless doing so is deemed unreasonable.
5. If you show symptoms of addiction, be honest with yourself and accept that you may have an unhealthy relationship with your phone.
Identify the underlying issues and triggers that are causing you to retreat into the virtual world with the help of a trained psychologist.
