Evidence synthesis
Research-backed syntheses across multiple studies — what we know, what remains uncertain, and what to do about it.
Evidence in 2026: Why do we lose track of time scrolling (25 studies)
Multiple cognitive mechanisms have been proposed to explain scrolling-related time distortion, including attentional capture, memory-segmentation failure, dopaminergic reward dynamics, and cognitive absorption. The evidence base draws on interval-timing neuroscience, behavioral studies, and platform-specific user research, but no study has directly isolated the mechanism of scrolling-induced time loss across the multi-hour sessions where the phenomenon is most pronounced. The most credible current view is that attentional diversion from temporal self-monitoring and weak event-boundary encoding work together, with the balance between these mechanisms likely varying by platform format.
Evidence in 2026: Are your phone apps secretly listening (17 studies)
Research has found no direct evidence that major consumer apps continuously record and upload ambient audio for ad targeting. However, documented gaps in detection infrastructure, opaque proprietary systems, and at least one real-world commercial claim of ambient audio capture mean the question cannot be fully closed. The most supported explanation involves sophisticated behavioural inference rather than covert listening, but that explanation itself rests partly on absence of evidence rather than full transparency.