Psychologist reveals the secret details hidden in your iPhone app icons
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With their overabundance of colourful, eye-catching apps, it comes as little surprise that we spend a quarter of our waking lives on our smartphone. But you may not have haven't noticed that these little icons – fetchingly arranged in grid-like stacks on our displays – are constantly competing for taps.
![[X marks the spot: Elon Musk 's X has a big X marking the spot, like a helicopter landing pad for our fingertip. Changing the app from Twitter (with a bird icon) to X (with an X icon) may have been a deliberate move to make it more clickable]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/06/16/92878907-14157965-image-a-15_1733501243876.jpg)
In fact, popular apps, from WhatsApp to X, Instagram and Spotify have been deliberately designed to draw our fingers to them, psychologists reveal. For example, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger are made to look like buttons, which research shows we love pressing buttons right from childhood.
![[Research suggests we like pushing buttons from childhood, even when we know we're not supposed to (file photo)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/06/16/92880689-14157965-image-m-21_1733503693115.jpg)
Meanwhile, Elon Musk's X, which got a new name and logo last year, has a big X marking the spot, like a helicopter landing pad for our fingertip. Meanwhile, Spotify kind of has the appearance of a fingerprint reader and YouTube has a the play icon right in the centre – both instinctively luring taps.
![[Button-pushing fuels consumerism according to one expert. Pictured, Amazon Dash which let users re-order their favourite items with the push of a button]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/06/15/92877257-14157965-image-a-3_1733498937809.jpg)
Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina, a digital wellbeing expert and director of the Consciously Digital Institute, said engaging, attractive icons make us 'more likely to tap and use the app'. 'Overall, shapes like circles, rounded edges, or shading make app icons feel like buttons, which makes people want to press them,' she told MailOnline.
Popular apps, from WhatsApp to X, Instagram and Spotify have been deliberately designed to draw our fingers to them, psychologists reveal. 'Facebook's rounded “F” in a square looks like a button, making you want to tap it, while Amazon's smiley arrow feels friendly and looks like a handle on a package, matching their delivery theme.
