When taking a call on your phone, you hold it parallel to the ground?

September 25, 2023 10:22 AM

Spin-off from today's phone etiquette FPP: Why do you use your cell phone like this? Were you taught that's a good way? Because you see others doing it? To be closer to the microphone? Cancer fear? Please explain.
posted by Rash to Technology (35 answers total)

As I just commented in the FPP:

Like so much in this world, this is the fault of The Apprentice. The people on the TV show hold their phones like this so the boom microphone can pick up the audio better. The audience doesn’t know the reason, but they constantly see reality TV stars holding phones like this, so they think it is a normal or cool way to hold a phone.
posted by mbrubeck at 10:28 AM on September 25, 2023 [16 favorites]

I do it to be closer to the microphone. Also, that’s where the speaker is, so if I were to hold the phone up to my head like an old phone, it would actually aim the speaker farther away from my ear. Plus it’s just a more comfortable way to hold it.
posted by tan_coul at 10:29 AM on September 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Not saying I'm proud of this, but I use my phone on speaker a lot so that I can multitask or cross-reference things while talking. If people are having trouble hearing me (which is rarely an issue with modern phones), yes, I will move the microphone closer to my mouth.
posted by mosst at 10:31 AM on September 25, 2023

But, also, I would never do that in public - I'm talking about phone use in my house and in my house only. I'm not a monster.
posted by mosst at 10:33 AM on September 25, 2023 [16 favorites]

I tend to do something like the picture when a call isn't short. So yeah, speaker on so I don't have to damage my hearing with bad cellphone sound. As for being as close to the phone as pictured, that happens when the person I'm talking to says they can't hear me.

Also, I only really do this at home. But then I usually don't have my phone with me with I'm out in public. Only when I'm expecting a call or know I'll require it for something important. This is part of my ongoing efforts to train the world to not expect me to always be immediately contactable. Leave me a voicemail or send a text, or email me.
posted by philip-random at 10:35 AM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Speakerphone. It's just more comfortable than holding it up to my ear. Ear may touch the screen and end the call.
posted by spicytunaroll at 10:41 AM on September 25, 2023 [10 favorites]

Also, that’s where the speaker is, so if I were to hold the phone up to my head like an old phone, it would actually aim the speaker farther away from my ear.

Ah, I didn’t realize some phones were like this. My iPhone plays speakerphone audio out of both the earpiece speaker and the speaker on the bottom (microphone end) of the phone. I believe my previous Android phone did too.
posted by mbrubeck at 10:43 AM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

On many phones (maybe all? But I haven't held all phones, so I hesitate to make blanket statements) the end is where the mic is.

My dad was a speakerphone guy, and unless he held the phone right, I could not hear him. I had to teach him to hold the phone like a little platter in front of him just so we could have a conversation.
posted by Vigilant at 10:45 AM on September 25, 2023

Maybe, like my mother, they have a daughter yelling at them TALK INTO THE MIC.

I always use a headset, but when I don’t, I hold my phone like L because.
posted by betweenthebars at 10:51 AM on September 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

I prefer to hole the phone like a phone. But it has a slightly janky OS and the screen will sometimes activate and mute the call or whatever from my my face touching it.
posted by DebetEsse at 11:04 AM on September 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

Back when phone receivers were shaped to match the shape of a human head, it made perfect sense to hold them up to the human head. (You could even nestle them between your shoulder and your ear to free your hands.)

But now they are shaped to match the shape of a pocket. There's just no particular reason to press them to your face anymore.

(Why did you continue using the old method after it no longer matched the phone's physical design?)
posted by foursentences at 11:09 AM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

Why did you continue using the old method after it no longer matched the phone's physical design?

I hold one part of the phone to my mouth, so that they can hear me speak, and the other part of the phone to my ear, so that I can hear them speak.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 11:17 AM on September 25, 2023 [46 favorites]

I prefer speaker mode when I am at home, so I can slip it in my shirt pocket and do things while I talk. When I call my mother, she can’t really hear me well, so I hold it in that ridiculous fashion to keep the speaker close to my mouth.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:43 AM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

At home, on speakerphone, lying down on the couch: I rest the phone on my boobs with the mic pointing toward my face, puts it in just about the right spot but completely hands-free.
posted by phunniemee at 11:58 AM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

I do this if I’m out and wearing really fancy face makeup that I don’t want to smudge or get on my phone - the same reason sometimes me and my friends “airkiss” without actually touching, it would mess it up. Maybe it’s overkill, but it would be annoying to have a smudged face while out and about and not be able to fix it.
posted by conkystconk at 12:02 PM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

Mostly I just use Bluetooth earbuds. But if I hold it like that, it's because otherwise sometimes it overheats on long calls and also that way I have easy access to simultaneously text the person photos without the screen getting all confused. Plus I can see notifications. I guess I just don't find that it works well held to my head like a receiver.
posted by teremala at 12:03 PM on September 25, 2023

In theory, my iphone is supposed to sense when the screen is close to my face and turn it off. In practice, the screen does not shut off and I end up muting people with my cheekbone or something -- so, yeah, when I'm in private I hold my phone exactly like that and use it on speaker.

Also, if I don't speak directly into the end of the phone, my mother complains she can't hear me.
posted by anastasiav at 12:09 PM on September 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I can't hear a freaking thing when holding it up to my ear. Unless I have headphones on, I have to have it on speaker. Otherwise I just hear garbled nonsense and I have to keep asking "what??" This has been consistent with every smartphone I've ever had, Samsung, iPhone, it doesn't matter. The audio just sucks. I think this may be a case of optimizing design for 20-somethings
posted by treepour at 12:10 PM on September 25, 2023 [9 favorites]

yes, at home, on speaker, but my hand is flatter with the phone lying on top. The last time I bought a phone, I couldn't find one small/light enough to hold up to my ear comfortably. It made my fingers hurt. In public I hold it like an old phone and keep conversations short.
posted by pangolin party at 12:13 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not sure about android, but when apps like WhatsApp and Skype first came out on iPhone they could only play audio out of the bottom speakers. This meant if you held the phone "normally" you couldn't hear a thing as all the sound was directed at your feet.
posted by hermanubis at 1:11 PM on September 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

No speaker in public.
In private, usually a desk or table I'm actually sitting at--most people don't seem to have a problem hearing me. Maybe on my chest if I'm in bed.
posted by BlueHorse at 1:37 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I do it because audio has gotten louder and it hurts my ears if I have it up to them sometimes for a call.
posted by corb at 1:37 PM on September 25, 2023

So I can peek at the screen even though I am conversing, mostly when the other person is talking.
posted by procrastination at 1:46 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I know someone who uses a phone that way and I find it peculiar. I'm hearing impaired and even without my hearing aids, and poor iPhone volume, I hear pretty well.
posted by theora55 at 2:13 PM on September 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

I had a couple phones where the ear speaker seemed to degrade in functionality with time - I could talk on the handset normally when the phone was new, but after about a year or so that didn't work very well, and I had to resort to speakerphone. I think it may have been getting jammed up with pocket schmutz.
posted by kickingtheground at 3:20 PM on September 25, 2023

I do this exclusively at home when I'm using the speaker. It puts my mouth next to the mic without having to hold it to my ear for a long time (My ear gets hot and my arm/shoulder get sore on long calls if I hold it next to my ear).

(Why don't I use my airpods? Apparently they come with static, despite costing a ridiculous sum)

this is the fault of The Apprentice

I never watched The Apprentice. It's just practical.
posted by lunasol at 4:28 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

On the same track as makeup, my earring sometimes clicks against the screen if I’m holding it by my ear
posted by momus_window at 5:43 PM on September 25, 2023

Because the incoming audio for my phone calls gets routed through my hearing aids, but the outgoing audio still relies on the microphone being close to my mouth, and this way I can actually look at the phone screen if I need to do anything with it during the call (like send a photo to the person I'm speaking with). Only at home, though.

In public, I hold the phone like I would if I were using it without my hearing aids, which is to say, like a normal phone (the ear speaker is at the top of it, anyway), unless I need to interact with the phone. It just looks weird as hell if I don't.

Now, even weirder is the thing I've seen some people do, which is hold the phone horizontally with the bottom speaker pressed to their ear when on a phone call or listening to music... I guess whatever app they're using routes the sound there?
posted by sailoreagle at 5:48 PM on September 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

The face-detection never works and my ear or cheekbones always end up muting me or hanging up on accident. I can either very awkwardly hold the smartphone about 2 inches away from the side of my face, or awkwardly hold it flat in front my face. The latter option lets the people on the other end of the call hear me, so that's what I do if I end up taking a call without a headphones on me.
posted by Ahniya at 6:59 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I hold my phone like this because

a) if I hold my phone to my ear, the person on the other end can't hear me

b) if I hold my phone to my ear, my earlobe often touches the very sensitive touchscreen and accidentally hangs up the phone call.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:18 PM on September 25, 2023

I do this when I have (wired) earphones in, which I ~always do. I have to hold it somewhere, but there's no real reason to old it up to my ear if there's no relationship between that and hearing better. And since I'm stuck with a USB-C to 3.5 mm converter, holding the phone with the bottom pointing towards me is least inconvenient in terms of the cord getting tangled, plus it more or less keeps the microphone pointed at my mouth for my aging parents.

(When I don't have headphones in and have to hold it by my ear, I have an annoyingly non-zero rate of cheek-muting myself - and the phone sometimes heats up if I'm in an area with bad reception. When I'm home alone, I sometimes opt for speakerphone and just put the phone down somewhere nearish, which also solves these problems.)
posted by ASF Tod und Schwerkraft at 12:28 AM on September 26, 2023

My husband's reaction to the "pizza phone" picture - "I always thought they held that way... because they truly don't care what the other person is saying. Only what they themselves are saying matters."
posted by Dotty at 7:47 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think people are in love with their phones and this feels elegant to them
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:12 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have an old shoulder injury that makes holding my arm up to the side of my head hurt after a short time, so I usually use a headset. But my mom and I have never found ANY wired or Bluetooth device where she can hear me talk, and she's my only long conversation partner. I will pizza phone because I can brace my elbow against my stomach to take the strain off my shoulder, while keeping the mic pointed at my face. Or I sit in a recliner and balance the phone on my boobs.
posted by buildmyworld at 6:12 PM on September 26, 2023

On the streets in Chile (and I assume other places) a lot of people do this because voice messages in Whatsapp cut off when you put it up to your ear, and Whatsapp is the main way people communicate with each other here in a large part of the non-US world.
posted by signal at 5:22 PM on September 27, 2023