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iPhone people’s first choice for accessing online advice

18 Medi 2014

iPhone people’s first choice for accessing online advice

Basic rights at work, help with your rent and bankruptcy are some of the top issues iPhone users seek online help with, Citizens Advice has revealed today as the latest version of Apple’s smartphone hits UK shops.

New analysis from Citizens Advice finds that the iPhone is the smartphone people use most to look for help on the national charity’s advice website. Over half of all people (53 per cent) using their mobile to access Adviceguide use an iPhone- proportionally far more than the device’s UK mobile market share of just over 30 per cent.

In the last twelve months the most popular information pages on the Citizens Advice self-help website for iPhone users were:

  1. Basic rights at work
  2. Benefits and tax credits for people in work
  3. Help with your rent - Housing Benefit
  4. Off work because of sickness
  5. Bankruptcy

One in six of all people visiting Adviceguide do so via their iPhone, equivalent to almost three million users in the last year. The second most common brand of mobile used to access the site is Samsung (25 per cent), followed by Nokia (3 per cent).

The growing popularity of smartphones and tablets means people can get advice online any time of day or night, wherever they are. Citizens Advice analysis shows that people are now just as likely to get online advice via tablets or smartphones than via computers.  Just under 50 per cent of visits to Adviceguide now come from desktop or laptop machines.  

Earlier this month Citizens Advice celebrated its 75th birthday. Back in 1939 the first Citizens Advice Bureaux offered advice from town halls, libraries, private homes and even horse boxes. Today people are increasingly turning to the internet for the information they need to solve their problems. Over 17 million people looked up the Citizens Advice self-help website last year- equivalent to more than a third of the UK’s online population.  

A recent Citizens Advice survey found that half of people (46 per cent) say they are most likely to turn to internet search engines when they need advice- more than any other source of help, including their partner or mum.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Gillian Guy said:

In this digital age people want advice immediately. Every day 64,000 people log on to our Adviceguide website to get information and solve their problems, and devices such as smartphones enable them to get the help they need, when they need it.

At some point in their life everyone needs advice. Whether it’s problems at work, money matters or housing issues, people need to have the right information at their fingertips in order to make the best decisions for them. Our Adviceguide does just that, helping people to help themselves.’

While many people still turn up at their local Citizens Advice Bureau with piles of paperwork some are now choosing to get help using the technology they carry around in their pocket.

Citizens Advice is embarking on an ambitious project to revolutionise its online advice offer, including making its website accessible to everyone, no matter what technology they’re using.

Notes to editors:

  1. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
  2. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
  3. To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at adviceguide.org.uk
  4. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
  5. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.3 million clients on 5.4 million problems from October 2013 to September 2014. For full 2013/2014  service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
  6. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 21,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.