Like a trusty companion, we have our smartphones close to our sides. We carry it along with us all day, rely on it for communication and information and help us pass the time during coffee breaks and bus rides—but can all that be considered an addiction?

In an online survey conducted by Google earlier this year, out of 1,000 Canadians an estimated 56% have a smartphone, a 33% increase from 2012.

There is no denying the popularity of smartphones, but some believe that we might be too reliant on the technology. About 80% of all smartphone owners admit that they won’t leave their house without it, and two-thirds of those said they use their phone every day during the past week.

“Mobile has become a core part of how people live their lives today,” Google Canada’s head of mobile advertising, Eric Morris told Globe and Mail. “The study shows people are using mobile to change all aspects of their life, whether it’s their job, travel, shopping, the way they communicate with others and specifically trying to understand the world around them.”

So the question might not be about why people are using smartphone so obsessively, but why aren’t they using it more? How long will it take before our mobile devices replace all the alternatives? Can that happen? Approximately 35% of smartphone users confessed that they have replace watching television by watching their phones.

“People watch videos on the biggest screen they have available to them,” said Morris. “Sometimes that’s your 50-inch TV at home, sometimes that’s your tablet while you’re on the couch or in bed and sometimes that’s the smartphone while you’re on the couch or travelling or even in the office. I think one of the interesting things from this survey is there is a lot of mobile consumption that’s being done in the home…on home WiFi.”

Smartphones offer everything from social media to online banking, like our keys and our wallet it has become another essential component of who we are. Whether it is a harmful addiction or just an annoying habit, that is still to be determined, but one thing is for sure, as the mobile industry expands there are bound to be more of it.

An average smartphone user will have 30 apps and use approximately 12 in the past month. About 78% use their smartphone for social media and 52% say they are logged on daily.