But it's a stupid way of seeing things because people choose consciously to use their phones as much as they do on a daily basis - not being forced or having nothing else worth doing. Regrets usually carry a lot of bullshit.

I understand your point but its not really fair. The choice is not always conscious when there are a thousand behavioral analysts on the other side of the screen trying to make you use their apps more and more.

I would say its the lack of a conscious choice that makes us using our phones so much.

I don't quite get the behavioural analysis bits. I spend time on my phone reading the news, reddit, HN, a couple blogs, WhatsApp with friends and I also play games here and there until they bore me. The game I logged the most time in is a port of a game made by a shareware-style developer back in the ninetees.

Where was such analysis involved in driving my usage patterns?

The act of being "on your phone" isn't necessarily bad. If it's arguing philosophy with people on HN, maybe not a great way to spend time compared to, say, communicating with your family or building relationships.