--- title: 'Extreme Phone Pinching' Challenge Goes Viral description: The anxiety-inducing trend involves holding your phone with just your thumb and forefinger over somewhere you wouldn't want it to fall. canonical: https://time.com/4065242/extreme-phone-pinching/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-07T21:20:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:00.038Z og:title: 'Extreme Phone Pinching' Craze Will Make You Super Anxious og:description: Keep calm and leave your phone in your pocket og:url: https://time.com/4065242/extreme-phone-pinching/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Extreme Phone Pinching' Craze Will Make You Super Anxious twitter:description: Keep calm and leave your phone in your pocket twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 'Extreme Phone Pinching' Is a New Internet Craze That Will Make You Super Anxious > Sponsored content. 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It covers the reporting, scoops and conversations shaping AI and the decisions facing leaders. #### Where can I get reported AI news rather than commentary? In the Loop is TIME's AI newsletter, built on original reporting and access to the people building and governing AI. It publishes Tuesdays and Fridays and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes TIME's In the Loop? Harry Booth, a tech reporter at TIME, writes In the Loop. #### Is In the Loop free? Yes. In the Loop is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-loop-2026q3/newsletters?i=4b01fdb8-eeb4-47a7-83d8-8c719426ce8f&cr=time-nl-loop-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Tech Time: Everything to Know About the iPhone 6S [Watch (HLS stream): Tech Time: Everything to Know About the iPhone 6S](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mGmugY5H.m3u8) (1:56)  _Published 2015-09-17. Tech Time: Everything to Know About the iPhone 6S_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 7, 2015 9:20 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 7, 2015 9:20 PM UTC Over the years, we’ve seen many Internet crazes come and go. From [planking](https://twitter.com/hashtag/planking) to [Tebowing](https://twitter.com/hashtag/tebowing) to [extreme selfies](https://twitter.com/hashtag/extremeselfies), the people on the World Wide Web have shown us that they’re capable of making pretty much anything into a fad. Now, inspired by a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=gltUuLxZLBM) released by the band Twenty One Pilots, social media users are turning “extreme phone pinching” into the latest viral challenge, according to [CBC News](http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/extreme-phone-pinching-challenge-gets-people-to-destroy-their-iphones-for-attention-1.3257914). The anxiety-inducing trend involves precariously holding your phone with just your thumb and forefinger over somewhere you really wouldn’t want it to fall. A few tamer examples of the craze include dangling your expensive smartphone over a balcony or in the gap of a sewer drain. Although some go to much more daring lengths to show how risky they’re willing to be with their precious gadgets. > [](https://twitter.com/momma3llama/status/620383243465027584) > [](https://twitter.com/AllisterLane/status/620724237410664448) So if you’d like to spend the rest of the day nervously sweating, feel free to peruse the hashtag [#extremephonepinching](https://twitter.com/hashtag/extremephonepinching) on Twitter or Instagram. ## Transcript [00:02] [ MUSIC ] Apple's new iPhones, the [00:06] iPhone 6 S and 6 S + are out Friday, September 25th. [00:10] They're mid- model upgrades so they're not huge [00:12] improvements but there are some neat features you [00:14] might be interested in. Here's what you need to know [00:16] about the new iPhones. So the first new feature that's [00:19] pretty cool is called 3D Touch and it's basically the [00:21] same thing as Force Touch on the Apple Watch. [00:24] Basically, it lets you press down a little bit harder on [00:26] your device and it opens up new features. For [00:28] instance, in the email app, Apple showed off this [00:30] feature where you can press and hold that email [00:32] subject line and you get a little a preview of the email [00:34] without opening it. And when you release, it goes back [00:37] to your inbox. Super handy for scanning emails really [00:39] Quickly. If you love shooting mobile photography, the [00:42] new iPhone might be pretty attractive to you. It's gotta [00:44] a new camera on the back. It's 12 megapixels, and if [00:46] you love shooting video it's got 4k. Meaning it's a really [00:50] high resolution video that you can shoot. Be [00:52] forewarned, if you like to shoot 4k get a bigger storage [00:55] option. Those files get big Really quickly. There's also [00:57] a new color available in the iPhone 6s. It's called Rose [01:00] Gold, but it's really pink. So, if you've ever wanted a [01:03] pink iPhone, now is your chance. Apple is also [01:05] introducing a new way to buy iPhones in the first place. [01:08] It's called the iPhone upgrade program. It costs about [01:11] $ 30 a month and you get the chance to upgrade to [01:13] every single iPhone that comes out. So you get the [01:15] iPhone 6s and then the 7 then the 7s and then the 8 [01:18] and so on. For infinity as long as Apple keeps making [01:21] iPhones. It's a pretty good deal if you want the new [01:24] model every year, but if you can hold off a little bit, it [01:27] might make more sense to buy iPhones in a more [01:30] traditional way. So if you've already got Apple's top of [01:33] the line iPhone 6, should you bother upgrading to the [01:35] 6s? I don't really think so. Sure it has a better camera [01:38] and it's got the fourth touch feature or 3D Touch, [01:39] whatever Apple wants to call it this time, but it's It's not [01:43] really compelling enough to get me to upgrade just [01:45] yet. I'll personally wait until the iPhone 7 comes out, [01:48] because it will have those features and a bunch new [01:49] things. 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