- Google's Digital Wellbeing is getting a new feature called Screen time reminders to help you cut down on doomscrolling.
- This feature will show a pill-shaped reminder at the top, along with the time users have spent using an app.
- It will also prompt people to put down their phones without restricting app usage.
It is easy to lose track of time when mindlessly doomscrolling through Instagram Reels, or furiously replying to an argument that you started on Reddit or X (formerly Twitter). To help curb this issue, the Digital Wellbeing service on your Android phone is getting a new iOS-like feature that will alert you when you’ve spent too much time on a distracting app.
According to an X post by Android expert Mishaal Rehman, the Digital Wellbeing app has started receiving a new feature called Screen time reminders. This option will let you select distracting apps on your phone and show a pill-shaped pop-up notification when you spend excessive time in an app, similar to iOS.
Enable Screen Time Reminders on Android
It will show the time you have spent using that app, prompting you to put down your phone, give your eyes a rest, and focus on other things. You can see it in action in the above screenshots. These pictures also give us a look at the setup process of this feature, where you have to manually choose the apps for which you want to be reminded.
You can find this option by navigating to your phone’s Settings -> Digital Wellbeing -> Screen time reminders. From here you need to enable Use reminders and select the apps you wish to receive notifications for.
Take Control of Your Phone Usage But with Some Help!
I’m glad Google hasn’t completely forgotten about Digital Wellbeing, as I’ve recently begun using it again to limit my social media usage. Damn, those Pedro reels are super addictive. But I’m not satisfied with the current options the Digital Wellbeing service has. My workflow is centered around my phone and apps. So I can’t use Focus Mode to entirely disable apps like Instagram.
While Bedtime mode is useful, I don’t like using it as I am afraid that I will receive an emergency call from a friend or family member and not be alerted, as has happened before. And App Limits simply feel too restrictive. So the new Screen Time reminders feature arrived just in time.
This new feature softly nudges you by displaying a pop-up if it believes you have had your fill of all the brain rot content for the day. This gives you control over your habits, which is what I like most about it.
The Screen Time Reminders feature is only available to a select group of users right now and will gradually roll out to everyone.
