Digital well-being: how to regain control of your screens?

Come on, let’s take a little break. It’s time to pull out your smartphone and see what’s new on Instagram. We set out for 5 minutes, just 5 minutes, but an hour later we found ourselves lost in the depths of the Reals on the platform and discovered the mysterious life of a legendary Japanese cat. Well, we’ll be back for productivity.

But here is Google he heard your sighs : the latest Digital Wellbeing update, Digital Wellbeing in French, now lets you control screen time for certain apps. Are you ready to find time in your days?

Google integrates screen time reminders

This new notification feature will now notify you when your app usage exceeds a certain limit. As part of the Digital Well-being solution, which already offers a number of functions to improve the use of an Android smartphone, a new option has been added to be notified when the application timeout is exceeded.

Google is rolling out a new feature in its Digital Wellbeing app called Screen Time Reminders.

This feature gently reminds you when you use selected apps for a long time. The reminder comes in the form of a pill that appears at the top of the screen.

Tea… pic.twitter.com/oTFjlshbOG

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) November 16, 2024

So the method is simple. You choose targeted apps, allow screen time, and you’re done. From now on, a small pop-up window located at the top of the screen tells you the time spent in the application. Google very subtly, without blocking you, makes you aware of the spatio-temporal maelstrom that is certain social networks and other platforms.

How to enable screen time reminders in Google Digital Wellbeing?

If this innovation that allows you to be aware of the time spent on the screen is very practical, you still need to know how to use it. To do this, first make sure you’ve updated the Digital Wellbeing app. The latest version that is currently deployed should be available to everyone soon.

Once done, follow these steps:

• Given that Settings from an Android smartphone
• Look for the menu Digital Balance and Parental Controls
• On the screen, scroll down to Usage time reminder
• Press Enable
• Uncheck apps that don’t require controls

And there you have it! In less than a minute, you’ve configured your Android device to tell you how much time you spend on an app, especially when that time is significant. Once you do that, the ball is in your court to decide whether or not it calls for a change in habits.