Are you concerned by how much time you spend on your phone or is a parent wondering about their child? Android and Apple have now come out with their own monitoring features so you can see how much you are on your phones. Currently the Android app, Digital Wellbeing, is only available for the Pixel phone with the Android 9 Pie operating system. The iPhone version is for iPhones 5s or later and require iOS 12, which is in public beta. After you meet the requirements for your Android, you then go to the Android Digital Wellbeing site to get access to their beta, while Apples comes installed on your phone following installation of iOS 12.
The android app allows you to set a timer for each app on your phone individually. Apple’s Screen Time app puts time limits on the specific app categories themselves. If you want to set an individual timer for apps, you have to find the app itself in your dashboard. When your time runs out for your app on either of the operating systems, you will not be able to access the app. When the times runs out, you will be notified and have an opportunity to increase the time of use.
Both Android and Apple have a mode for each of their apps to make it so nothing bothers you. Screen Time’s Do Not Disturb mode allows you to schedule times where your calls and notifications will be silenced. Screen Time also has a Bedtime Mode under the same setting that still silences your calls, but notifications will appear in the notification center and the lock screen will be dimmed. Digital Wellbeing’s Wind Down mode is very similar to Screen Time’s Do Not Disturb mode, with the ability to silence calls and notifications. Digital Wellbeing does not dim your phones lock screen, but rather it removes all color from the screen, leaving the display black and white.
The parental controls for each app are completely different though. Digital Wellbeing does not have any parental controls built into the app. If parents want to apply parental controls on their children’s phones, they will have to use the Family Link app for Android phones. Apple’s Screen Time app has a Family Sharing section. The Family Sharing allows parents to set restrictions for their children’s phones. When the time is up for the restricted categories, Bedtime Mode, or restricted content, the child will not be able to access the content. Family Sharing utilizes a passcode that only the parents will know to override the settings.
These new advancements in the tracking of screen time can help families and individuals to be more conscious about how much time they spend on their screens.
