Google launches a new function to get you off your screen

Google’s Digital Wellbeing Android app can now be set to send you an alert if you spend too much time on an app. A way for Google to make you look up from your screen.

Google has just updated its Android Digital Wellbeing application to discreetly integrate a new functionality. The app can now send you “usage time reminders”.

A new weapon against screen addiction

Deployed over the last few days on Pixel smartphones, this new “use time reminders” function is also available on Android devices from other manufacturers. The feature, which is an integral part of Google’s Digital Wellbeing application, allows you to configure “occasional” alerts that will automatically appear on the screen when it detects that you are spending too much time on certain applications . This reminder, which takes the form of a discreet bubble grafted to the top of the screen, also mockingly displays the time spent on the application concerned.

After activation, usage time reminders are sent to you, by default, for all applications. You can, however, choose to only activate them for certain applications that you consider, for yourself, time-consuming. This is generally the case for social networks, notably TikTok and Instagram, where the temptation to scroll frantically to watch the next video is exacerbated.

A priori, the duration after which the screen time reminder is displayed differs depending on the application used. 9to5Googlewhich reports the information, indicates that it has noticed that the alert appears after 25 minutes of use on Instagram. For his part, Mishaal Rahman,AndroidPolice saw the usage time reminder displayed after 15 minutes of using X/Twitter.

For our part, after activating the option on our smartphone, we saw the usage time reminder displayed after 25 minutes on TikTok. While this new feature is welcome, it does not offer any control over how it works. Google doesn’t offer a way to configure how often these alerts appear on your smartphone screen.

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Source :

9to5Google