Google is rolling out a new feature for the Digital Wellbeing part of the system, aimed at helping us better control our time spent on smartphones.
Last month, Android Authority spotted an interesting change in Android’s “Digital Wellbeing” app. Named “ Screen Time Reminders “, this addition takes a gentler approach than blocking applications outright. It manifests itself by a discreet pill-shaped notification that appears at the top of the screen when the user spends too much time on a selected app.
This notification displays the time spent on the affected app, subtly prompting the user to reconsider their usage and, potentially, close the app for more productive activity. The approach is intended caring rather than restrictiveleaving the user with the final choice of their behavior.
How to activate the new functionality on the digital well-being application?
To activate this feature, nothing could be simpler: just go to the “settings”. Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls » on your smartphone, select the option “ Screen Time Reminders », then activate reminders and choose the applications concerned. The system will then automatically alert you when you exceed a certain usage time.
This new feature is a significant development in Google’s approach to digital well-being. Rather than imposing strict limits, the company opts for a more nuanced methodallowing users to become aware of their digital habits while maintaining their freedom of action.
This feature comes at a good time as more users look to build a healthier relationship with their digital devices. By offering an awareness tool rather than a restrictive system, Google seems to have found an interesting balance between helping to manage screen time and respecting user autonomy. This innovative approach could well redefine our relationship with the management of time spent on our smartphones, provided of course that users activate this functionality in the application. Unfortunately, it has suffered from a bad reputation for several years because of its energy consumption, and this could well discourage some users from using it.
