I discovered the Screen Time app on my phone last night. I saw it by accident, as I scrolled past the gray boxes that show up when you (accidentally) right swipe (for me it’s always accidentally). I didn’t even know the app existed. It must be part of the new iOS.
Evidently I had been on my phone over 5 hours that day. I’d unlocked it 98 times. I’d played just 8 minutes shy of TWO HOURS of Solitaire. I’d read posts in Feedly for 58 minutes.
It was terrifying to see all those numbers there, in black and white, a record of my dependence on my phone. I wonder if it will change the way I use it, knowing that it’s creating a record of my usage.
Today I was on my phone for just under 3 hours. I didn’t play any Solitaire, but I did read posts in Feedly for 52 minutes, and I unlocked it 61 times.
I haven’t decided if I’ll set any goals around phone usage now. If I wanted to, I’d probably get one of those apps that locks me out of other apps if I’ve surpassed some pre-set allowance, because I don’t think I’d be able to limit the usage myself. I’ll definitely keep checking out Screen Time every night, and decide what to do with the data once I’ve reviewed it over a longer period of time.
How much do you look at your phone? Do you check the Screen Time app?
Don’t get an app to limit screen time, you can do it in the screen time app itself! It has been amazing for me. I had a huge problem using my phone in the 5-7:30 period when I want to be engaged with my kids. Two weeks ago I set up “downtime” for that period and only allow non-entertaining apps that I might need (so yes to google maps, no to email, safari, etc). It has been great. I can enter the code to override the app, but I don’t (except when I needed to look up a recipe, I’m ok with that). The extra little inconvenience made a huge difference. I’ve also limited overall Feedly and safari time (my weaknesses) and it makes me much more intentional about whether something is really worth my limited time. I highly recommend giving it a try. I was seriously considering whether I wanted to have a smart phone and now feel the best I ever have about it.
It’s definitely part of the new ios. I looked at it once and then not again until this post. 🙂 In the last week I was on an average of 4 hrs per day, up 17% from the week before (I wonder why?). 15h40 minutes on Social Networking (FB is the biggest culprit for sure), 3 hrs on Productivity apps, and 2 hrs on entertainment. Kinda scary to realize how much time each day I’m sucked into FB. I’m most definitely going to work on cutting back on that after reading this post.
I pick up my phone an average of 86x/day, and get 471 notifications (I’m turning gmail off as we speak, I get more from there than anywhere. I turned off FB notifications years ago).
Interesting stuff!
I read on my phone, so my usage is probably sky high. Ive started using the Forest app to keep focused at work.
I didn’t hear about this update until your post so thank you! I updated my iPhone and now I’m super curious about what my stats are going to be.