Whether it’s the moment you wake up, sitting in class or a meeting, or when you’re spending time with friends and family, if you can’t help but check your phone every time you feel the vibration in your pocket or hear the notification come on, you might want to wonder what If your relationship with your phone and its impact on your life is totally positive.
However, this usual need to check your device’s notifications doesn’t have to be a huge part of your work or personal life. In fact, with a few easy steps, you can rely less on your device than ever before — and Apple and Google offer tools to help.
Here’s how to use iOS Screen Time and Android Digital Wellbeing to be more mindful of your smartphone use in 2023.
What is iOS Screen Time and Android Digital Wellbeing?
Apple and Google’s toolkits for reducing smartphone distraction and boosting productivity work a little differently but essentially work toward the same goal of building healthy usage habits with your phone.
On Android, users can download and install the Digital Wellbeing app from the Play Store (Opens in a new tab) (If the device has not been pre-installed). The app includes features like a bedtime mode, plenty of data to show how you use your phone, and at what times, and offers ways to change that behavior (which we’ll get to shortly).
On the other hand, Apple has built Screen Time into the iPhone’s native Settings app, where you’ll find a variety of tools, such as Focus Modes (which work differently from Google’s), as part of the broader operating system. Screen Time shows the average time you spend on your device, and offers plenty of other insightful data, too; Including the most used apps in a certain period, or the apps that send the most notifications.
How to use iOS Screen Time and Android Digital Wellbeing
Starting to form new smartphone habits just isn’t something that happens right away, so be prepared to spend some time getting used to the tools available, whether you’re on iOS or Android. Both are intuitive and offer a lot of data, but it’s up to you to interpret that data and apply it to your life in a meaningful way.
While they both work slightly differently, the basic concept remains the same. Both options can pop up when you’re forming habits, like how often you open a certain app.
On Android, go to Setting > Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls. You can also switch between the shortcut to appear in the app drawer and the home screen from the same screen. On iOS, go to Settings > Screen Time.
As you browse through the data, see how often you get notifications from apps that come up often. Sometimes you can reduce screen time just by removing notifications from a private chat app, or changing notifications to be less invasive and visible.
Both can put restrictions on the apps on your device as well. Want to keep your social media browsing to a minimum? Add a time limit, or prevent it from opening at certain times of the day. This works well on kids’ devices too, so if you want to prevent them from playing a certain game before bed, you can set those limits.
How to build healthy smartphone habits
It’s easy to start ensuring you get a good night’s sleep — and a big part of that is ensuring your phone doesn’t wake you up. Android offers a Bedtime mode for exactly this reason, while iOS has a Sleep Focus mode. These modes ensure that the screen stays dim, can switch all on-screen colors to monochrome, and quiet incoming notifications.
You can even flip your device over on compatible Android phones to engage Do Not Disturb mode, and while Apple devices haven’t learned this neat trick yet, there is the ability to set a touch on the back of the device to achieve the same effect. You might also want to try charging your phone away from your bed, which means you’re less inclined to grab it at night and scroll through social media.
Speaking of focus modes, Apple has been improving its implementation for a few years and offers a series of pre-existing views that can be customized, as well as the ability to create entirely new ones. This can be useful if you want to set a “personal” list of apps that can receive notifications after work, a more stripped-down “work” focus state that presents its own set of apps or a dedicated home screen that reduces the temptation.
Google offers its own Focus Mode, in addition to the Work Profile, and using the two together can achieve a similar effect.
Speaking of reducing temptation, if you’re not ready to go through the “social media purge,” consider hiding or deleting your social media apps from your device. You can always re-add or reinstall them, but you might be surprised how often you check them daily.
You can also try setting up a self-imposed “phone-free time” where you leave your device on silent or in another room, so you can really be present with your family and friends.
By combining all of these techniques and looking at the data your phone collects about your usage habits, you should be able to make some thoughtful changes that build a healthy relationship with your device.