Smartphones have become an essential part of our daily lives, but spending too much time on them can lead to addiction and decreased productivity.
Recently, on MetroFM, I spoke about South African’s being the biggest internet addicts in the world.
Fortunately, both Android and iOS devices offer built-in tools that allow you to set time limits on your phone usage. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up time limits on your Android phone or iPhone.
Android Phones
- Set Up Digital Wellbeing
Digital Wellbeing is a feature that comes with Android 9 and later versions. It allows you to monitor how much time you spend on your phone and in specific apps. To set up Digital Wellbeing on your Android phone, follow these steps:
- Open your phone’s Settings app.
- Tap “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.”
- Under “Your Digital Wellbeing tools,” tap “Show your data.”
- Follow the prompts to set up your profile.
- Add the Screen Time Widget
The Screen Time Widget shows you the top three apps you use each day. To add the widget to your home screen, follow these steps:
- Touch and hold the home screen.
- Tap “Widgets.”
- Touch and hold the Screen Time widget, then drag it to where you want it on your home screen.
- Limit How Much Time You Spend in an App Each Day
You can use app timers to limit how much time you spend in specific apps each day. To set up an app timer, follow these steps:
- Open your phone’s Settings app.
- Tap “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.”
- Tap the chart.
- Next to the app you want to limit, tap “Set timer.”
- Choose how much time you want to spend in that app each day, then tap “Set.”
Note: When you run out of time, the app will close and its icon will dim. App timers reset at midnight. To use the app again before midnight, follow the steps above and delete the app timer.
iPhone
- Set Up Screen Time
Screen Time is a feature that comes with iOS 12 and later versions. It allows you to monitor your phone usage and set limits on app usage. To set up Screen Time on your iPhone, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > Screen Time.
- Turn on Screen Time if it’s not already on.
- Follow the prompts to set up Screen Time.
- Schedule Time Away from the Screen
You can use Downtime to block apps and notifications for periods when you want time away from your device. To schedule downtime, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > Screen Time.
- Tap “Downtime,” then turn it on.
- Select “Every Day” or “Customise Days,” then set the start and end times.
- Turn on Downtime on Demand
Downtime on Demand allows you to quickly turn on downtime whenever you need a break from your phone. To turn on Downtime on Demand, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > Screen Time.
- Tap “Downtime.”
- Tap “Turn On Downtime Until Tomorrow” or “Turn On Downtime Until Schedule” (if Scheduled is turned on).
Note: To turn off downtime on demand, tap “Turn Off Downtime.”
- Set Limits for App Use
You can set a time limit for a category of apps (for example, Games or Social Networking) and for individual apps. To set up app limits, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings > Screen Time.
- Tap “App Limits,” then tap “Add Limit.”
- Select one or more app categories.
- To set time limits for individual apps, tap the category name to see all the apps in that category, then select the apps you want to limit
