Android: how to take a break from your phone

If you want to find the right balance between the time you spend staring at your phone screen and the time you spend doing other things, Android has a tool that can help. It’s called Digital Wellbeing and, like Screen Time for iPhone, it lets you learn about your phone’s usage and set limits on it.

It’s called Digital Wellbeing.

The app is enabled by default, so when you first open it, you’ll see that it’s already keeping track of what you’re doing on your phone. The app is available on Android devices from all manufacturers. To find Digital Wellbeing, open «Settings» and scroll down to Digital Wellbeing and parental controls.

Track phone usage

The first screen of the «Digital Wellbeing» app shows how you used your phone today: a pie chart shows the time spent in each app and the total time you used your Android phone. Below that, it shows how many times your phone was unlocked during the day and how many notifications came in.

• Click anywhere on the pie chart to see a bar graph with today’s data compared to other days of the week, as well as a list of recently used applications. This screen is called «Dashboard».
• Click on any bar to see a breakdown of minutes per app.
• Swipe left or right on the bar graph to move from one week to the next. Today’s date appears below the chart; you can tap the arrows on the side of the date to scroll by day.
• Click the «Screen Time» drop-down menu above the bar graph to toggle between «Screen Time», «Notifications Received» and «Open Time».
• Below the bar graph is a list of apps sorted in order. Depending on what is selected in the «Screen Time» menu, the apps you spent the most time in, the apps that received the most notifications, or the apps that were opened the most often will appear at the top.

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Set app limits

The dashboard allows you to set time limits for any specific Android app.

• Click the timer icon next to the app name. If the desired app is not displayed, tap Show all apps at the bottom of the list.
• Tap the timer icon next to the app name.
• Select the amount of time you can spend in the app per day. In the dialog box, you can select a time from 5 minutes to 23 hours 55 minutes.
• Click OK to confirm your selection. The timer icon in the app will change to show the time limit you have just set — tap it again to change or delete the timer.
• When there is a minute left before the timer starts and use of the app is limited, Android will turn the display gray; when the time is up, a message will appear on the screen, and when the OK button is pressed, the app will end.

It’s not the most effective tool for limiting screen time, as you can just go back to Digital Wellbeing and give yourself more time, but along with a little willpower it can change your phone usage habits for the better.

Focus Mode on Android

This mode is for when you need to get serious about studying, work, or other activities and you don’t want your phone to get in the way. In fact, it’s a more effective way to set limits on app usage.

• On the «Digital Wellbeing» home screen, tap Focus Mode. A list of apps on your phone appears, with the ones that send the most notifications at the top.
• Focus Mode.
• Select all the apps you want to disable for the duration of Focus mode. Not only will the notifications from these apps not display and make no sound, but they won’t open.
• Select all the apps you want to disable while Focus mode is in effect.
• Click the Turn On Now button to immediately start a session of «Focus» mode, or Set Schedule to have the mode turn on automatically at the same time each day.

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When Focus mode is activated, a permanent notification icon appears in the status bar. Open the notification and you will have the option to turn Focus mode off or temporarily disable it for 5, 10, or 15 minutes.

Focus mode is activated.

Sleep Mode on Android

There’s another feature that can help you take a break from your phone when you need it most: when you want to sleep.





• On the Digital Wellbeing home screen, select Sleep Mode to let your phone tell you when it’s time to go to bed. You can also set the phone display to grayscale, turn on «Do Not Disturb» and darken the phone’s wallpaper.
• You can choose when to start the mode or start it manually. If you’ve been using the mode for a while, it also displays information about how well you’ve been following it.
• The «Customize» link allows you to set what will happen in sleep mode and which of the options (e.g. grayscale display) should be enabled.

Besides «Sleep Time» mode, the «Digital Wellbeing» section has other options borrowed from other sections of the Android settings screen: for example, you can set up «Do Not Disturb» mode (a more sophisticated version of «Focus» mode), and control which apps are allowed to send notifications.

At the top of the screen, you can set up «Do Not Disturb» mode (a more sophisticated version of «Focus» mode), and control which apps are allowed to send notifications.