by Joe Lonergan
Screentime is a part of most people’s lives these days. So, it is good to be aware of the adverse effects of too much screen time for adults and children.
Too much screen time can contribute to problems like obesity, depression, neck and back problems, poor posture, poor sleep, and even repetitive strain injury, the latter is especially true for those of us that use VoiceOver or TalkBack.
Some simple things we can do to help reduce screen time include removing screens from the bedroom, turning off notifications from certain apps, or scheduling downtime at mealtimes.
But if you want to control your screen time usage you should get to know the Screen Time app. It has some good features such as content and privacy restrictions to block inappropriate content. You can also set downtime, and communication limits, but one of the most useful is the ability to set app limits (set time limits for apps).
So how do we set app limits?
First, make sure your Screen Time app is turned on by going into Settings and then Screen Time and turning it on.
Once you have established Screen Time is on you will see options to turn on Downtime and set a schedule away from your screen. Setting downtime and a schedule is not for everyone so setting app limits may be a preferred option for you.
First, identify the apps that are using most of your attention or time. You can check this in Settings > Screen Time > See All Activity. While here you will see your apps are separated into sections like social, entertainment, productivity, etc. and when you flick down a little further it will show all the apps you spend time on individually. So, you will be able to see how long you spend on Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Mail, and more.
It even has a section below this called pickups, it will say something like today 28 pickups, and if you go to the previous day, it might say something like 100 pickups. That piece of data is really interesting as it shows how many times your phone has grabbed your attention.
Now we have established what apps are grabbing most of our attention or are using most of our screen time, we can start to set an app limit.
1. To set an app limit go to Settings > Screen Time.
2. Go to App Limits, here you will hear a brief description of what an app limit is.
3. Tap on Add Limit.
4. Now, you will have a search box to choose an app, or you can select a category such as social or entertainment.
5. We decided to use the search box and select a specific app, we typed in YouTube and it appeared in the search result, now tap the add button that appears beside it.
6. Once you have finished selecting apps tap on the next button
7. It is at this stage you will get the option to pick the time for the app limit, we chose 1 hour, and there is an option for minutes as well.
8. You can read on the side which apps you have set to have an app limit and if you are happy, finally tap on the add button.
Now when you use the YouTube app you will get a warning when you are five minutes from your app limit deadline and the app will no longer be useable. The above tips will hopefully be useful to improve on your screen time hygiene or if you have kids, it is a good way of moderating their time on devices or specific apps, so they do not spend hours on games like Roadblocks or the YouTube Kids app.