Leave square eyes in the past.
We’re all guilty of spending far too much time on our phones. Whether that’s on social media, our emails or Candy Crush.
The past year has been crazy, and we’ve all been in and out of Coronavirus lockdowns. Many of us have been forced to work from home and with restaurants and bars closing, our screen time has gone through the roof.
Apple have a way of tracking your screen time on your iPhone so you can see just how much time you’re spending on individual apps.
Screen Time is installed within iOS on your iPhone and is linked with your apps, pre-installed and the ones you download, to track and update you on the number of hours you spend using them.
You can set targets and limits on your screen time and track your progress over a period of time.
You’ll also get a full report sent to your iPhone on the first day of the week – which could either make or break your Monday.
The point is, Screen Time is definitely a feature on your iPhone that you should make yourself aware of. Here’s everything you need to know, including how to use it.
Time for Screen Time.
Naturally for Screen Time to work, you have to turn it on.
1. Naturally for Screen Time to work, you have to turn it on.
2. Head to Settings.
3. Select Screen Time.
4. Tap Turn On Screen Time.
5. Tap Continue.
6. Select This is My Device.
Once you’ve turned it on you can do a whole bunch of things. You can see your full activity as well as a breakdown off your usage on all your iPhone apps.
If you tap on any of the apps underneath ‘Most Used’ you’ll see full details of how much time you spent on them that day. A graph above this section maps out your total daily usage and compares it with other days throughout the week.
This will either be a huge win for you or will finally tell you that you spend far too much of your life on Facebook watching videos of past Britain’s Got Talent auditions.
Once you’ve sat through the gruelling revelation, you’ll finally be able to gain control of your mobile phone usage and decide just how much time you actually want to spend on your iPhone.
This is where App Limits come into play. There’s a handy trick that allows you to physically control the time you’re spending on certain apps.
Here’s how to set App Limits:
1. Head to Settings.
2. Scroll to Screen Time.
3. Tap on App Limits.
4. Select Add Limit.
From here you’ll be able to select an entire category of apps to set limits on, be that social or music, or you can tap on the arrow on each category to show individual apps.
Once you’ve selected which category or app you want to set a limit on, tap Next. Here, you’ll be able to choose how long you set the limit for.
If your kids have got you addicted to TikTok and you want to limit yourself to just 30 minutes a day, you can do that here. If you’re sick of checking your emails on your day off, limit yourself to an hour a day only.
If you tap Customise Days, you can choose different limits on different days. If you like to treat yourself on a Friday to an extra hour on Candy Crush, you can. If on the Monday you need your focus to be on work, set a lower limit.
If you want to completely switch off from your app, you can schedule what’s called Downtime. This is pretty much what it says on the tin. It allows you to wind down and switch off from all things mobile.
Here’s how to get yours scheduled:
1. Head to Settings.
2. Select Screen Time.
3. Tap Downtime.
4. Toggle the switch to On by tapping it.
5. Tap start and select a time of day to begin the downtime.
6. Tap End and select a time of day for downtime to stop.
What’s your Screen Time?
Screen Time is an extremely useful feature on your iPhone. It’s a way of taking back control of your mobile phone usage and puts everything you need to know all in one place.
If you’re in the market for a new iPhone and simply can’t wait to track how much time you’re spending on your phone, you’re in luck.
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