Screen time on Android: What is it and how to see it

During the day, a person regularly uses a smartphone and does not notice that he spends quite a large amount of time. If you want to know how many hours a day you pay your gadget and what exactly applications, read where to find and how to view on-screen time on Android. This is a fairly new feature that allows you to see the real picture of your pastime in the device. With it, you can make certain conclusions and, if necessary, even establish restrictions on the use of the phone.

Why do you need to know where the on-screen time on Android

Time is a pretty new, useful and important function in OS Android, with which many unfamiliar. With it, you can find out how much time a day in general uses a smartphone which applications run most often and how many minutes (or even hours) spend in them. Using this data, you determine if you are not abuse of a gadget and, if necessary, you can limit its use time if you notice the problem.

Depending on the version of OS Android, you can view the screen time in different ways. In Android 9 and the newer is implemented by the service "Digital well-being", where you can not only check, what number of hours and minutes you spend on a smartphone or in certain applications, but also configure duration restrictions their use.

In the younger versions of Android, as well as on smartphones with branded shells from the manufacturers of section "Digital well-being" may not be. In this case, it is necessary to search for the necessary information in section "Applications and Notifications" or "Battery".

If the built-in features do not allow to watch the on-screen time on the android, software from third-party developers comes to the rescue. You can find it in Play Market, we will talk about the best utilities below.

How to view Screen Time using the built-in features of Android

in smartphones with OS Android 9 and the newer implemented section "Digital Well-Being and Parental Control". It can not only watch the screen time on Android, but also configure the timers for applications to limit the duration of their use.

If you Android earlier version or a smartphone with a branded shell from the manufacturer, section "Digital well-being" may be absent. In this situation, you should try to find the information of interest in the "Battery" sections or "Applications and Notifications".

through the "Digital Well-Being and Parental Control" section

This method is relevant for smartphones with Android 9 and newer. Instructions:

Step 1. Open "Settings", find the section "Digital Well-Being and Parental Control" and go to it.

Step 2. In the top of the screen, a common diagram is presented, reporting how much time the device worked and which applications used most often. Here you can see the number of unlocking and notifications received for the phone. Press to the diagram.

Step 3. On the page that opens, data on the on-screen time spent in applications for the current day, as well as for Last week. By clicking on a specific day, you can see how the phone was used during these days.

Step 4. In the drop-down list at the top of the screen, you can choose "Received Notifications" or "Number of launches" and find out how many times the phone was unlocked, which applications were launched and how many times, as well as see how many alerts were received.

Step 5. By selecting "Use time" in the drop-down list, you will see a complete list of applications, launched during the day and learn the time of their work.

Via Apps & Notifications

If your smartphone has Android is under 9 and does not have Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls, you can view Screen Time in Apps & Notifications. Instructions:

Step 1. Open "Settings" and select "Apps & Notifications".

Step 2. Press Usage Time.

On the page that opens, you can see the time you use your phone per day or week, as well as find out how many notifications were received and how many unlocks were performed. Also here is available a complete list of applications launched during the day and the duration of their work.

Limit applications using the timer

If you find yourself using too much some application, you can limit the time of its use. To do this, follow the instructions below:

Step 1. Open "Settings" and go to section with screen time one of the described above ways.

Step 2. Click the hourglass button next to the application you want to limit the time of use.

Step 3. Enter the time and press OK.

You will be notified 1 minute before the time is up. After 60 seconds, the application will be suspended for the rest of the day. The timer set in this way is reset at midnight. You can delete it on the same page.

Through the section "Battery"

In the section "Battery" you can also view the running time of applications. It will not contain as much information as in the two previous sections, however, you can still get data on the hours and minutes of operation of a particular application.

Step 1. Open Settings and go to Battery.

Step 2. Press "Battery Consumption".

Step 3. On the page that opens, you can see statistics in percentage showing which applications are using battery power. Click on any of them.

Step 4. In the field , the "active work time" can be seen how many minutes the application worked.

The data from this section may differ slightly from the information from the section "Digital Well Being". In addition, other information, for example, the number of phone unlocking or the number of launches of a particular application, is not available here.

How to find out the screen time using third-party applications

If you have a smartphone with an old version Android or built-in features You are not enough (they do not suit you), you can find out the screen time you can use applications from third-party developers. In Play Market there are quite a lot of them. Get acquainted with the best of them.

Stay FREE (Screen Time & Self Control)

This application has been downloaded over 1 million times from Play Market and has high marks. It offers the following applications with applications:

The application is distributed free of charge, it is necessary to get acquainted with it to each user who wants to control the time held for Smartphone.

Action Dash: on-screen time and digital well-being

Another popular utility to track the screen time. Shows, grouping statistics in the form of lists or diagrams, which applications and for how many minutes / hours you used throughout the day or week. You can also track the number of applications, notifications, unlocking smartphone.

in Action DASH The status system is implemented: Bronze, silver, etc. To receive them, you need to actively use the application to control the screen time. In the settings, you can select the design topic, enable the use assistant, focus mode, limit the use of applications or put them pause. In the "Help" section, you can get detailed information about working with Action Dash.

My Apps Time - on-screen telephone time

My Apps Time - less functional utility in comparison with two previous, but also popular. It can see the time of use of applications per day, week, month or past year. The information received is allowed to share via messengers or social networks with other users.

Application Manager in My Apps Time Shows a list of software installed on the phone, including system software. You can run any program or game through it, to view information about the date of installation, version, installation folder, as well as open the system menu to delete, stop, setting up permissions or cleaning storage and cache.

in Google Play You can find other applications with similar functionality. Look for them on request "Screen Time" or choose the suggested above to control the duration of using your phone.

Conclusion

Operating time control is a good opportunity to find out how much time during the day or week you spend on using your phone. Taking advantage of this feature, you will see which applications will take time and you can limit their use. Make it will help you the built-in functions Android and third-party specialized applications. Choose the optimal method for you and use it to free the more time that we all lack. And if you know other ways to control the screen time on Android, share them in the comments.