Android is still beating the iPhone in a small (but important) way
Our phones, as you know, can sometimes become depthless abysses. Almost everyone has experienced the inconquerable pull of spending hours switching from one social media or entertainment app futilely. And this routine even has a name — “doomscrolling.”
- How iOS and Android limit app usage
- Android has a very clear advantage
- Samsung find the middle ground
- Google and Apple must do more than the bare minimum
Thankfully, overlords that control the smartphone world, namely Google and Apple, have been conscious of this issue and offer tools that constantly remind you to spare your eyes from the screen and revisit the physical world to replenish your senses.
Both Android and iOS have built-in mechanisms useful in introducing some discipline to the way we use phones. As part of their missions to help people fight their habits of unfetter usage, Android’s App Timers and iOS’s App Limits let you set daily allowances for the time you can use certain apps on your phones. Arguably,
How iOS and Android limit app usage
2018 was the golden year when both Google and Apple turned their attention to freeing us from the clutches of smartphone addiction. Google introduced App Timers as part of its Digital Wellbeing initiative starting Android 9 Pie. Apple, too, jumped on the bandwagon with iOS 12 the same year and introduced App Limits under the category of Screen Time to help iPhone and iPad users cut time spent on the phone.
Both mobile operating systems have their identical approaches to help you limit the time spent consuming apps. Android lets you monitor the time spent per app daily and set the maximum daily allowance.
iOS offers similar insights about daily usage, segmenting it based on different apps and lets you set daily limits for each app that may take up more headspace than what you would desire them to.
In addition to setting a strict timer for individual apps, iOS also allows limits based on app category. There are numerous categories you can use can collectively limit at once instead of having to set limits for each app individually. You can either select all the apps suggested under a category or check only the ones you want to restrict. And even nicer is the ability to set these limits for specific days of the week — a feature that doesn’t exist on Android.
Admittedly, App Limits on iOS feel more refined and give finer controls on how you can manage your interaction with apps that graze your attention. Android, undoubtedly, feels crude and premature in comparison. But despite all its bells and whistles, iOS still lags behind
Android has a very clear advantage
To elaborate on why I say this, let me walk you through the different scenarios when you are about to run out of your daily allocated durations on iOS and Android.
Let’s begin with Apple’s implementation. Five minutes before you reach the end of the daily app limit, iOS will inform you with a time-sensitive notification. When these last five minutes end, a pop-up covers your entire screen, telling you the daily limit has elapsed.
In response, you can either tap OK or Ignore Limit. The latter allows you to extend the limit either by an additional minute or 15 more minutes — or ignore the daily limit entirely. If y
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