I'm on a mission to reduce my screentime, and these Android features are helping

06 Apr 2025, 15:47 by Yasmine Crossland · Android Police

It's tempting to doom scroll, even when you have chores to tackle. I'm guilty of this, whether it's spending too much time on TikTok or window shopping in my Chrome browser. I need to get better at putting down my phone to focus on other tasks. According to a report by Exploding Topics, the average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their smartphone daily. That's six days a month. Also, the younger the person, the higher the daily screen time. The average Gen Z spends 6 hours and 5 minutes on their smartphones every day.

These shocking statistics motivate me to spend less time on my phone and more time in the real world. I'm on a mission to cut my screen time to less than three hours a day. My Google Pixel 9 Pro has several Android tools to help me achieve that.

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There's a digital wellbeing dashboard

Inside the Digital wellbeing & parental controls section of the Settings app, there's a dashboard to help you track your screen time. It tells you how long you spent on your phone that day. You can compare it to the last few days and compare your progress with previous weeks.

The dashboard lets you know the worst offending apps with an easy-to-understand pie chart. Tapping that shows you how much time you spend on each one.

To understand more about how you use your phone, there's a section to see how many notifications you receive each day. It also tells you how many times you unlocked the handset. Being aware of your digital habits makes it easier to catch yourself in the act.

Turn on Bedtime mode

Android's Bedtime mode helps you get a good night's sleep by preventing distractions. It puts your phone in Do Not Disturb so you don't receive calls, texts, or other notifications, and it also sets your display to grayscale. It's had a huge impact on my phone use at night.

You can set up Bedtime mode through the Digital wellbeing & parental controls section of the Settings app, and pick a time for it to switch itself on and off each day. I set mine as 11.30 pm to 7 am.

If I'm still on my phone when the display goes gray, I know I should put my phone down. I'm a light sleeper, so silencing calls and notifications stops me from being woken up during the night by emails or social media alerts.

Occasionally, when Bedtime Mode starts, I might not be ready for bed, or I might be out with friends. In these cases, it's easy to delay Bedtime Mode by 30 minutes or turn it off for the night. If you're concerned about being contactable during those hours, add contacts as exceptions, so when they call you, they get through.

In the morning, Bedtime Mode turns itself off automatically, and you can find information about your sleep. It tells you how long you spent in bed, whether you coughed or snored during the night, and how many times you were distracted by your phone.

Make use of app limits and screen time reminders

Certain apps are more addictive than others, and one or two apps take up most of my daily screen time (looking at you, TikTok and Instagram). To solve that, Android phones allow you to set App Limits to stop you from spending too much time on a particular app. Set a maximum amount of time you want to spend on each app. When you reach that point, it pauses until the next day. There's no way of using it unless you go back to the Settings app and delete the limit.

Screen time reminders work hand-in-hand with App Limits. If you spend a solid stretch on one app, a bubble at the top of the display tells you how long you've used it. I like these reminders because they make me more aware of how long I've used my phone.

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Avoid distractions with Focus Mode

When you have a lot of work to do, nothing is more frustrating than being distracted by your smartphone. Focus mode pauses the apps that interrupt you the most, so you'll stop receiving notifications from them and can't open those apps.

You can manually turn Focus mode on and off or set a schedule for specific times and days of the week. Each time you set it up, you choose which apps to include. I use Focus Mode on weekday mornings, when I am most productive, and ensure my social media and messaging apps are included.

If you want to access those apps, tap Take a break. It prompts you to set a time limit for your break so you won't spend too much time away from your to-do list.

If you use a Pixel smartphone, another way of stopping distractions is to toggle on Flip to Shh. That way, when you place your phone face down, it silences itself, and you don't receive alerts or notifications. This feature is handy for avoiding embarrassing disruptions to meetings.

What else can you do to reduce your screen time?

If you want to reduce your screen time, you can do a few other things to make it easier. For instance, keep your phone on silent to avoid being distracted by alerts, and disable notifications for apps that send uninteresting alerts. A simple way to turn them off app by app is by pressing and holding the notification when it pops up, then tapping Turn off notifications.

Several apps on the Google Play Store help you reduce your screen time. StayFree is one of the best tools and utility apps. It tracks your phone usage in detail, gives you analytics and trend reports, and lets you know when you spend too much time on certain apps. It's more meticulous than Android's Digital Wellbeing dashboard, so it is worth downloading if you want more information. Forest is another free app that makes reducing your screen time feel less like a chore and more like a game. When you need to knuckle down and focus on a task, plant a tree. The longer you spend off your handset, the more it grows. If you use your phone before your focus time is up, the tree dies. The more days you use it successfully, the bigger your forest will grow.

Another way to cut down screen time across your digital devices is by making in-person plans. Pick up a new hobby, hang out with friends, or join a club. You'll find your screen time will naturally decrease the more you do.