Why Google and Apple want you to stop looking at your phone, and how they plan to help
GOOGLE’S latest smartphone software — designed by an Aussie developer — is designed to stop us looking at our phones so often and take back control of our time.
YOU might be horrified at how many times you pick up your phone each day, and need its screen to turn grey at night so you’ll actually stop looking at it and go to bed.
These are the predictions of an Australian developer behind Google’s latest smartphone software, which is designed to stop us looking at our phones so often and take back control of our time.
The new “digital wellness” features will be released in the Android Pie operating system, and mirror moves from other tech giants to stop smartphones from becoming a major life distraction.
Google Android user experience director Glen Murphy, from Melbourne, said the features were designed to help users control their smartphone use, and were a recognition that many had no idea just how much time they spent looking at their black mirror.
“In some our research, we did see people thought their phone was driving them,” Mr Murphy said.
“Their phone was something in their pocket that was generating work for them and interrupting them and distracting them from their life, when really your phone should help you navigate life and accomplish things.”
The new features inside Android Pie will include App Time that lets users set limits on their own app usage, Do Not Disturb that not only stops calls but prevents notifications appearing, and Dashboard that shows how much time users spend on their smartphones, how many times they react to alerts, and how many notifications they receive.
Mr Murphy said research showed people unlocked their smartphones 150 times a day on average but he said no one really “thinks it applies to them”.
“Almost universally people were surprised at their usage,” he said.
“There were people who were unlocking their phones hundreds of times a day and they were getting hundreds of notifications. You don’t really count the number of notifications you receive — you just react to them and move on.”
Mr Murphy said even members of the software development team were surprised at just how many times they were distracted by notifications, in addition to how much time they spent on their phone, and the number of times they checked it even in the middle of the night.
The new Android software will also include a new Wind Down setting that automatically turns users’ screens black and white at users’ chosen bedtimes.
“You can still access the phone,” Mr Murphy said, “but it’s almost annoying.
“Imagine your TV late at night started to turn grey. You could still watch it but it would serve as a prompt and reminder that now is probably a good time to go to bed.”
Google’s new Android additions are now available on the company’s Pixel smartphones before they are rolled out more widely.
The digital health additions mirror software features announced by rival Apple at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
Apple’s iOS 12 additions include a Screen Time app with a dashboard showing how long users have spent in each app, how many notifications they receive and respond to, and how their phone usage compares to others.
“For some of us (responding to notifications has) become such a habit we don’t even recognise just how distracted we’ve become,” Apple software engineering senior vice-president Craig Federighi said.
Apple’s new software is available now in a public beta and will be released for wider iPhone use after September.
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