It seems like an era has passed since the first smartphone with an Android operating system made its appearance on the tech scenes around the globe. At the beginning, few believed in the project, yet here we are in 2021, talking about Android 11 and who will receive the substantial major update of the green robot.
Smartphones have also evolved, such as to become mini PCs inside our pockets and with ever faster network connectivity, the world is within reach. We are perhaps too dependent on smartphones, so much so that many OEMs, for some time now, have introduced some modes within their interfaces, which promise to make us detach temporarily and / or in any case to give us moments of concentration. In this regard, the Android system also offers a similar feature, called Digital Wellbeing, through which we can not only view usage statistics making us fully aware of how much "slaves" we are now to smartphones and technology in general, but we can also set some modes that could help us in the work of "detoxification".
Digital Wellbeing: a powerful Android feature that is too often underestimated
So let's find out more about this tool, useful and powerful in the same way. Once Digital Wellbeing is opened, the first screen that is shown to us immediately informs the user of how many unlocks he has made and how many notifications he has received, as well as providing a usage statistic relating to the most used apps on his device .
But as mentioned, we are offered tools to put their phone aside, such as mode Dashboard, through which we can enable a timer for the use of the app, which once finished, will inhibit the use of this app for the rest of the day. This function is especially useful if we think of equipping a child / teenager with a smartphone, perhaps avoiding them spending hours and hours on social media or playing.
We then have the mode Rest which basically turns off phone ringtones and changes the screen color, switching to a black and white preset, when we go to sleep. However, functions can be selected by the user.
Finally, we have the No distractions mode, through which we can inhibit the operation, for a single app with lots of programming.
And given that more and more young people are approaching technology through smartphones, Digital Wellness also offers Parental Control mode, through which we can supervise the phone on which the option is active, remotely via the Family Link app, being able to add some limitations for Google services, for example preventing our child from downloading unapproved content, etc.
And did you know this powerful tool? I am sure that perhaps you have not paid too much attention to it but now a bit of curiosity has come to you, perhaps precisely on the subject of child control, in a period in which unfortunately we are witnessing dramatic news that too often sees children and adolescents as protagonists, victims of a technology exploited in the most cowardly way imaginable.
