Facebook and Instagram roll out new tools to help you monitor time spent in their apps

When Android P launches to the public later this year, it will include a built-in dashboard that will allow users to see just how often they are using their phone, the apps on the device, and much more.

But maintaining a transparent record of how often we spend on apps shouldn’t be a task solely set upon Google, which is why it’s good to see that companies like Facebook are starting to step up. Facebook is introducing a set of new tools that will help users keep tabs on how often they are spending on Facebook and Instagram and give them some steps on how to help reduce that time spent in the apps.

Facebook says it worked on these tools with the help of experts in the mental health field, academics, organizations, and with the help of its own research over time. The goal is to give people more control over the time they spend on Instagram and Facebook.

To get there, Facebook is introducing three new tools. A new dashboard that will show activity, the ability to limit notifications from within these apps, and daily reminders.

The dashboard is the hub for all of these new tools, showing each user just how often they are on Facebook and Instagram. It will show the average time per day a user is in the app, and tapping on any bar will show the user the time spent on the app that day. Below the dashboard, users will be able to set a daily reminder to let them know they have reached the amount of time they’ve previously set as their daily limit. Users can change or cancel the reminder whenever they want.

There is also a new “Notification Settings” section which will let users quickly mute push notifications for Facebook or Instagram. This will limit the number of notifications a user gets from either app for a set amount of time.

To access the new dashboard in Facebook, you’ll need to access the settings section within each each. In the Instagram app you’ll look for “Your Activity” to find the dashboard, while on Facebook you’re looking for “Your Time on Facebook”.

These new tools are available now if you want to start managing your time on either Facebook or Instagram.

source: androidandme