ThumbpauseHow to use Android Digital Wellbeing, and where it falls short
Android already has a screen-time tool built in. Most people have never opened it. It is free, it is private to your phone and for some people it is all they need. This guide covers what it does, step by step, and where it runs out.
Menus vary by phone brand and Android version, so use search in Settings if a name differs. Our descriptions follow Google’s Digital Wellbeing help page, which we checked on 6 November 2026.
Step 1: Open the dashboard
Go to Settings, then Digital Wellbeing and parental controls. The dashboard shows your device use for the day, including screen time, times opened and notifications received. Tap the chart for more detail and flip back through earlier days. Spend two minutes reading it before you change anything. Write down your total and your top three apps.
Step 2: Set an app timer
Tap the hourglass next to an app and choose a daily limit. When you reach the limit, per Google’s page, the app closes and its icon dims, and the timer resets at midnight. Start with one app, the one you would most like to cut, and set the limit about 20 percent below your current average. Setting zero minutes tends to fail on day two.
Step 3: Lock the limits with a PIN
Google’s page describes an App limits PIN so that only you can change limits. This matters because the way around a timer, per the same page, is to delete it and reopen the app. Choose a PIN you cannot remember at midnight, or have a friend or parent set it. If it is your own phone, write the PIN on a note you keep in a drawer in another room.
Step 4: Use Focus mode
Focus mode pauses chosen apps. According to Google’s page, you cannot use these apps and will not get their notifications while it is on. You can schedule it, for example for work hours, or take a timed break when you need to get something done. This is the better tool when a time of day is the problem.
Step 5: Use Bedtime mode
Bedtime mode can run on a schedule or while the phone is charging, with screen options. One of those is grayscale, which turns the display black and white. Holte and Ferraro, in a 2020 study of college students, reported that a grayscale setting reduced screen time. The study was short and small, so we do not know how long the effect lasts, but it costs nothing to try, in the evening especially.
Step 6: Check in weekly
On the same day each week, open the dashboard and compare. Use the weekly average, not one day. If your top app has fallen, tighten the next one. If it has not, change the limit or the tool.
Where Digital Wellbeing falls short
It is easy to dismiss. Without a PIN, the way around a timer is to delete it. Even with one, an hour later you may decide you need the app and end the timer.
It limits whole apps, not parts. You cannot cut Reels or Shorts and keep messages. The guide on Reels and Shorts explains the options.
It does not ask why. A timer fires at a number, whatever you were doing. It does not interrupt the first tap or ask what you came for.
The reports stop at numbers. You see the totals and not what changed or what you did with the time.
Menus differ across phones. Features can differ by maker and Android version, so the exact steps may not match your phone.
When it is enough
If you set one timer and one PIN and your average goes down, you are done. Many people only need a small nudge. If you find yourself deleting timers, that is a sign that you need something that adds a pause before the app opens, or a delay on rule changes.
How Thumbpause helps
Thumbpause is for the gaps above. On Android it holds a ten-second pause before the apps you choose, asks what you came for and lets you continue for 2, 5 or 10 minutes or close the app. Rule changes in hard mode wait 24 hours. It does not replace Digital Wellbeing, and you can use both. It is not in the stores yet; the waitlist is open on the home page. See how it compares with other tools in the Android tools guide.
Questions
Where do I find Digital Wellbeing?
Open Settings and look for Digital Wellbeing and parental controls. Names and menus vary slightly by phone maker and Android version.
Can I stop myself from deleting a timer?
Google's help page describes an App limits PIN so only you, or whoever holds the PIN, can change limits. Give it to someone you trust or pick one you will not remember.
Does grayscale really cut screen time?
One study of college students found that grayscale was linked to less screen time. It was small and short, so regard it as something worth trying.
Sources
How much of your life is your screen?
The calculator turns your daily hours into days a year. It runs in your browser and sends nothing.
Open the calculator