As one Tweeter put it, "are they hours wasted, or keeping me connected?"
A fair question, given the shock being experienced following the new screen time feature on iPhone with the iOS12 update.
The feature is arguably the most significant feature of the new update, making iPhone users blatantly aware of how much time they're spending both looking at and using their devices.
You can see your usage, set limits for your Most Used apps, and see how many times your device was picked up or received a notification.
Here's how to use it, if you haven't horrified yourself already:
- Go to Settings and tap Screen Time. If you haven't enabled it already then do so.
- You will be greeted by your usage so far that day.
- Check out which apps are taking up most of your time.
- At the top, move to "last 7 days". This will also display the websites you've been browsing most frequently.
It comes after Facebook and Instagram introduced the Your Activity feature in recent months, also allowing users to set daily limits for themselves and reminding them via notification when they're reached their self-set daily limit.
Users have been sharing their thoughts since the iOS feature went live, with many horrified by the reality of their excessive iPhone usage.
idk if anyone else has experienced this new "screen time showing" thing woth the new iphone ipdate, but there's a section on there that tells you how many notifications you got this week and tells you what app gave you the most notifications and mine was my alarm app ?
— kait lynn ? (@_kaitanderson_) October 7, 2018
Omg this new iPhone update with the screen time is actually making me so obsessive
— laura (@Lau_cartwright) October 5, 2018
Time for some self-shaming guys...
How many times are you picking up your iPhone?
Settings —> Screen Time —> iPhone —> Last 7 Days pic.twitter.com/mgpDc5ZH7g
— PowerSerge (@_Nexus) September 30, 2018
Deliberately looking at social media on my desktop more now so my iPhone doesn't send me such horrible messages about my screen time at the end of this week...
— Victoria Murphy (@QueenVicMirror) October 8, 2018
Hey, is there a way to get rid of the new “screen time” feature on the iPhone? It makes me feel bad about myself.
— J (@YaBoiJackM) October 7, 2018
Have you updated your iPhone? Screen time is awesome! pic.twitter.com/yjejsTVsB8
— Lacey Lee Elliott (@Lace_Elliott) October 7, 2018
I hate the new feature where they tell you your screen time on the iPhone... yes thank you for telling me I pickup my phone basically every 7 minutes and that I spend 3 and 20 minutes a day on social media.... ??
— Lauren Elizabeth?? (@lcsftbll4) October 7, 2018
According to the new Screen Time feature on iPhone, I get an average of 275 messages a day ???
How the hell do I disable that feature???? #IgnoranceIsABliss pic.twitter.com/aqCfJhbnkU— Pernille Westi (@PernilleWesti) October 8, 2018
This seems like a lot of screen time on my iPhone. What is everyone else at? pic.twitter.com/9bIKA4Hywv
— MariaBenner (@mariabenner) October 7, 2018
The new “screen time” stats for the iPhone is truly a rude awakening
— Hayden Weaver (@HaydenPWeaver) October 7, 2018
The “screen time” section on the iPhone puts your life into perspective
— Chase Rowan (@chase_rowan) October 7, 2018
I appreciate screen time on the iPhone, makes me use my phone less
— picante (@cynsei) October 7, 2018
