If you sleep with your phone under your pillow, or check Facebook before doing anything else in the morning, you may have an unhealthy ‘digital diet.’
A team of Californian developers has created an app that helps people track how much they use their phones, and specific apps – and weans themselves off, if necessary.
Called QualityTime, it works in the background to monitor how many times a screen is unlocked, how long someone spends playing certain games, or which apps they open the most.
Users can also switch off from their smartphone completely by choosing to lock their screen for set periods of time.
QualityTime reveals smartphone and app use both in terms of frequency and duration, meaning users can spot habits and trends.
It also shows how often a user unlocks their phone, how often they open a certain app, or a certain time of day usage is high.
The app summarises this information into daily or weekly timelines, including total app usage, phone unlock frequency, and detailed reporting – known as a ‘digital diet’.
Users can also create alert notifications on the app, or via connected gadgets such as smart lights, when they exceed a certain time using the phone or app.
They can also choose to ‘Take a Break’, at which point the app will lock the screen and prevent them from using the phone until a set amount of time has passed.
The phone can still be used for emergencies during this time.
QualityTime is a free app available from Google Play.
The company has not announced when other versions will be released.
