Smartphone addiction is real. While a lot of researchers believe that the real issue is not the device, but our addiction to social media, the problem has reached the point where smartphone companies are being criticized for encouraging people to spend more time using their devices and not their real life.
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Bloomberg reports that Apple is planning on unveiling features for iOS that will help control collective iPhone addiction. This is part of an initiative called Digital Health, which provides tools that help users monitor the amount of time they spend on their devices and how long they spend on each individual application. These tools will be located on the Settings app on a menu, where users will be able to browse and look at their activity.
Apple’s Digital Health initiative will be introduced during this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company will also present their latest tech developments and gadgets. Digital Health will be available on the next version of the iOS, rumored to be called iOS 12.
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In May, Google introduced a similar set of features for their new Android devices, including a “shush” mode that turns on the “Do Not Disturb” feature by flipping the phone over, and a bedtime mode with muted colors. You can expect many companies to do the same in the future, including menu settings and notifications on their devices that warn users against spending too much time on their phones.
