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Teardown of YouTube's Android beta version 21.44.534 reveals new text strings referencing an "App time limit" feature that would let users set a daily cap on total YouTube usage, including time spent on Shorts. The feature appears to be in early development and has not been officially announced or launched by Google.
Digital Wellbeing, Google's built-in Android screen-time tracker, has been installed more than 10 billion times but is rarely opened deliberately because it lacks a home-screen icon and sits inside the Settings menu. The app tracks app usage, unlock counts and notification volume, and offers tools to set time limits, holding a 4.1-star rating across 1.49 million reviews. Some manufacturers, including Samsung and Huawei, ship their own equivalent tools instead, since Google requires makers to include some screen-time and parental-control feature but not Digital Wellbeing specifically.
Google is shutting down Heads Up, an Android safety tool that warned users about looking at their phones while walking, according to reporting on the move. Separately, Google is developing a Gemini-based chat feature intended to help users navigate Digital Wellbeing settings.
Android Authority found code in Digital Wellbeing beta version 1.48.975819457 that builds out a flag-guessing trivia game, complete with a three-heart life system and a high-score tracker. The outlet also noted a smaller change letting users select apps for screen-time reminders more easily, alongside earlier signs that features like walk detection may be removed in a broader app overhaul.
Code strings found in the latest Digital Wellbeing beta (v1.48.975819457.beta) reveal that Google is preparing to deprecate the 'Heads Up' feature, which warns users to watch where they're walking. The strings include an in-app alert telling users that 'walking detection is going away soon.' The opt-in feature, introduced in 2021, uses motion sensors and location data to detect walking with the screen unlocked and nudge users to look up.
A new device called Minimal Phone 2 is being positioned around statistics showing people average 186 phone pickups, 4.5 hours of screen time, and 152 notifications daily. The product's messaging frames modern smartphones as engineered to maximize engagement through feeds and alerts rather than genuine utility.
Android Authority found new code in a Digital Wellbeing beta build (version 1.47.964183037) showing Google testing a redesigned interface with a Material Expressive look. The changes include a reworked app activity dashboard, multi-app selection for setting shared daily timers, and a restructured Bedtime mode that removes collapsible sections and reorders elements like Bedtime routine and Weekly average.
Code strings found in a beta version of Google's Digital Wellbeing app reveal an in-development feature called Weekly wrap, which would send users a notification summarizing their phone usage over the past week. Rather than requiring users to manually check screen-time stats, the tool would proactively surface personalized insights based on existing usage data, likely powered by Gemini Nano.
In testimony from an ongoing lawsuit filed by 29 states against Meta, a former company data scientist revealed that only about 0.165% to 0.2% of teens actually used Instagram's Take a Break feature when it was opt-in, despite Meta previously claiming 90% adoption. The tool, meant to nudge users to pause after extended app use, is now enabled by default for teen accounts following the criticism.