Last week, Digital Wellbeing 1.0 began rolling out to the beta channel of users who have been testing the features since the August launch of Android 9 Pie. Google’s take on “time well spent” is now available for all Google Pixel phones and Android One devices.
Announced at I/O 2018 as a company-wide initiative, Digital Wellbeing is an important pillar for Google. It has since rolled out to YouTube and Google Calendar, while at the 10/9 hardware event it launched on Google Home.
On Android, Digital Wellbeing is now hitting version 1.0 and it provides a dashboard of device usage. Users can see how often they use certain apps with Screen time, while the number of notifications they receive and how often a phone is unlocked throughout the day are also measured. App timers allow you to restrict application usage to a specified amount of time each day.
With Wind Down, Google wants to help users stop using their devices before bed. It is essentially Do Not Disturb to limit notifications with the added ability of making your screen black and white with Grayscale. On the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, users can automatically flip their phone so the screen is laying flat to automatically enable DND.
In recent months, Google tweaked functionality and added a launcher and quick settings icon for faster access. Existing users will notice that the beta label in the top-right corner has been removed throughout the dashboard. Overall, it is an insightful series of charts that most importantly puts all the key settings together.
Digital Wellbeing 1.0 is rolling out now via the Play Store and is available to download without joining the public beta program. The full release notes are below:
- Digital Wellbeing is now out of beta and available on all Google Pixel and Android One devices with Android 9.0 Pie
- Wind Down now turns off at your set time or next alarm, whichever comes first
- Improvements to Digital Wellbeing’s Back button behavior
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