Since Digital Wellbeing launched in 2018, Google’s company-wide initiative to help manage device usage has seen a number of updates. The latest for Android is focused on helping you get more sleep through a new “Bedtime” hub in the Google Clock app.
Digital Wellbeing has always been able to automatically initiate Do Not Disturb and/or Grayscale. It’s now called “Bedtime mode” and can be enabled when plugged-in to charge within your pre-defined hours. There’s also a Quick Settings toggle to initiate without having to visit the full preferences page.
The biggest additions today are found in Google Clock thanks to a new “Bedtime” tab — as part of a bottom bar redesign — where you can set daily sleep and wake times. As that schedule nears, you can be prompted by a notification and have “calming sounds” from YouTube Music, Spotify, Calm, or other third-party services play.
During your intended slumber, the app can make sure you’re actually asleep. A “Recent bedtime activity” feature will factor your screen time (from Digital Wellbeing) and estimate your time spent in bed. This is based on whether your phone stays still in a dark room during those those set hours. You’ll have to explicitly grant the Clock app access to motion and light detection.
On the flip side, Google Clock will help you wake up with a Sunrise Alarm. Pixel owners with the Pixel Stand know this feature as a gentle light show, of sorts, that brightens their screens so the audio alarm isn’t so stark. Over the course of 15 minutes, the screen will transition from black to red, orange, and finally yellow. There’s also a large clock on screen and button to “Dismiss alarm” at any time. At the end, you can turn off or snooze.
The Sunrise Alarm is now part of Google Clock and does not require your phone to be charging. This deeper integration, along with the other Bedtime features, is coming first to Pixel devices, but will be available on other Android devices “later this summer.”
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