‘Pause Point’ is the Digital Wellbeing upgrade Google’s needed to deliver for years

It’s been nearly a decade since Google launched its suite of Digital Wellbeing tools on Android, but despite the occasional upgrade, I’m not sure how much its app timers and dashboard displays ever caught on with the general public. This year, Google is giving Digital Wellbeing a much-needed boost with Pause Point, which goes well beyond an app timer to deliver an experience that feels much more in line with modern times.

Pause Point, at its core, is a reworking of the general app timer experience you’ve probably ignored since 2018. Rather than setting up timers ahead of time — with the hope that your willpower is capable of holding strong — Pause Point leans into the present. You simply designate apps that you find distracting, and rather than applying a one-size-fits-all timer, Android will briefly offer you the ability to opt out of opening the app with a handful of options, including breathing exercises, photo slideshows pulled from your memories, and in-the-moment app timers.

Although it might sound silly on its face, I’ve been waiting for an upgrade to Digital Wellbeing for a long time, and this sounds like a solid starting place. Being reminded in the moment with actual alternate activities or apps — even as simple as a breathing exercise — is certainly better than getting immediately blocked from your habitual applications. It even makes app timers feel a little more useful, since you won’t need to bypass one to open apps during moments where time wasters actually fit the moment, like in the waiting room at your doctor’s office.

Google tells us this addition is all about ensuring a user’s decision is made with “intention,” and on its face, that appears to be the case here. Whether or not it’ll actually fit into how you use your smartphone remains to be seen, but these 10-second pauses should be enough to actually make you think for a few moments longer than some simple app timer. Plus, Google says this is just the start of more Digital Wellbeing tools coming later this year.