{"id":586225,"date":"2026-08-07T18:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586225\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T18:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T18:06:10","slug":"these-are-the-best-phone-settings-to-use-to-stop-doomscrolling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/586225\/","title":{"rendered":"These Are the Best Phone Settings to Use to Stop Doomscrolling"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re all guilty of doing it: You pick up your phone<\/a> to answer a quick text or check the weather, and suddenly you\u2019ve wasted two hours scrolling on social media. All this time adds up; more than half (57%) of US adults are spending at least 5 hours per day looking at their phones, a 2025 YouGov survey<\/a> found. That\u2019s not good for our physical or mental health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Breaking the cycle doesn\u2019t mean giving up your devices entirely, but it does require setting firmer boundaries. By using built-in wellness tools on your phone and laptop, you can cap your daily usage and reclaim your focus. Taking control of your screen time is the simplest way to protect your health and stop the digital world from draining your energy.<\/p>\n

If you want to limit your screen time<\/a> or stop doomscrolling, both Apple<\/a> and Google<\/a>\u00a0have digital well-being features to help you disconnect. Newer generations of software,\u00a0iOS 26<\/a> and Android 16<\/a>, have added even more features that can help you put down your phone.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll walk through how to take advantage of the digital wellness settings on Apple and Android devices, including how to set up app timers, downtime and bedtime mode. For more, check out these essential iPhone and iPad parental controls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Set up app timers on iPhone, iPad and Mac<\/p>\n

\"Tech<\/a><\/p>\n

You can set up app timers on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. By adding a timer to apps in your settings, you\u2019re giving yourself an allotted amount of time on each app \u2014 once time is up, Apple will stop your scroll and alert you that it\u2019s time to log off.<\/p>\n

Before you begin, it\u2019s important that you have screen time notifications allowed. Check this setting under Settings > Notifications > Screen Time and ensure you have enabled Allow Notifications and Time Sensitive Notifications.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to create time limits for your apps on your iPhone, iPad and Mac:<\/p>\n

Open your iPhone, iPad or Mac\u2019s Settings and tap Screen Time.<\/p>\n

Tap App Limits.<\/p>\n

Tap Add Limit.<\/p>\n

Select the individual or categories of apps you want to set timers for.<\/p>\n

Tap Next in the upper-right corner.<\/p>\n

Scroll and set the amount of time you want to allow yourself on each app.<\/p>\n

Tap Customize Days if you want to customize your limit\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n

Tap Add in the upper right corner.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

This is what it looks like when you are in an app when time is up (left) and the view from your home screen after (right).<\/p>\n

Screenshots by Katelyn Chedraoui\/CNET<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re approaching your set time limit, Apple will send you a notification when you\u2019ve got 5 minutes remaining. After you hit your limit, the app stops whatever it\u2019s doing and presents you with a new screen that prompts you to tap OK to exit the app. If you\u2019re doing something particularly urgent, you can tap Ignore Limit below. After you\u2019ve hit your limit for the day, the app will appear grayed out on your home screen with an empty timer next to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more: This App Blocks Your Social Media Until You (Literally) Touch Grass<\/a><\/p>\n

Set up downtime on iPhone, iPad and Mac<\/p>\n

Another way to limit your screen time on Apple devices is to schedule downtime. Downtime is just what it sounds like \u2014 time to put down your device and do something else. This setting will alert you once your chosen rest period begins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to set up downtime:<\/p>\n

Open your iPhone, iPad or Mac\u2019s Settings and tap Screen Time.<\/p>\n

Tap Downtime.<\/p>\n

Toggle on the widget next to Scheduled.<\/p>\n

Set your downtime schedule.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

Set up app timers and bedtime mode on your Android phone now.<\/p>\n

Screenshots by Moe Long\/CNET<\/p>\n

Set up app timers on Android phones and computers<\/p>\n

If you have a Google Pixel<\/a>, Samsung Galaxy<\/a> or another Android smartphone, you can set up time limits for each app as well. These settings give you the same options as Apple to set an allotment of time you can spend on each app. Here\u2019s how to set them up.<\/p>\n

Open your Android\u2019s Settings.<\/p>\n

Tap Digital wellbeing and parental controls.<\/p>\n

Tap the screen time graph.<\/p>\n

Find the app you want to set a limit for.<\/p>\n

Tap the hourglass icon next to the app you want to set a limit for.<\/p>\n

Set the amount of time you want to give yourself on each app.<\/p>\n

Tap OK.<\/p>\n

App timers on Android phones reset each day at midnight.<\/p>\n

Read more: Looking Down at Your Phone is Distressing Your Neck. Here\u2019s How to Correct Tech Neck<\/a><\/p>\n

Set up bedtime mode on Android phones, tablets and Chromebooks<\/p>\n

You can also limit your screen time by establishing a bedtime routine for your Android. This will alert you when it\u2019s time to put your device down for the night according to your schedule. Here\u2019s how to do this.<\/p>\n

Open your Android\u2019s Settings.<\/p>\n

Tap Digital well-being and parental controls.<\/p>\n

Tap Bedtime mode.<\/p>\n

Tap Bedtime routine.<\/p>\n

Choose whether to set a custom schedule or pick Turn on while charging, then select your desired time frame.<\/p>\n

For more about digital well-being, check out one expert\u2019s reasons to consider a social media detox<\/a> and CNET\u2019s picks for the best apps to help manage your screen time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Katelyn\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKatelyn Chedraoui\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReporter 2\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKatelyn is a reporter with CNET covering artificial intelligence, including chatbots, image and video generators. Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism. You can reach her at kchedraoui@cnet.com.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re all guilty of doing it: You pick up your phone to answer a quick text or check…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,80],"class_list":["post-586225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}