Science
Dima Tsyrenschikov / Strelka Institute/Attribution License/Flickr
- Google's Focus Mode for Android, which lets you temporarily pause certain apps, has officially launched.
- The feature was previously in beta and was announced earlier this year.
- It's part of Google's effort to cut down on unintentional smartphone use, a product manager at the company said.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Google is launching a new feature for Android devices on Wednesday designed to prevent you from being consistently distracted by your smartphone.
The feature, called Focus Mode, was announced earlier this year and was previously in beta mode.
Focus Mode makes it possible to temporarily silence apps that you find distracting - such as social media and email apps - and re-enable them once you switch off Focus Mode. If you try to open an app that's blocked while Focus Mode is turned on, your phone will remind you that the app is paused. Notifications from apps paused through Focus Mode will be muted as well.
Google is also adding a few new features to Focus Mode based on feedback it received during the beta stage, such as the ability to schedule Focus Mode to automatically activate during certain days and timeframes throughout the week.
The company is also adding the option to take a break, which is designed to make it so that you can briefly access an app you've chose to block without turning off Focus Mode completely. That could make it easier to show someone a quick Facebook photo or YouTube video without having to exit Focus Mode.
Such additions are likely just the starting point for Google when it comes to adding new capabilities to Focus Mode.
"Scheduling is what felt the most natural, but I think there's more to go with helping users figure out what are the best moments to use this," Rose La Prairie, Google's product manager overseeing the feature, told Business Insider.
Google is launching Focus Mode amidst rising concerns over our reliance on smartphones, technology, and social media. A study recently published in the journal BMC Psychiatry, for example, found that approximately one in four children and young people are demonstrating "problematic smartphone use" that mirrors behavioral addiction.
Both Google and Apple have launched new features in recent years to help combat tech addiction. The two companies launched dashboards last year that make it possible for iPhone and Android phone owners to keep closer tabs on how often they're using their mobile devices and specific apps, for instance. Apple's feature is called Screen Time, while Google refers to its suite of screen management tools as Digital Wellbeing.
Focus Mode is just the latest addition to Digital Wellbeing, and Google hopes it will prevent your phone from lighting up with distracting notifications at inopportune times.
"What we want to keep working on is how can we help your phone reflect the context and intent that you have throughout the day," La Prairie said.
The move to launch tools like Google's Focus Mode and Apple's Screen Time comes as tech giants are under increased scrutiny over the role they play in our daily lives. Google, in particular, has come under fire over the way it collects and handles consumer data and has faced accusations that its search results are biased.
While concerns over how much time we spend on our phones isn't directly related to either of those issues, features like Focus Mode are part of an effort by Google to help cut down on the unintended consequences that can come with overusing technology.
"We keep working at this goal of, 'How do you use technology intentionally?' La Prairie said. "And how do you do it in a way that feels helpful for your life?"
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