Digital wellbeing is important; we could all probably stand to use our phones a little less. Me included. However, Google has just launched two new digital wellbeing apps for Android smartphones and quite frankly, they're too much.
The first of these is the less egregious of the pair. Dubbed Activity Bubbles, the app takes over your wallpaper with, well, bubbles. Every time you unlock your device, it adds a new bubble. The longer you keep using your phone in that session, the larger it grows, until you lock your phone again. At the end of the day, you'll end up with a sort of abstract bit of "art" based on your daily usage. Cute. Kinda?
Screen Stopwatch, Google's other new wellbeing app, is officially A Lot. As the name might suggest, the app replaces your wallpaper with a timer that ticks up every second you're using your phone. Every. Single. Second.
As much as I should try and foster better smartphone usage habits, I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. The thought of every single second of time I spend using my smartphone being tallied right in front of my eyes makes me shiver. Every tick another less-than-subtle suggestion that I should be doing something else with my time. I can't tell you just how much I hate it.
Sure, data is great. I've got the kind of brain that gets off on analytics. Being able to quantify whatever task you're doing is a great way to change habits, find motivation, or measure performance - as with fitness trackers.
If I want to check out my phone usage, I've got the digital wellbeing tools built into the latest versions of Android and iOS. If I feel like I'm using a certain app too much, I can use them to try and change my habits. I can easily set reminders that tell me when I've wasted too much time on Twitter or TikTok.
An unrelenting tick would break me. It would straight up drive me insane, like a sound in your walls you just can't rid of. I don't want to feel anxious because I spent too long replying to a message. I don't want to feel guilty because I read an ebook instead of a paperback. I don't need a constant reminder that technology is rotting my brain foisted upon me by the same people who made my Pixel 4.
After all, tech companies attempting pivoting to digital wellness is a tad ironic. They want to sell us shiny new phones, but they also want us to feel bad about using them? It's like trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
Alex Choros
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