How To Check Average Screen Time Iphone

For many, smartphones have become our world. And some people are downright addicted to technology. Both Apple and Google understand this problem and have added digital wellness tools to their software. The Screen Time feature, present across most Apple devices, shows you detailed statistics for how you spend time on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Once you've seen the data and realized how much you use your phone, you can use new tools to limit the time you spend in certain apps and on your iPhone in general. Let's take a look at how to use Screen Time on your iPhone.

What Is Screen Time?

Screen Time is Apple's digital wellness feature that tracks your device usage throughout the day. It presents a summary of how much time you spent on your device in a day (or in a week), which apps you used the most, and more. The graphical representation of your usage makes it easy to assess and reduce your iPhone usage.

Screen Time is present on iPhones, iPads, and Macs and can be used for a variety of functions, including parental restrictions and app time restrictions.

How to Use Screen Time

Screen Time can be accessed using your device's Settings. Open up the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and select Screen Time.

You should see an overview of your device usage here. Tapping on the See All Activity tab will give you a breakdown of your weekly usage. The total time spent is shown at the top, along with a graph showing the periods when your device was active. The usage breaks down into categories like Social Networking, Productivity, Entertainment, Reading & Reference, and more.

Scroll down and you'll see your most-used apps for the day or the week. Here, you can figure out which apps you spend the most time on. Tap Show Categories to switch to the categories view, or tap an app or a category for a detailed view. This shows you a detailed breakdown of your usage. The day view breaks down your usage by the hour. In the week view, you can see the usage on a day-to-day basis, along with the daily average, and the total notifications you received during the week.

Customize Downtime With Screen Time

The Downtime feature in Screen Time lets you set aside some time during your day when you're not going to use your device. Downtime is meant to discourage iPhone or iPad usage during a specific time period and is best used in the evening (for family time) or during sleeping hours. However, it can also be used to reduce iPhone use during other times, such as meals or while at work.

When Downtime is on, the only apps that will be available are those that you choose to allow and the Phone app. To enable Downtime on your iPhone, follow the steps below:

In the Screen Time settings page, tap on Downtime.
Toggle the Downtime switch to On and customize the time you want Downtime to be enabled.
To customize the apps you want to be enabled during Downtime, tap on the Always Allowed section on the Screen Time page.
Add any apps you want to remain enabled during Downtime by tapping on the green plus (+) sign next to the app name.

That's it! You can now use Downtime to try to curtail your phone usage during your specified time. If you have other iOS devices that are signed in to iCloud using the same Apple ID as your iPhone, the Downtime settings will apply for all of those devices by default. To disable this, simply toggle the Share Across Devices feature in Screen Time.

Customize App Limits With Screen Time

You can also customize individual app time limits with Screen Time. This can allow you to limit specific app usage, such as spending excessive time on social media apps. You can set daily time limits for individual apps or app categories as you prefer.

To set app time limits on your iPhone:

In Screen Time, tap on App Limits.
Select Add Limit.
From the app list, select a specific category using the checkbox on the left, or click on the arrow to expand the list and select a specific app to set a limit for.
Tap on Next, and set the daily time allowance for the app.
Tap on Done, and you should see the limit appear.

Once the daily time limit has been exceeded, the app will automatically close with a time limit warning, and won't be accessible till the next day (the limit resets at midnight) The relevant app will appear grayed out on the Home Screen and you'll see an hourglass icon next to the app's name.

When you tap on it, iOS will show you a splash screen that says that you've reached the time limit for the day. If you have a Screen Time password set (more on that later), you can tap on the Ignore Limit button, choose to snooze the feature for 15 minutes, or disable it entirely for the day. You'll need to enter the password for ignoring the app time limit or disabling it.

Customize Communication Limits With Screen Time

Another useful feature of Screen Time allows you to set separate limits for communication apps (Phone, Messages, FaceTime, and so on) during normal usage or Downtime. Using this you can set parental controls for your child to limit excessive time spent communicating on their device app. To do this:

Tap on the Communication Limits section in Screen Time.
You'll see two options here to either limit communication in normal usage (Screen Time) or during Downtime.
Depending on which one you choose, you can set specific groups or contacts to allow or deny communication with.

Set Content and Privacy Restrictions With Screen Time

The Content and Privacy Restrictions setting allows you to restrict specific content and setting changes on your device. This is more geared towards parental controls, limiting the type of content a child can see and access on the device.

To find these options, follow these steps:

Select the Content & Privacy Restrictions tab in Screen Time.
Enable the toggle for Content & Privacy Restrictions at the top.
Browse through the available options to set specific content and privacy restrictions. For example, Web Content in Content Restrictions allows you to restrict Adult content in Safari or only allow specific websites. Similarly, Privacy Restrictions allow you to disable password changes, account changes, etc.

Set a Screen Time Password

Once you're done fine-tuning all the Screen Time settings, we recommend setting a password for the feature. This ensures that no one can change your settings without your permission. Having a Screen Time password is also essential for parental controls so that your children don't find a way around your restrictions.

To set a password, select the option to Use Screen Time Passcode from the Screen Time settings. Set a unique four-digit code here, which you can use later to change the settings or extend a time limit for an app. You'll also need to enter your Apple ID username and password as a recovery measure—you can use this to reset your Screen Time password should you ever forget it.

Using Screen Time for Self-Control

Screen Time is a very useful feature for those looking to reduce and take control of their device usage. If you're in a Family Sharing group, you can use the Screen Time feature to set App Limits and Downtime for a child's device as well, which can be an effective parental control measure.

How to Use Family Sharing to Monitor Your Child's iPhone

We show you how to use Family Sharing to set up parental controls on your child's iPhone.