“Wait! you’ve been scrolling for too long now.” The quote most likely prompted a Pavlovian response to swipe up and away from the “take a break” tiktok video as quickly as possible to get back on track for your page. The video-sharing app introduced these screen time prompts in February 2020, just before millions of people had nothing to do but go on TikTok. in the two years since then, an hour or five on tiktok has become an inextricable part of many people’s daily routines.
Now, in an effort to make it easier to stop scrolling, TikTok is introducing a new Screen Time reminder setting and a Screen Time dashboard. as features roll out in the coming weeks, you will be able to set screen time breaks at any interval you see fit; once you have spent so much time in the app continuously, you will be asked to log out for a moment. The screen time dashboard will break down how much time you spend on tiktok at night and during the day, as well as your weekly totals and the number of times you’ve opened the app. You can also set reminders to check your screen time on a weekly basis. these features are in addition to tiktok’s existing daily screen time limits, introduced in 2019.
“Having a positive relationship with digital devices and applications is not just about measuring screen time, it is also about being in control of how we use technology and ensuring that the time we spend online contributes positively to our sense of well-being,” Jordan Furlong, tiktok’s digital wellbeing product manager, wrote in a blog post announcing the new features. the app will also specifically ask users between the ages of 13 and 17 to set up these tools if they spend more than 100 minutes in the app per day. (that’s a little over an hour and a half, in case you’re wondering how much is too long on tiktok).
ready to cut the cord on your page? here is everything you need to know to manage your screen time on tiktok.
how to set screen time limits on tiktok
to set limits on how much time you spend on tiktok in total, you can go to your profile, click the hamburger menu in the top right, tap settings, then select “digital wellbeing” which has an icon umbrella next to him. Click “Daily Screen Time” and choose how much time you’d like to spend on TikTok each day: 40, 60, 90, or 120 minutes. making or editing videos counts towards your total. once you hit your time limit, you’ll need to enter a four-digit passcode (that you set up in the app) to get back to scrolling.
how to set tiktok screen time breaks
in the same “digital wellbeing” tab, click on “screen time breaks.” choose between 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes or a custom time to remind you to turn off your phone. you can also snooze your reminders here. these reminders will appear as text popups, not the “take a break” videos that are easier to skip through. if you don’t see this option, please note that features are rolling out gradually, so it may not be in your configuration yet.
how to see your screen time panel on tiktok
Your Screen Time dashboard will automatically appear at the bottom of the Digital Wellbeing tab in your Settings. Scroll down to see how much time you spent on tiktok at night compared to the day, as well as how much time you spent in total during the week. you can also click to see a breakdown of how many times you opened the app. try not to get too horrified.
