Continuing with their digital wellbeing efforts, Google has come up with a slew of new apps all designed to make users less addicted to their smartphones. The apps aim to achieve that by making users aware of the number of times they have unlocked their phones in a day or how many apps they have launched and so on.
For instance, there is the Unlock Clock that would display on the home screen in perhaps the maximum size possible the number of times the user has unblocked his or her phone during the day. Users, of course, have the option to set the app as the live wallpaper so that the info is displayed on the screen and gets incremented each time the phone is unlocked.
Desert Island is another such app which, interestingly mimics the classic game of the same name and will let the user choose a clutch of apps – 7 at the most – that the user is supposed to need the most. Desert Island will then start a 24-hour challenge to see if you have stuck your use of the smartphone limited to those seven apps or have used any other app in between.
Post Box too is part of the Digital Wellbeing bouquet of app offerings which aims to limit the user’s exposure to notifications. Drawing its analogy with the physical post boxes of yore, the new digital Post Box, as Google conceived it to be, will serve as a place holder of sorts of all notifications that arrives on the smartphone.
The notifications will then be served to the users at a time they feel convenient, which could be either on a single time of the day or during four occasions. However, there always is the provision to break from the same and see any notification that the user feels are important and should be attended immediately.
Morph is another way for Google to promote Digital Wellbeing by limiting you to use only a set of apps that it feels is most relevant to you depending on the time of the day. For instance, during working hours, there is a higher probability of Morp which, essentially is an Android launcher, to serve you apps that will help in your work. Similarly, you might be served entertainment apps during leisure periods, and so on.
We Flip too is yet another app and the last among the latest series of Well Being app that Google introduced in the Play Store. Going much by its naming, We Flip is relevant in a group scenario where all members essentially flip the switch to start a session. Anyone unlocking their phone will end the session. This way, the app is out to promote group interactivity while relying less on tech during the time.
All the above-mentioned apps are currently available on Play Store for download on devices running Android 7.0 or later versions.
