To think about life
This new app will help you cut down on screentime and spend more time enjoying the real world
that comes to about 27p for every 60 minutes regained. Which sounds like a bargain to me.
It’s very careful, though, not to fall into the trap of making you feel as if all your phone usage is bad. Your phone can be an essential tool that helps you find your way around, get work done, even order your dinner.
Moment knows we want to do all these things, but wants to help us find the right balance, so our usage is not unhealthy.
At the heart of it are two big numbers – the number of times you pick up your phone, and the time spent staring at the screen.
You can pick and choose which apps are not included in screen time, too, so if you use navigation in Maps for a couple of hours you might want to turn off Maps as a source of screen time – that’s healthy phone usage.
The system is very flexible and allows you to work at your own pace, but there are reminders when you stray beyond your goal to help to keep you on track. Day by day you should find yourself using your phone less, and in a more mindful and focussed way.
There’s also a coach to guide you towards the kind of usage you think is healthy for you, and the ability to link up other phones to a family group, with which you can schedule down time.
It’s more interactive than the built-in tools, and the friendly tone of the reminders makes you feel like it’s helping rather than judging, which goes a long way to convincing you to take the advice on board.
I’d urge you to give it a go, even if you don’t think you use your phone too much – this app might surprise you, but gives you all the tools you need to get back to the moments that happen in real life, away from your glowing screen.