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Google could soon help you snap out of a binge session with Digital Wellbeing (APK teardown)
- Google’s Digital Wellbeing app could soon get a “Mindful Nudge reminder” feature.
- This feature lets you select apps to show a reminder when you exceed a certain usage duration for them.
- Mindful Nudge reminder is not currently live, but it could roll out in the future.
Our Android flagships have become so great that we often lose track of time when we use them. Between streaming apps, social media apps, games, and more, it’s a constant battle for your attention, and often, the only person losing the fight is your productive work. Google introduced Digital Wellbeing features to help people use their phones less wastefully and more mindfully, and the company could soon add a nudge feature that could remind you when you spend too much time on an app.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Digital Wellbeing v1.19.688167517.beta includes several strings pointing to a new feature called “Mindful Nudge reminder.” Here are some of them:
<string name="nudge_announcement_with_prefix">Mindful Nudge reminder: %1$s in %2$s</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge">Mindful Nudge</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_dialog_exclusion_check_box_label">Don't show for this app</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_dialog_settings_button_label">Settings</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_dialog_title">You've used %1$s for %2$s recently</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_disabled">Off</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_enabled">On</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_max_apps_dialog_message">To enable screen time reminders for new apps, you'll need to disable some existing ones.</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_max_apps_dialog_title">Can't use screen time reminders</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_max_apps_warning_card_description">You've reached the %1$d app limit for screen time reminders. To receive reminders for new apps, remove apps that you no longer need.</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_onboarding_additional_label">You can tap the reminder for more info or to stop showing it for that app.</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_onboarding_label">Get occasional reminders that show how much time you're spending in an app.</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_onboarding_title">Stay in control of your screen time with Mindful Nudge</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_onboarding_turn_on">Turn on</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_overlay_description">Used for %1$s</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_settings_app_exclusion_list_title">Apps that don't show reminder</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_settings_app_inclusion_list_title">Apps that show reminder</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_settings_label">Get a reminder that shows how much time you've spent in an app recently</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_toggle_label">Use Mindful Nudge</string>There are also similar strings for a “v2.” The v2 strings could indicate that one set of these strings is reserved for Pixel devices, and the other could be for other Android devices that ship with Digital Wellbeing preinstalled, though this is a guess on our end.
<string name="nudge_announcement_with_prefix_v2">Mindful Nudge reminder: You've been on %1$s for %2$s</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_dialog_exclusion_check_box_label_v2">Don't show reminders for this app</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_dialog_settings_button_label_v2">Reminder settings</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_dialog_title_v2">You've used %1$s for %2$s</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_onboarding_label_v2">Get occasional reminders that show how much time you're spending on the app.</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_onboarding_title_v2">Stay in control of your digital habits with screen time reminders</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_settings_app_exclusion_list_title_v2">Apps that don't show reminder</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_settings_label_v2">Get gentle reminders when you're spending a long time in an app</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_toggle_label_v2">Use reminders</string>
<string name="mindful_nudge_v2">Screen time reminders</string>Google appears to be interchangeably using “Mindful Nudge” and “Reminders” in some places, so the feature’s name may not have been finalized yet.
From the strings, we can deduce how the function could work when it goes live. There is likely to be a separate section for Mindful Nudge reminders in the Digital Wellbeing app, where you will be able to enable them for specific apps. The number of apps you can enable appears to be limited, and you might have to remove the reminders for some apps once you cross a threshold and want to add them for new apps.
Once enabled, users are likely to receive reminders or nudges, showing that they have been browsing the set app for some time. This should help break wasteful binge sessions and snap users back to reality. As you can see in the screenshot, you will be able to tap on the reminder for more information or choose to stop showing it for that app.
Apple has robust Screen Time features on iOS and ecosystem devices, including stricter per-app limits. Digital Wellbeing is going the softer route with Mindful Nudges, but it has other tools like Screen Time and Focus mode that you could use if you want stricter app limits.
Mindful nudge reminders are not currently live within the Digital Wellbeing app. Given their utility, we hope they go live soon.