The App That Can Help You Manage Phone Usage

I’m going to be super honest: my high phone usage bothers me. I struggle because both my jobs require me to be on social media (and stay ahead of the trends), regularly check emails, blah, blah blah. But it also obviously doesn’t require me to mindlessly scroll Facebook or Instagram. Sometimes I find myself suddenly on my phone scrolling, wondering how that happened. Anyone else? It’s scary how it’s my subconscious default.

There are so many conversations about the negative use of screens for children that you’d have to assume there are similar correlations for adults. I know excessive social media use can lead to depression, and younger generations are having a tough time communicating face-to-face after defaulting to doing so between devices. Managing my phone usage, which doesn’t even include the time I’m on a desktop computer, feels necessary.

By the way, I should mention that this isn’t a sponsored post, though even if it was, I’d be equally as excited to share this with you.

Do you also wonder how much time you spend on your phone… like really spend on your phone?  I was really curious — good, bad or ugly (I was prepared for ugly) — so I found and downloaded the app, Moments.

This free app basically hangs in the background of your phone, tracks your  phone usage, and then can show you daily use. For weekly snapshots of how many hours, plus how much you’re using what apps and programs, the app walks you through how to screen shot your app usage.

Here’s my week at a glace so show you what it looks like. Must say that I’m a little embarrassed that I’m showing you my daily stats… it’s like a girl who is embarrassed to share her weight!

Phone Usage App, Moments:

Yikes… four to five hours daily. I’ve had days as low as just under two hours, and one or two or three closing on six hours, similar to Oct. 4. On those days I’m often doing more photo editing or blog planning, but still. Way too high.

As you can see at the bottom of the app it shows you screen time, and then you can insights offers you additional details on a daily and weekly basis like how much of your waking life you use your phone, how many “pickups” you’ve had, your most used app and more.

When it comes to usage, everyone can be different. For example, your phone usage might spike but you’re watching a TV show while at the gym or traveling. Conversely, I’ve found it doesn’t tally time if I’m listening to a podcast via car Bluetooth or my aipods.

As I mentioned the app is free, though you can unlock a premium service for $3.99 that enables you to set daily limits, participate in a phone bootcamp or get tiny reminders to put down the phone or reduce usage.

And, if you’re equally a little worried about device usage for your whole family, they have Moments Family (just discovered this but really want to try!), where you can monitor screen usage for the entire family and even set screen-free time, or how much time a specific device can have. I need this in our life.

So what do you think? Would you be game for testing this out? Think you can handle the truth? 😉

By the way, thought this was an interesting article if you’re curious about setting screen limits for adults.

photo credit: Heather Holt