How to use the Activity Time feature on Facebook and Instagram

Facebook just added a new Screen Time-inspired section to its main application and Instagram. Here’s how you can make use of the activity time feature to find out how much time you spend on Facebook and Instagram.

Facebook and Instagram launch their own version of Screen Time 

Facebook and Instagram will now allow you to track how long you are hooked to your newsfeeds from within the app. You will not only be able to monitor how much time you spend watching dank memes and vines but also limit it.

The monitoring tool will keep a tab on the time users spend in the app and calculate an average based on this data.

You can reduce the usage time or leave it be depending on your usage statistics. Furthermore, you can also turn off notifications for a certain period of time  – from 15 minutes to 8 hours.

If necessary, you can also set a reminder about the expiration of the specified time period.

Screen time

While Mark Zuckerberg may disagree, this feature is a carbon copy of the Screen Time feature of iOS 12

Awareness of Smartphone addiction syndrome has grown exponentially and Facebook knows that. Therefore, this new addition is aimed at catering to the demands of its ever-increasing user base.

Moreover, Zuckerberg also wants to rebuild Facebook’s poor reputation as regards user privacy, which took a major hit after the Cambridge Analytics scandal.

How much time do I spend on Facebook and Instagram?

Facebook

  • Open Facebook.
  • Go to Settings and select the Your Time On Facebook option.
  • Tap Set Daily Reminder under the “Manage Your Time” section. You can now set the reminder alert to appear after you’ve used Facebook for the desired amount of time.
  • Tap Notification Settings to access the push notification settings. You can either mute the notification completely or you can mute them for a specific period of time (say 15 minutes).

Instagram

Fundamentally, the activity tracking system for Instagram is no different than that of Facebook. You can set reminders for the expiration time, mute push notifications, and estimate your average usage time for the week.

  • Open Instagram.
  • Go to Settings and select the Your Activity option.
  • Tap Set Daily Reminder to ensure the app reminds you once you exceed the specified usage time.
  • Tap Notification Settings to mute push notifications altogether or disable them only for a pre-specified time window.

Wrapping up 

That’s pretty much it! Once the sleep time (the time away from these apps) is reached, you will receive a push notification.

Remember, reminders will not stop you from using the app. If you want to totally lock your app down, you must resort to iOS 12’s native screen time option.

Also, the “Activity” or “Time” section may not appear on your device immediately. The reason being the update is still new and will be distributed gradually to all users. Just make sure you are on the latest version and you will be good to go.

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