Facebook, Instagram Apps Getting Screen Time-like Activity Management

Facebook is following Apple’s lead and adding activity monitoring tools to its Facebook and Instagram apps. The features are similar to the Screen Time controls in iOS 12, which is shipping this fall.

The new time management tools coming to Facebook and Instagram

Facebook said in a blog post,

Today we are announcing new tools to help people manage their time on Facebook and Instagram: an activity dashboard, a daily reminder and a new way to limit notifications. We developed these tools based on collaboration and inspiration from leading mental health experts and organizations, academics, our own extensive research and feedback from our community.

The new Facebook and Instagram tools let you set a maximum time you want to spend in the apps each day and see an alert when you exceed your limit. You can also mute notifications for up to eight hours to help avoid the temptation to use the apps as often. The new features include charts showing how much time you’re spending in each app.

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Controls for the time management features are in each app’s settings. Go to Settings > Your Time on Facebook in the Facebook app, and Settings > Your Activity in the Instagram app.

Facebook says the new features will be available in both apps soon. Facebook and Instagram are free downloads at Apple’s App Store.

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