Author: Emily Dolloff

  • Screen Time

    While I run beta software on my computer, I do not yet run Beta software on my iOS devices. Screen Time was one of the features I was looking forward to (for the kids) when iOS 12 officially released last month. Regretfully, my kid’s devices are too old to run iOS 12, so that meant the test runs were up to me. I’d like to share how much I love Screen Time, but I can not. Why you ask? My reasons are obvious, it totally sells the user out on how much they do or do not use their phone!

    Joking aside, the information it collects is revealing and useful for how we use our phones. I can clearly see how much time I spend checking on the news or listening to a favorite podcast. I’ve learned I check the weather a lot and my kids sneak my phone more often than I realized to play games. Texting is clumped into social media, so if you are someone who uses messages a lot you might feel it’s not fairly accounting for your time. None the less, I do find this to be a valuable feature. Just like the fitness features of Apple Watch, what you get out of it is up to you. You can choose to look at the statistics and make changes or you can choose to just ignore them. I am someone who does both. Some weeks I’ve made conscious efforts to adjust my phone use and other weeks I pretend my phone isn’t tracking me! I do suggest that everyone gives it a try, you can easily turn it off.

    Get Started with Screen Time

    To enable Screen Time, go to Settings > Screen Time and tap Turn on Screen Time. After you see an introductory splash screen, tap This Is My iPhone to go to the main Screen Time screen.

    Two options on the lower portion of this screen help you customize Screen Time overall. Tap Use Screen Time Passcode to create another passcode that controls access to Screen Time settings and lets you extend time limits. It’s designed for parents who let their children use their devices, you could use it as a speed bump when overriding your self-defined limits. If you use both an iPhone and an iPad, enable Share Across Devices to aggregate your usage. This syncs settings between your devices. This is useful if you are trying to keep yourself honest. However, you do not need to enable this setting.

    Downtime

    To limit your usage according to a schedule, perhaps so you don’t get caught up in your favorite Netflix show before bed, tap Downtime, turn on the Downtime switch, and set start and stop times. Unfortunately, you can’t create multiple schedules for different portions of the day.

    App Limit

    When you tap App Limits and then Add Limit, Screen Time presents you with a list of categories and examples of your apps in each one. Select one or more, say Social Networking and Games, then tap Add. You can then set the amount of time you want to allow yourself overall for apps in that category. You can create multiple category limits with different amounts of allotted time. App limits can also help with Downtime because you can specify by category. This is another means of ensuring you perhaps don’t stay up later than you wish to.

    If an app category is too broad, you can limit a particular app. Tap the Screen Time graph at the top of the screen, scroll down to the Most Used section, and tap an app in the list. At the bottom of that screen, tap Add Limit and specify a time limit.

    There are a few exceptions to the apps limited by both Downtime and App Limits, regardless of your settings. The Phone app is always available, and Clock, Find my iPhone and Sarari. For other apps you never want limited, tap Allowed Apps on the main Screen Time screen, and then tap the green plus button next to any app you want to allow. Apple adds FaceTime, Maps, and Messages to the Allowed Apps list by default, but you can remove them if desired.

    Living with Screen Time

    Screen Time alerts you 5 minutes before a time limit expires and displays a Time Limit screen when time runs out. Although the point of Downtime and App Limits is to help you stop playing a game or reflexively checking Facebook, you can tap Ignore Limit to keep using the app. You can choose to ignore it for 15 minutes or just tell it to ignore it for the rest of the day. With many features, it’s all about deciding what you want to get out of it. If you find you are just always hitting ignore for the rest of the day, perhaps Screen Time isn’t right for you.

    I have only been using Screen Time for a few weeks, there are days I do choose to just ignore it and there are days I consciously adjust how I am using my phone. One of the unexpected benefits, I am finding myself using my phone more. I know, that sounds strange. However, knowing my phone is tracking my usage is subconsciously forcing me to explore forgotten apps and to remind me my phone does more than just keeping me connected.

    Give it a try, even if it’s just for a week!

  • Walkie-Talkie

    This past weekend I started using the Walkie-Talkie feature on Apple Watch and WatchOS 5. And, I must say, this is a not only a cool feature but a functional one as well. The Walkie-Talkie feature on the Apple Watch may be an overlooked feature in the latest OS, perhaps because its immediate benefits aren’t recognized. We are all used to just picking up our phones and sending a quick text to someone when we need to communicate, most of us probably do this more often than actually making a call to that someone. The messages are instantly sent, why would you need to Walkie-Talkie them?

    The big difference between Walkie-Talkie and texting, in my experience, is the instant communication no matter what you might be doing. If I am out in my barn my phone isn’t always right with me, same when Luke is in the basement working on a project. Being able to just raise our wrists and send an instant voice message is more convenient than sending and waiting for a text. Walkie-Talkie works everywhere! You can be several thousand feet away and need to send a message or you can be miles and miles apart. We have used the Walkie-Talkie feature for silly things like asking each other what our lunch plans are to working fixing a broken water line and making sure we aren’t flooding the other end of the building. Best of all, setting up Walkie-Talkie is quick and simple!

    All you need to talk with some else is to make sure they are running WatchOS5. You simply tap on Walkie-Talkie within Apple Watch. Once you have the app open, it’s as simple as hitting the + sign and adding contacts you wish to join you with Walkie-Talkie. Anyone you send an invite to will get a message on their watch asking them to confirm they want to connect with you. To talk to anyone you are connected to in Walkie-Talkie, all you need to do is select their name and then press Talk. That is all there is to it, handy!

    If you are worried about a sudden message coming through your watch when you are in a meeting or maybe sitting in the dentist chair, do not worry. You can silence alerts and make yourself unavailable as needed. There are two ways to ensure messages don’t come through when it’s inconvenient, simply go into Walkie-Talkie and toggle the available switch to off. You can also simply turn on Theater Mode or Do Not Disturb, these options ensure all communications to your watch are silent. According to Apple, just putting the watch in Silent Mode will not prevent voice communication through Walkie-Talkie. Take Walkie-Talkie for a spin.

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