TikTok improved screen time feature helps you determine how long you spend on the app

Video streaming platform, TikTok has released an enhanced feature tool to help users manage their screen time, including a new and accessible in-app dashboard tool that displays the social app’s usage statistics for users.

This is not the first time the social app has worked to improve the digital well-being of its users by helping with limits.

In 2019, TikTok announced a screen time control function to enable users to set time limitations on how much time they spend on the app. In 2020, they introduced the Family Safety Mode, which allows parents to control their teen’s TikTok feed.

With over one billion active members, TikTok was voted the third largest social network in the world in 2019. It was the most downloaded app of all time in 2021, and also listed as the sixth most popular app, the only one not owned by Meta.

As a result, they are on a quest to regulate and encourage the digital well-being of their ever-expanding community.

The growing TikTok fame

The pandemic has demonstrated that the world can adapt to a digital age. It is almost as if the world exists within our smartphones as our lifestyle is often centred on swipes and taps, which could be an outcome of the influence of social media platforms.

Despite the numerous social media platforms available, some of these apps often surprisingly exceed expectations and go viral, resulting in tremendous growth; in this case, TikTok.

Since then, many people have become obsessively addicted to TikTok, which has nearly taken away most of their attention from other entertainment activities such as watching TV/news, reading, and even streaming videos. TikTok has been around since 2016, but it gained popularity in 2018 and spiked during the pandemic.

According to a survey published by Statista in April 2021, 6 per cent of TikTok users spend more than 10 hours per week on the platform, while 11 per cent spend between 5 and 6 hours per week.

However, many people have labelled the app as addictive and distracting, while others regard it as a waste of time. As a result, the social app, which is known for being proactive in developing new features or tools for its users, has released a community guideline aimed at promoting digital wellbeing.

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New features rolling in on Tik Tok

This new tool aims at providing users more control over how and when they utilize the app. It will also give them the option of controlling how much time they spend on the app in a single sitting by allowing them to take screen time breaks.

A new screen time dashboard for users’ data is also being launched by the social app. This will give them a breakdown of how much time they spend on TikTok, as well as a thorough overview of their daily time spent on the app, including the number of times users visited the app. Depending on the customers’ preferences, this dashboard can be viewed weekly.

The social media platform also plans to launch a feature for its younger users that will allow them to set a daily screen time limit of 100 minutes. This could be due to allegations levelled against TikTok and its competitors, such as Snapchat, last year over the influence the apps have on young youths, who are slowly gaining control of these social media platforms.

In addition, this year, US Senate legislators introduced a bill that would extend research on social media addiction and provide a way of safety, particularly for younger users.

This could be TikTok’s way of supporting the law, as they want to encourage their users to be more careful of how they spend their time online and to think more holistically about it. The social media platform expects that these new tools will assist users in establishing boundaries and personal limits that are appropriate for them while maintaining their digital well-being.