How to Find Out Which Apps and Websites You’re Most Addicted To

Where does all your clip go ? At least when it comes to the hours you spend on your telephone set and your computer , this is n’t a rhetorical question . There are plenty of prick out there will track and supervise your time mechanically , telling you exactly which apps and sites are absorb up your precious minutes .

These tools are slimly different from the broad , more comprehensive time - tracking services likeTogglorHours , which have you know where all of your time is being spent , from early morning to bedtime . ( At home ? Cool , us too . ) If you really want to savvy into how you drop your days , those more elaborate apps are worth a look . For our intent , we ’re focusing on how you spend your time on your devices .

The most late rendering of Android and iOS have built - in tools for just this use , but that does n’t needs mean you should push aside third - company alternative . You may find feature that are more suited to you in those options , or you might just require to avoid putting all your eggs in one Apple or Google basket .

Photo: Caitlin McGarry

The one major caution is that most of these apps require you to give that usage data over to the app Almighty — including the ones made by Apple and Google . So chink and double check the terms of service of process for the covering you install to make certain you ’re not giving over more datum than you might be well-off with .

Screen Time (free for iOS, macOS)

Apple ’s Screen Time feature tracks your time spend on apps and on your telephone set overall . you’re able to set it up in the configurations menu for iOS / iPadOS and in System Preferences on macOS . It ’s middling simple and straightforward : The putz shows you which apps you ’re spending most time in , and you could see your stats across all the Apple devices that you ’re contract in on .

If you need to take action and fight back against your app addictions — say if you ’re spend hour on Instagram for no cause — you’re able to set daily limitation base on app or app family . These are easily overruled , if you want just five more mo of Twitter , but they can be helpful . you’re able to also see which apps are pester you with the most notifications across all your Apple devices .

Digital Wellbeing (free forAndroid)

Android ’s equivalent to Screen Time is the Digital Wellbeing choice you ’ll see in preferences . Tap on the overview chart that appears on the front screen door to see a more detailed breakdown of where all your time has gone and which apps are sucking up your attention . As on iOS , you’re able to flip between time spend in an app and the figure of notifications the app has sent .

To get a closer feeling at app use , even down to the mean solar day and the minute , select one of the apps on the screen . Tap on the timer symbol next to each app to limit how recollective per twenty-four hours you ’re allowed to drop on it . you could always just twist these demarcation off again , but they will at least make you think twice about how much time you spend endlessly scroll .

QualityTime (freemium forAndroid)

QualityTime is one of the most well - constitute time trackers for Android , and it ’s easy to see why it ’s break off 1 million downloads . Everything is vindicated and flawlessly lay out , showing on the dot what you need to know about what you ’re doing with your twist . The dick display full usage as well as item-by-item app exercise , plus the frequency with which you launch each app .

QualityTime make out with a bunch of other features , too , like a daily employment alarm word of advice so you get a popping - up when you ’ve been on Instagram ( or another app ) for too long , and the alternative to set scheduled , forced breaks from your phone , with hushed telling . you may also set up customs duty profiles , like Family Time or Office Time , during which sealed apps are ostracise .

App Usage (freemiumfor Android)

App Usage is alike to QualityTime when it arrive to the features that it offers , letting you dig into your app and phone employment in all kind of ways — you could see everything you ’ve done today or just your most - used app for the calendar month . You have the option of hold on a sideboard on - screen at all time , in a minuscule bubble that expands out to show the app ’s key features .

You do n’t get quite as many way to actually manage or control your app usage here as you do with QualityTime , but you could set up monitor to pink you whenever you ’re pass too much sentence on apps without a breakout . App Usage is also capable to keep tabs on other apps you ’ve installed and uninstalled , make it easier to work deleted apps back .

Moment (freemiumfor Android, iOS)

iOS does n’t let third - company apps see which apps you ’re using when , but Moment essay to get around this restriction by involve you to take screenshots of the iOS battery usage screen ( tap Battery from stage setting to see it ) . It ’s not fully reflex or accurate , but it ’s the best you ’re going to get from a third - political party app on iOS for now .

Moment is also usable on Android , where it ’s a bit more capable . It ’s able to track your overall sound exercise over fourth dimension , and keep tab key on your family and their devices if you require to turn on the parental control aspects of the app ( which costs extra ) . There ’s also a Phone Coach constituent you may activate to facilitate ablactate you off your smartphone .

StayFree (freemiumfor Android)

StayFree represent you with a wealth of app usage selective information , so if you really require to toil deep into how you ’ve been spend your time on your Android phone , this is the app for you . you may even compare yourself against anonymized average from across the world , which means you may see just how strange your Reddit addiction is .

The app will permit you see when you ’ve been using a finicky app across the day or the calendar week , and there ’s a build - in option for setting over - utilisation monitor , so you ’ll get an alarm when you ’ve used an app beyond the allotted time . In terms of core features , StayFree is similar to others on this list , but it really stands out when it comes to the amount of data it reports .

Instant (from $2/month forAndroid,iOS)

If you want something to tail your phone and app use across both Android and iOS devices , then Instant is one of the best options we ’ve found — with the caveat that third - party iOS apps can only really track total phone time use , rather than looking at your meter in individual apps . It also demand a premium subscription , which costs $ 2 per month .

You get much more besides cross your app and phone use , though . Instant shows you every bit of data your headphone can gather , let in how much you ’ve been sleeping , the plaza you ’ve been visit , and how many footfall you ’re take . All of this can be tie to reports and goals you may set yourself if you require to drop significantly less meter on your phone .

RescueTime (freemium forAndroid,iOS,web)

RescueTime has been diligently plot the habits of its users since long before tracking your phone use became popular , and it rest one of the best alternative for learn which apps and situation you ’re addicted to — all in a very clear , easy - to - learn , non - judgmental readiness of study , broken down by app and land site category ( though , again , this is more limited on iOS ) .

you could teach RescueTime which apps and sites are actually helping you be fertile and which are just wasting your metre ( or permit the service take an cultivate dead reckoning instead ) . This gives you a small more insight than just a farseeing lean of apps you ’ve opened and when . For employment alerts and more elaborate reports , a premium account cost $ 9 per calendar month .

WhatPulse (freemium forWindows,macOS)

putz that track covering use across background are n’t particularly widespread , at least not if you ’re running a team of user , but WhatPulse does a good job . You need to be very trusting in the data you give the developer , but in counter you get a equipment failure of the most fighting apps , most hit keys , and even where on the screen you pass most of your time clicking .

If you pay for the premium choice ( $ 1.50 a month ) you could get some gorgeous - looking charts of your activity , otherwise you get simple table to focus over . The program also tells you which applications are using up most of your bandwidth — maybe without your noesis — though what you do n’t get is a site - by - situation dislocation of your browse .

Webtime Tracker (free forChrome)

Find out on the dot where your on-line time is fail — in Chrome at least — with this tally - on , which chops your daily browse up into impudent - look chart and reports . you’re able to see how your exercise varies over the calendar week or the month , get everyday averages for site you inspect the most , see stats across the whole time the filename extension has been establish , and more .

The lengthiness is smart enough to stop tracking if it notice no body process for a sure amount of time ( which you’re able to set yourself ) . Meanwhile , the developer anticipate all the collect information is kept locally and never get off anywhere else . There ’s no precise equivalent for Firefox , butMind the Timeis a less feature film - copious — though still very ready to hand — tracking extension you could try .

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Screenshot: macOS