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Here’s a fun game: Pull up your YouTube app, tap on your user icon, then the gear for Settings, and then Time management. Do you like what you see there in the graph of your daily viewing habits, or are you immediately uncomfortable? If your streaming has gotten a little out of hand, we might have some good news for you, as we spot what could be early work towards a new YouTube tool for setting time limits.
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Google already gives us numerous options for limiting bad habits with apps — YouTube included. Probably the biggest there is Digital Wellbeing, which lets us set screen time limits for whichever apps we choose. Within YouTube itself we also already have tools, like reminders to take a break or get ready for bed. There’s even a time-limit option dedicated to Shorts.
Looking at the changes present in version 21.44.534-BETA of the YouTube app for Android, we find some newly added text strings that seem to reference an additional, broader time limit:
It’s that final entry there that really emphasizes that we’re talking about a time limit that’s distinct from the existing Shorts limit — while Shorts viewing would still be counted here, this new limit appears meant to include any and all YouTube streaming.
We suppose you could argue that this option is redundant before it’s even rolled out, but just as it’s convenient to have those Shorts controls right within YouTube itself, this could prove to be a handy shortcut for users who maybe see that they have a bit of a YouTube problem, but don’t yet want to bother messing with everything Digital Wellbeing.
Right now, we’re only just scratching the surface of what Google’s putting together here, and still have plenty of questions — will we get the same sort of time limit options we have now with Shorts, or could Google have an alternate interface in mind, perhaps to account for longer-format videos? And just how hard of a limit are we even talking about? Will we be able to just tap through and keep watching? Hopefully we’ll spot some further progress soon, and be able to start filling in some of those blanks.
