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Do you regularly scroll YouTube Shorts for hours? A new timer feature may help you stop.
This optional feature allows you to set daily viewing time limits for Shorts. Once you reach that limit, you'll receive a pop-up prompting you to take a break. You can dismiss the alert if you want to continue watching, but the aim is to remind you how long you’ve been mindlessly scrolling.
YouTube confirmed development of this feature in April after Android Authority spotted a version of it in the app's files. It's now rolling out on phones and tablets, TechCrunch reports; it may take some time to hit your account. Shorts-specific parental controls are expected next year.
You've been able to set up break reminders on the overall YouTube app since 2018. Its Take a break feature offers dismissible timers for every 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 minutes. YouTube also has built-in bedtime reminders. A useful element of that feature lets you tell YouTube to wait until the end of the current video before reminders appear on the screen.
Rivals like TikTok and Instagram have similar digital well-being features built in, while Apple and Google offer OS-level break reminders, too.