Can you set YouTube to stop playing?

YouTube rolls out new tools to help you stop watching

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin

Googles YouTube is the first streaming app that will actually tell users to stop watching. At its Google I/O conference this week, the company introduced a series of new controls for YouTube that will allow users to set limits on their viewing, and then receive reminders telling them to take a break. The feature is rolling out now in the latest version of YouTubes app, along with others that limit YouTubes ability to send notifications, and soon, one that gives users an overview of their binge behavior so they can make better-informed decisions about their viewing habits.

With Take a Break, available from YouTubes mobile app Settings screen, users can set a reminder to appear every 15, 30, 60, 90 or 180 minutes, at which point the video will pause. You can then choose to dismiss the reminder and keep watching, or close the app.

The setting is optional, and is turned off by default, so its not likely to have a large impact on YouTube viewing time at this point.

Also new is a feature that lets you disable notification soundsduring a specified time period each day say, for example, from bedtime until the next morning. When users turn on the setting to disable notification sounds and vibrations, it will, by default, disable them from 10 PM to 8 AM local time, but this can be changed.

Combined with this is an option to get a scheduled digest of notifications as an alternative. This setting combines all the daily push notifications into a single combined notification that is sent out only once per day. This is also off by default, but can be turned on in the apps settings.

And YouTube is preparing to roll out a time watched profile that will appear in the Account menu and display your daily average watch time, and how long youve watched YouTube videos today, yesterday and over the past week, along with a set of tools to help you manage your viewing habits.

While these changes to YouTube are opt-in, its an interesting and arguably responsible position to take in terms of helping people manage their sometimes addictive behaviors around technology.

And its not the only major change Google is rolling out on the digital well-being front the company also announced a series of Android features that will help you get a better handle on how often youre using your phone and apps, and give you tools to limit distractions like a Do Not Disturb setting, alerts that are silenced when the phone is flipped over and a Wind Down mode for nighttime usage that switches on the Do Not Disturb mode and turns the screen to gray-scale.

The digital well-being movement at Google got its start with a 144-page Google Slides presentation from product manager Tristan Harris, who was working on Googles Inbox app at the time. After a trip to Burning Man, he came back convinced that technology products werent always designed with users best interests in mind. The memo went viral and found its way to then-CEO Larry Page, who promoted Harris to design ethicist and made digital well-being a company focus.

Theres now a Digital Wellbeing website, too, that talks about Googles broader efforts on this front. On the site, the company touts features in other products that save people time, like Gmails high-priority notifications that only alert you to important emails; Google Photos automated editing tools; Android Autos distracted driving reduction tools; Google Assistants ability to turn on your phones DND mode or start a bedtime routine to dim your lights and quiet your music; Family Links tools for reducing kids screen time; Google WiFis support for internet breaks; and more.

Google is not the only company rethinking its role with regard to how much its technology should infiltrate our lives. Facebook, too, recently re-prioritized well-being over time spent on the site reading news, and saw its daily active users decline as a result.

But in Googles case, some are cynical about the impact of the new tools unlike Facebooks changes, which the social network implemented itself, Googles tools are opt-in. That means its up to users to take control over their own technology addictions, whether thats their phone in general, or YouTube specifically. Google knows that the large majority wont take the time to configure these settings, so it can pat itself on the back for its prioritization of digital well-being without taking a real hit to its bottom line.

Still, its notable that any major tech platform is doing this at all and its at least a step in the right direction in terms of allowing people to reset their relationship with technology.

And in YouTubes case, the option to Take a Break is at the very top of its Settings screen. If anyone ever heads into their settings for any reason, theyll be sure to see it.

The new features are available in version 13.17 and higher of the YouTube mobile app on both iOS and Android, which is live now.

The changes were announced on May 8 during the I/O keynote, and will take a few days to roll out to all YouTube users. The time watched profile, however, will ship in the coming months, Google says.