Google has released three more Android apps to help you curb excessive phone use. Under its digital wellbeing initiative, the company has been releasing various apps to manage your usage. After the addition of Focus mode that lets you pause apps that you find distracting, Google is now adding 3 new apps – Envelope, Activity Bubbles and Screen Stopwatch.
Envelope asks users to put their phone in an envelope so they can’t use it. Google describes Envelope as "an experimental app which temporarily transforms your phone into a simpler, calmer device, helping you to take a break away from your digital world." The app asks you to print out a special PDF and fold it into the shape of an envelope. Then, you have to seal your phone inside and use it through the paper, only having access to the dialer and the camera. The app is currently only available to the Pixel 3a users here.
Coming to the second app, Activity Bubbles creates a bubble in the wallpaper every time you unlock your phone. The bubble gets bigger the longer you are on your phone. Once you lock your phone again, that bubble stops growing, and the process starts over again. By the end of the day, it creates an abstract bubble pattern as your wallpaper. You can download it here.
Screen Stopwatch is what it says it is. It creates a live wallpaper that displays phone usage in real-time, giving you a precise count of how much time you spend on your phone each day. The counter stops when you lock your phone, but every time it is unlocked you get a constant, ticking reminder from your home screen that is meant to encourage you to put it down. You can download the app here.