Google has launched a new feature aimed at stopping users doomscrolling, along with a range of other updates and products.
The new tool, named “Pause Point”, is intended to force people to reflect on whether they really want to open their apps.
It does so by allowing users to choose specific apps that will then show a 10-second delay before they actually open. That delay is intended to allow users to ask themselves “Why am I here?”, Google said.
“During that pause, you can do a short breathing exercise or set a timer so you don’t spend too much time scrolling,” the company said. “You can also look at some favorite photos or jump to alternative app suggestions, like an audiobook.”
It noted that other features such as app timers and total lockouts from apps are not always practical. “Sometimes you need something in the middle that encourages app use with clear intention,” Google said.
Users can choose whether they want the feature enabled on certain apps. But they will not easily be able to turn it off: they will be forced to restart their phone to turn it off, which Google said would help people “stop and thinking before disabling” it.
The announcement came amid a range of new updates from Google. Most notable among them was an update to the Chromebook, named Googlebook.
The new laptop is intended as a “rethink” of what a laptop can be and is based around Gemini, its suite of artificial intelligence tools.
“Over 15 years ago, we introduced the Chromebook, a laptop built for a cloud-first world,” Google said. “Now, as we are moving from an operating system to an intelligence system, we see an opportunity to rethink laptops again.”
