Android 17 Introduces New Feature: Hold for 10 Seconds to Open Apps to Avoid Social Media Addiction

Google is preparing a new health (well-being) feature that will arrive in the Android 17 smartphone operating system (OS). The feature, named Pause Point, functions to reduce doomscrolling. Doomscrolling itself is the activity of consuming social media or accessing certain apps for extended periods. Unlike the usual countdown timers found in many apps, the Pause Point feature will provide a 10-second pause before users open apps deemed addictive. For example, TikTok, Instagram, X, YouTube, and others. Users themselves can determine which apps fall into the disruptive category or those that can trigger doomscrolling. During this 10-second pause, users will be prompted to breathe (via the warning “Breathe in”) and think twice before opening the app. They can then click the “Don’t open” button to cancel opening the app. In addition to preventing doomscrolling with a pause, Pause Point can also be used to set app usage duration (screen time) before the app is opened, thereby making phone usage more controlled. Interestingly, when active, the Pause Point feature cannot be simply turned off like other features. Users must turn off and restart their phones first before they can deactivate Pause Point in Android 17. For availability, Pause Point will come as a built-in feature in the Android 17 OS. It is reported that this successor to Android 16 will arrive in the middle of this year. This feature also arrives as Google’s response to the increasing attention regarding the impact of social media on mental health, especially among children and adolescents. Beyond Pause Point, Android 17 will also come with several other new features. Among them are easier file sharing with iPhone devices via Quick Share and QR codes, new 3D emojis, and the Screen Reactions feature for recording reaction videos over the screen display. Android 17 is also said to bring broader Gemini AI integration to support app automation and various other functions on Android phones.