Limit Screen Time on MacOS Catalina, BigSur, etc.?

[Tobi_80]

I signed up here only to discuss this one issue. Either I’m the only one with that problem, or the only one who wants this to work.

I’m a web developer and designer who happens to be addicted to social media and entertainment – bad combination, right? I use Apple Screen Time (set up by someone else) to break my addiction. My clients and my family suffer, and so do I.

Unfortunately Screen Time – especially limiting certain content – doesn’t work in my case:

1. Set screen time thresholds, limit websites in the MacOS system settings.
2. Go to the website supposed to be limited in Brave.
   – Expected result: Website doesn’t open.
   – Actual result: Website opens like any other.

In case it matters, I’m running
– Brave V1.18.78 on
– MacOS 11.2 on a
– MacBook Air M1 Apple Silicon.

Please HELP!

Thanks a lot, really

kind regards
Tobi

[andomar]

Same here! Brave seems to ignore screen time limits.

[straddle]

I also acknowledge my screen addiction, and use a Screen Time pin (set by a family member) to help manage my usage. Brave really needs this!

Apple “Screen Time” support IS now available for testing in Chrome on iOS, so hopefully Brave is not too far behind. MacOS support in Chromium/Chrome is also in the pipeline: Support Apple's "Screen Time" in Brave on MacOS and iOS 14+

As an aside, a tool I highly recommend for managing screen addiction is Freedom. I use it daily to block social media and other distractions during work hours, and before bed. It is absolutely invaluable to me and keeps me focussed at work and stops me from staying up late on my phone. Its only disadvantage (not Freedom’s fault) is that it doesn’t work as well as it could on iPhones as there is no Screen Time API in iOS . Apple really need to add this, or at very least create a scheduler for ScreenTime blocks.

[therium]

I’m sorry to hear about your addiction. Above all it requires will power to change how you use the web, but you will need some external help also.

How did you want to limit your screen time? Did you want to limit the hours you can use the browser at all? Or limit the total hours the browser is open on certain sites during the day? What I mean is, the timer would only count sites you are on that are in a certain list you make, like Faceook, Instagram, Youtube, etc.

Until Brave gets this function built in, I did this search for addons for you: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/limit%20time?_category=extensions

I found a few addons that might interest you.

1. Limit. Set time limits for individual sites. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/limit-set-limits-for-dist/blcdfhbibkkjpfdddnmnmhfgjlicebba
2. Web Activity Tracker. Tracks time on each site and enforces limits on that site. You can also set a list of sites where time is not tracked at all. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-activity-time-tracker/hhfnghjdeddcfegfekjeihfmbjenlomm What I did notice when I just installed this is it tracks the time of the tab with the current focus.

[straddle]

My favourite Brave extensions for helping to manage screen time usage are:

Intention - It forces you to choose ahead of time how long you are going to spend on distracting websites. It then blocks them for five minutes when you are done. Very effective.

Minimal - Minimal is a browser extension to experience a minimal, less attention grabbing internet experience. Internet should be a tool, not a trap. See video here.

[Tobi_80]

That’s great. But still I can just remove the extension myself, right? Or can that in itself be password restricted?

[straddle]

True, but I like the way these introduce some resistance, rather than blocking things entirely. It makes it less likely that you well uninstall them. A mandatory five minute break is usually enough time to make me stop on reflect on whether this is the best use of my time right now.

That said, Freedom is far and away the best tool I know for blocking access to distracting sites and apps. The problem is that it doesn’t work very well on iOS (not their fault). Apple needs a Screen Time API. I also wish Screen Time let you schedule access to particular apps. Imagine being able to block Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Ticktock etc. During work hours? That would be amazing.