YouTube, one of the oldest video streaming platforms, has introduced a Shorts Timer function for the scroller. The new feature aims to assist users in managing the time they spend while watching short-format content on the website. As per the Mint reports, the new feature enables users to limit the amount of time spent watching Shorts on the app during the day. YouTube will pause the stream and show a notification once the limit is set, reminding users that their daily watching time is over.
This new feature is intended to tackle the increasingly prevalent problem of doomscrolling, in which users tend to scroll for hours watching brief, quick-paced videos without even noticing how much time they spend on it and are becoming addicted to the habit.
Fostering conscious screen behaviour
YouTube stated that the Shorts Timer feature on the platform is a part of its broader effort to encourage digital well-being and assist users in forming healthier screen habits. The company already has ‘Take a Break’ and bedtime reminders, which remind users to take a break or end watching after a given time. Those reminders can be dismissed; however, the new Shorts Timer implements a stricter limit by stopping the feed once the time is up.
This action will further respond to the growing worldwide demand for technology firms to take action against screen fatigue and encourage sensible content viewing.
Parental controls to be added soon
At the moment, the Shorts Timer only applies to the individual user, so it's not linked to parental control settings yet. YouTube will, though, roll out the feature further later this year so parents can restrict their children's Shorts viewing by the day. The future parental version will have a persistent timer that will ensure children stick to limits on what they can watch.
For users who want to control screen time at the moment, YouTube still has the ‘Take a Break’ reminder, which is located under Settings > General within the mobile app.
