To help monitor your smartphone usage habits and strike a healthier balance between tech and life, there is Google’s Digital Wellbeing software. A number of Pixel owners have concluded that it has an unwanted side effect of slowing down their device. On Reddit there are many reports of improved performance when Digital Wellbeing is switched off. Some say “night and day” difference is apparent almost immediately. Others seem less convinced that it’s anywhere near that drastic.
Digital Wellbeing is not supposed to slow down your phone. What it does is run in the background and logs how much time you’re spending in apps and using a device in general. If you’re trying to make better choice and waste less time staring at the screen, this data is hugely valuable. You can set app timers or turn the screen grayscale to make your go-to apps seem less appealing at times when you have decided you shouldn’t be using them.
But the idea that Digital Wellbeing might be hindering Pixel phones from being as fast as they otherwise could be is a little alarming. If these user reports of speed and frame rate increases are accurate, this gives people a clear reason to disable a resource they might otherwise find tremendously useful.
Digital Wellbeing was one of the major new features of Android 9 Pie, debuting first on Pixel phones before moving to Android One and a (still fairly small) list of other devices. Google is set to expand on it in Android Q with a new Focus mode. Does it make sense that an all-seeing background process like this might impact overall performance? It’s certainly possible.
In the meantime, if you want to turn it off — even temporarily — to see for yourself if there are any noticeable improvements, here’s how:
- Go to settings on your Pixel phone
- Choose Digital Wellbeing
- Tap the three-dot icon at the top right and choose “Turn off usage access”
- Confirm that decision on the next “Usage access” screen by choosing Digital Wellbeing and toggling the “permit usage access” option to off.
