Google tries one more time to stop us from doomscrolling

It's about time tech companies tried to fix the mess they created in their greed to maximize profits. It's not uncommon to see people glued to their smartphones these days. But what makes the situation surprising is that tech leaders can't accept that using social media for 16 hours isn't an addiction.

Whether it's Android or iPhone, it's been years since we have had built-in screen time features, and there are plenty of third-party apps to keep your smartphone usage in check. However, it seems more needs to be done to keep us from falling into the endless doomscrolling black hole.

That's because app timers have their limitations. Someday, you just give in and tap on the button to borrow more time for your scrolling session. Putting total blackouts doesn't seem to help either. Google is trying a new feature called Pause Point to find a middle ground "that encourages app use with clear intention."

The search giant explained that Pause Point takes a reimagined approach, giving you a 10-second breather when you try to open a distracting app on your phone. You can do short breathing exercises during that time or set a timer to limit your doomscrolling. It will nudge you to leave the app that's taking up too much of your time.

The feature also offers alternative routes you can take instead of mindless scrolling. For instance, it might suggest that you look at some favorite photos, listen to an audiobook, or use another app. One way it makes things harder is by making it tedious to turn the feature off. You'll have to restart your phone to disable Pause Point.

Pause Point comes at a time when several countries around the globe are taking action and drafting laws to stop kids from using social media. YouTube recently rolled out an update to disable the infinite feed of YouTube Shorts.