How to Check Screen Time on Android (Pixel, Samsung and Others)

Maybe your battery dies earlier than it used to. Maybe you picked up your phone to check the weather and put it down 40 minutes later. Either way, you want the real number.

Android tracks it for you already. You don't need to install anything.

The short answer: open Settings and tap Digital Wellbeing (on Samsung: Digital Wellbeing and parental controls). The top of the screen shows today's screen time. Tap View app activity details to see each app, each day of the week, how often you unlocked your phone and how many notifications you got. If you can't find the menu, type "screen time" or "digital wellbeing" into the search box at the top of Settings.

Menu names change a little between Android versions and phone brands. The Settings search box finds them all, so use it whenever a step below doesn't match your screen.

How to check screen time on a Google Pixel

This also applies to most phones with stock Android, such as Motorola and Nothing, though labels can differ slightly.

1. Open Settings > Digital Wellbeing.
2. The circle at the top shows today's screen time, split by app. Below it you'll see how many times you unlocked the phone and how many notifications you received.
3. Tap View app activity details to open the detailed view.
4. Use the bar chart to move between the days of the past week. Tap a bar to see that day.
5. Use the menu at the top (it starts on Screen time) to switch between Screen time, Notifications received and Times opened.
6. Below the chart is every app you used that day. Tap the hourglass next to an app to set a timer for it.

"Times opened" counts both phone unlocks and how often you opened each app.

The first time you open Digital Wellbeing, Android may ask you to set up your profile. That's a one-time step.

How to check screen time on a Samsung Galaxy

On Samsung phones, Digital Wellbeing is built into Settings with a slightly different name.

1. Open Settings > Digital Wellbeing and parental controls.
2. The top card shows today's screen time, split into categories like Social and Video. Your most-used apps are right below it.
3. Tap the screen time card to open the Dashboard, with a weekly chart, all your apps (View all) and your notifications.
4. Tap a day in the chart to see that day. For last week as a whole, tap the chart icon in the top-right corner of Digital Wellbeing to open the Weekly report.
5. Tap an app to see how long you used it and set an app timer.

Samsung also lets you set a screen time goal on the same screen. It doesn't block anything, but it shows how far over or under your daily target you are.

For everything else Samsung's version can do, read our full guide to Digital Wellbeing on Samsung.

Other Android phones

OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo, Motorola and most other brands include Google's Digital Wellbeing or their own version of it. The name in Settings varies: "Digital Wellbeing", "Digital Wellbeing & parental controls" on older versions, or simply "Screen time". Open Settings, tap the search box and type "screen time". The first result is usually the right one.

How to see screen time faster

Opening Settings every time gets old. You have three shortcuts.

Add the Digital Wellbeing icon to your app list (Pixel and most stock Android phones). Open Settings > Digital Wellbeing, scroll down and turn on Show icon in the app list. You can then open it like any app. On some phones this switch sits under the three-dot menu or a "Manage your data" section.

Add a screen time widget. Long-press an empty spot on your home screen, tap Widgets, and look for Digital Wellbeing. The widget shows today's screen time and your top apps without opening anything. Google says it needs Android 9 or later.

Quick settings tiles. There's no tile that shows your screen time. But you can add tiles for Focus mode and Bedtime mode on a Pixel, or Modes on a Samsung, so the tools that act on the number are one swipe away. Swipe down twice, tap the pencil icon and drag the tile into place.

What's a normal amount of screen time?

There's no official "healthy" number for adults, so be careful with anyone who gives you one.

What we do have are averages. Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2026 report found that people spent about 3.6 hours per day in apps in 2025, across iOS and Android. That counts time inside apps, not total screen time, and it's an average over many countries. So if your number is around four hours, you're roughly where most people are.

Average doesn't mean fine, though. The better question is whether the number matches what you want. Two hours on maps, calls and a podcast is a different day from two hours on short videos. Look at which apps sit at the top, not only at the total.

What to do with the number

Checking screen time doesn't change it on its own. Most people look, feel a bit bad, and carry on. The number is useful when you act on one or two specific apps.

Set an app timer. On a Pixel, open Settings > Digital Wellbeing > App timers, tap the hourglass next to an app, choose a limit and tap OK. When the time runs out, the app closes and its icon turns gray until midnight. On Samsung, the steps are in our Samsung Digital Wellbeing guide.

Use Focus mode on a Pixel. Choose the apps that distract you, then turn it on by hand or on a schedule. Those apps pause until you turn it off.

Use Bedtime mode or Sleep mode if most of your screen time happens late at night. The night is when built-in limits are hardest to keep, which we cover in how to stop scrolling at night.

Block the worst app completely. If one app owns most of the chart, a timer is usually too soft. Our guides on blocking YouTube on Android, blocking TikTok and blocking Instagram go through the options.

Make the phone less interesting. Turning your screen gray takes some of the pull out of feeds. Here's how to make your phone grayscale.

How easy are these limits to undo?

Be honest with yourself here. Every built-in tool is designed so you stay in control, which means you can always switch it off.

An app timer can be deleted in Digital Wellbeing in a few seconds. Focus mode has a Take a break button that unpauses your apps for a while. Bedtime mode is one tap in quick settings.

For a mild habit, that's fine. A gray icon is often enough of a nudge. If you've already deleted timers in a weak moment, you know these tools will keep losing that fight.

When the same apps stay at the top

Your screen time is a mirror. If you check it every week and the same two or three apps are always on top, despite timers and good intentions, the problem isn't information. You already know.

That's the situation StoicOS is built for. It blocks social media, streaming (including YouTube), games, porn and gambling at the system level, using Android's Device Owner permissions. It can't be turned off or uninstalled from the phone, so there's no timer to delete and no break button. You decide once while you're thinking clearly, and you don't need willpower after that. It blocks the matching websites in the browser too, so you can't just switch to Chrome.

Calls, messages, maps, banking, music, health and learning apps keep working. You decide about things like email, work apps, shopping and news. If you need an app that's blocked, you can request it, and it's checked against the policy and approved within a minute if it's allowed.

What StoicOS doesn't do: it doesn't replace Digital Wellbeing as a screen time tracker, and it blocks whole apps rather than setting daily limits. If you want 30 minutes of Instagram a day, an app timer is the better fit.

Setup takes about 10 minutes with a computer (Chrome or Edge) and a USB cable. No factory reset needed. It works on Android 9 and up, on Pixel, Samsung, OnePlus and most other phones. There's no iPhone version, because Apple doesn't allow this level of control.

Get your life back with StoicOS

Android 9+ · From €7/month · 30-day money-back guarantee · Not available on iPhone

Related guides

• Digital Wellbeing on Samsung
• How to block YouTube on Android
• How to make your phone grayscale
• How to block TikTok
• How to break a phone addiction

Frequently asked questions

Where is screen time on Android?

It's in Settings under Digital Wellbeing, or Digital Wellbeing and parental controls on Samsung. If your phone uses a different name, search Settings for "screen time".

How do I see screen time for a specific app on Android?

Open Digital Wellbeing and tap View app activity details. You'll see every app you used that day, the past week in a bar chart, and an hourglass next to each app to set a timer.

Can I see my screen time for the whole week?

Yes. In the detailed view, the bar chart shows the past week and you can tap any day. Samsung also has a weekly report behind the icon in the top-right corner of Digital Wellbeing.

Does Android count how many times I unlock my phone?

Yes. Digital Wellbeing shows unlocks and how many notifications you received. On a Pixel these sit under the screen time circle, and the detailed view lists them per app as "Times opened" and "Notifications received".

How much screen time is normal?

There's no official healthy limit for adults. Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2026 report puts the average at about 3.6 hours per day inside apps in 2025. Which apps make up your time matters more than the total.

Why is Digital Wellbeing not showing on my phone?

It may be hidden from the app list. Open Settings, search for "Digital Wellbeing" and turn on "Show icon in the app list" if your phone offers it. Some brands use their own screen time feature with a different name.

How do I reduce screen time on Android?

Start with app timers or Focus mode for the apps at the top of your list. If you keep switching those off, a system-level blocker like StoicOS removes the apps in a way you can't undo from the phone.