Google has a new software feature, Pause Point, designed to keep you from wrecking your mental health by popping open Instagram for the 30th time today. Or X, or Facebook, or… pick any app that ruins your brain, really.
The feature is coming to Android phones shortly, likely to Google’s Pixel range first before spreading to other handsets. Pause Point is supposed to short-circuit your tendency to open certain apps before they start draining your sanity and your phone’s battery.
Pause Point
On its surface, the new feature is remarkably simple. Users specify an app, activate Pause Point for it, and reap the rewards of listening to Android 17. If they listen, of course. Firing up the offending app starts a ten-second timer. Users are told to breathe, with the option given to not open the app after all, after the timer concludes.
The thinking seems to be that the interruption will have you think better of scrolling through TikTok at 02h00 (again) instead of getting some rest. This could help you avoid endless scrolling when you could do something more productive. It certainly lets Google claim that it’s less of an active participant in that avoidant behaviour problem you’re having.
Users may also use the feature to set a timer for any given app, while turning the function off requires the entire smartphone to restart. Google is attempting to weaponise inconvenience, in this case. It may even work.
Of course, you’ll have to pay attention to Pause Point. You’ll also have to overcome the design inherent in the various digital distractions that want you to come back. There’s also the dopamine reprogramming you’ve suffered since first acquiring a smartphone. But a large button telling you to breathe will probably solve the problem… for some users. Everyone else? They’ll find their way. Eventually.
