TikTok has added new features to help teenagers keep a handle on their screen time including a daily time limit and screen time dashboards to its Family Pairing feature.
Every account held by a user under 18 will automatically be given a 60-minute daily screen time limit.
Teens can opt out of the time limit but, should they do so, they will be prompted to set one and prompted again should they spend more than 100 minutes on the app in a day. Every teen will also get sent a weekly inbox notification recapping their screen time.
The photo-sharing app is also adding three new features to its Family Pairing system that gives parents a level of control over their kids’ TikTok accounts and usage.
Custom daily screen time limits will let parents and carers set daily screen time limits for their children in their lives — expect many to set the limit to zero.
A screen time dashboard will provide a summary of time spent on the app, the number of times TikTok was opened, and a breakdown of total time spent during the day and night.
Parents will also be able to mute their children’s TikTok notifications at specific times of the day. Perhaps when Accounts aged 13-15 already do not receive push notifications from 9 pm and accounts aged 16-17 have push notifications disabled from 10 pm.
Last year, TikTok found that prompting teenagers to set screen time controls increased their usage by 234 per cent.
TikTok is also rolling out tools to help everyone control their screen time and a sleep reminder that will prompt people to close the app at a time they choose.
