It’s been about a year since Apple announced new iOS tools to help iPhone users understand the time they spend on their phones. The idea was to help people manage their screen time and reduce interruptions with things like Activity Reports and App Limits. But are smartphone users actually disciplined enough to use these tools in practice? We polled the PH community.

We specifically asked folks if they use screen time limit notifications on their smartphones. The results:

• 54 percent don’t use screen time limits. 
• 32 percent do use them, but ignore them (yikes). 
• Only 14 percent of smartphone users we polled actually follow the screen time limits they use. 

“I also turned this on for Instagram and Candy Crush. When it cut me off the first time — it was so abrupt (it was like only 10 a.m.!) and I felt cheated. Now it's much much, much easier and most days I don't even get to the time limit anymore.” - Lanre

“I feel guilty for ignoring it sometimes. It somehow already became muscle memory to just ‘Ignore it for 15 minutes.’" - Kevin

“I use this for Instagram — but I pretty much always hit the time limit and ignore it” - Taylor

“I didn't know they made notifications, I just check the screen time hours each week! I'm going to start using them though” - Sarah

Do you use screen time limits? Take the poll.

If Apple’s built-in screen monitoring tools don’t work for you, here are a few alternatives to consider:

⏰ Screentime is a Chrome extension to track your time on websites

🚫 Go Fucking Work is a website blocker to help you work smarter

📱 Detoxify creates fake apps to replace addictive apps

📹 YouTube Rabbit Hole limits you from going down a YouTube rabbit hole

👀 Trackr helps you track the time you spend on certain websites

📈 Rescue Time gives you analytics on your daily online habits

⏳ Hours is a sleek and simple time tracker