Apple to Unveil Software That Helps Cure iPhone Addiction for iOS 12

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, June 05, 2018

The iPhone and the software that comes with it is easy to use and, as it turns out, easy to get addicted to, as well. Coming soon for the iOS 12, Apple has revealed new features that will hopefully help users at least monitor the time they spend fiddling with their iPhone or iPad.

Apple, for this year's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, has showcased the latest features that will roll out with the upcoming iOS 12 on Monday, June 4. Most of it are things that iPhone users could easily spend a lot of their time in, including the new expressive Memojis and the upcoming Augmented Reality features.

At the same time, Apple is also including with their presentation a new initiative that will hopefully get people to use their gadgets less.

It's called Digital Health, and starting with the iOS 12's first release, Apple will be providing users with a set of tools and features that will help them keep track of not only how much they spend on an iOS device overall, but also breaking down for them how much time they spend using each app.

A new Screen Time feature helps users monitor how much time they spend on an iOS device, and lets them schedule some downtime when they will be prompted to put down the gadget. There will also be an App Limits feature that could let users set a timer on how long they can spend using an app, so they won't lose track of time and accidentally spend several hours on "Fortnite," for example.

The new App Limits and Screen Time features will also be a great help for parents who are sharing their devices with their kids. For moms and dads, they can soon set up their device to send them Activity Reports for the times that their child is using their iPhone or iPad.

They can then set App Limits if they see a need for it. Screen Time also has an option called Content & Privacy Restrictions that lets users "Block inappropriate content."

Aside from the new Screen Time features, Apple has also previewed a host of new AR-oriented software and performance improvements coming soon to iOS devices.

"We're very excited about the new communications features we're bringing to iPhone and iPad with Memoji, a more personal form of Animoji, fun camera effects and Group FaceTime," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, said about the new revelations.

"With iOS 12, we're enabling new experiences that weren't possible before. We're using advanced algorithms to make AR even more engaging and on-device intelligence to deliver faster ways to get things done using Siri," he added.