Google officially named Android 9.0 P as Pie, and the update is already rolling out to Essential and Pixel series phones. At the I/O 2018 Google showed off the Digital Wellbeing feature, but it was missing in the developer’s preview update. However, the Digital Wellbeing beta has finally opened up for Pixel owners on Android 9 Pie.
The Digital Wellbeing feature is to promote, what CEO Sundar Pichai calls JOMO,” for the “joy of missing out”—as opposed to the modern social terror of “FOMO”/fear of missing out. The beta version of the feature includes a ‘Dashboard’ that will help you understand your phone usage better, app usage timers so that you can limit the usage, a “devices down,” Do Not Disturb mode for preventing interruptions, and a new Wind Down feature for encouraging you to disconnect at night.
Combinedly, these features are here to help you better understand your habits and digital health, and will also enable you to limit the usage and how to switch off for a better balance. As mentioned above, it is only available for Pixel phones, and you can sign up for the beta here.
Once you’ve signed up, you will receive an invitation via email in 24 hours and on accepting it via the link provided, and Digital Wellbeing should appear in your phone’s Settings app. In case you don’t want to jump into beta testing, you can download the APK and side-load it, but will work fully only on Pixel series phones.