We have unearthed an article from Wired 2 years ago, as the context now is even more compelling. Google had just come up with their Well-being concept. Basically, “new Android features designed to make your phone a little less addictive, even while it’s still in your pocket”. It made Google look good, but did not change much. Tristan Harris, formerly Google, now heading up the Center for Humane Technology equated tech addiction to the “downfall of humanity”. Clearly a negative issue, it has gained further ground and awareness following the Social Dilemma on Netflix. Sameer Samat’s (VP for Android and Google Play) partner took away his phone for 7 days while on vacation. After being angry, he felt relieved: “even he thinks phones are toxic”. As parents what can we do if our child wants a phone? Give in? Refuse to allow them until they are 18? There is an easier option: Blabloo and Geniora phones allow a child to have a smartphone but give the parent an app to manage what internet pages a child can access and what apps they can use and when. And in order to break tech addiction can at any moment freeze the screen of the phone, without ever having to take it away from the child. Tech without the addiction!
https://www.wired.com/story/google-and-the-rise-of-digital-wellbeing