Screen time and reports
Appcognito shows where your time went, says so when it matters, and turns the number into a rule in one tap.
The screen time report
Tap the Distracted time card on Home. The report has a Day and a Week view, with your apps listed by time. Tap an app for its own day.
On a day view the report also points out a pattern when it finds one: how often you left a work app for a distracting one, and at what time of day.
On Home
The Distracted time card shows today against yesterday by the same time of day, so a morning is never measured against a whole day. Swipe it when it has something to say:
An app is running high
Today against your usual by now. Limit opens a rule already filled in. Not now puts the card away for two weeks.
Work or a distraction?
Asked once about an app Appcognito cannot place. For work makes it a productive app. A distraction offers a limit.
Limiting from a card asks one more thing: just that app, or every app like it. Nothing is switched on for you. The rule opens in the editor, and you save it.
The three reports
| Report | When | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Daily screen time report | Every morning at 7 | Yesterday's distracted time and the app that took the most. If you hit your goal, your streak day too. Buttons: limit that app, or open the report. |
| Weekly recap | Sunday morning, in place of the daily one | Your week's distracted time, whether it went up or down from the week before, and the app that took the most. |
| Mid-day heads-up | At most once a day | When an app is running far above your usual by that time of day. Buttons: pause that app till 8 PM, or I'm fine. |
The daily report and the heads-up each have a switch in Settings, Aurith streak. I'm fine on a heads-up stops them for that app for two weeks.
Productive apps
Some apps should never count against you. A productive app is not counted as screen time and is never suggested for blocking.
- The list starts with the apps Android itself files under Productivity.
- Add or remove any app in Settings, Productive apps.
- Or mark one from its own page in the report.
Leave a productive app for a blocked one, and the block screen's button reads Back to that app, so one tap takes you back to work.
From a number to a rule
The Rules tab suggests rules under From your screen time, built from your own last week. Each one shows your daily average beside the limit it proposes. They are ordinary rules, pre-filled with the apps that actually took your time.
Where the numbers come from
From Android's own usage record, read on your phone with the Usage access permission. Appcognito does not track you itself, and none of it leaves the device. The reports are ordinary notifications, so they need the Notifications permission. See Permissions.