SCREEN TIME, APPLE’S tool
for checking the amount of
hours you spend staring at
a screen, has been around
since iOS 12, and it’s now made its way
to the Mac. That means you can not only
conĽgure it from your Mac, but can
include usage of the Mac, and any other
Mac running macOS Catalina that’s linked
to your Apple ID, in the calculation
of total screen time.
In addition to monitoring how much
time you spend in diļerent apps, you can
schedule downtime; set limits for apps,
groups of apps, and websites; and useMaster Screen Time on Mac
Keep an eye on how much time you’re spending on your devices
Family Sharing to set these limits up for
your children.
By grouping certain apps together,
you can ensure that you or your children
can only use a device to work or study,
say, rather than for gaming or watching
YouTube at speciĽed times. And you
can choose to be alerted when you are
nearing the screen time limit so that
you can actually Ľnish what you’re
doing. In a pending update, you will also
soon be able to set limits on who your
children communicate with during the
day and in downtime.
KENNY HEMPHILLREQUIRES
macOS CatalinaYOU WILL LEARN
How to use Screen Time
in macOS CatalinaIT WILL TAKE
30 minutesHOW TO Set up Screen Time on your Mac
Turn on Screen Time
Go to System Preferences and
choose Screen Time. Click Options at the
bottom left of the window. If “Screen
Time for this Mac” is off, click Turn On.
You can then choose whether to enable
it on all your devices or set a passcode.Switch on for
all devices
To use Screen Time on all your devices,
check the box next to “Share across
devices”. To use a passcode to protect
access to Screen Time settings or enable
more time, check that box (see step 12).Enable Family
Sharing
Go to System Preferences > Family
Sharing > Family and add a child. Once
they have accepted, go to the Screen
Time section of Family Sharing and
select their name.
Create
82 MAR 2020 maclife.com Image rights: Apple.