A recent report claimed Apple will port the iOS Screen Time feature over to the desktop so folks could see how their computing time is spent (or wasted, depending on your point of view). The upcoming macOS 10.15 feature will probably use the company’s Marzipan framework that helps developers create cross-platform apps across iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Screen Time for iOS was introduced in September 2018.

macOS currently lacks features that would allow users to easily see things like time spent on games last week or the amount of time spent using their computers, but that didn’t stop designer Jacob Grozian from envisioning how Screen Time for Mac might work.

After a month of using Screen Time on iOS, I realized how helpful this app would be on macOS. The iOS app lets you control how your mobile device is used, keep track of how much you use social networks, games, media, etc. Parents may use the macOS app as a desktop hub for monitoring children, others could use it to limit kids’ screen time.

But his concept goes further than that with visualized summaries that could be compared, a menu bar item with handy shortcuts and much more.

The summary helps you understand how your computer time is spent between work, social media, games and other categories with pretty charts.
The menu bar shortcut provides an at-a-glance overview of the key stats.
Browsing computer usage by app category and changing settings.
9to5Mac says Screen Time for Mac will be a panel in System Preferences. We hope it will include detailed preferences like Jacob’s concept.
App Limits would work just like on iOS.

Grozian argued that seeing how your time is spent makes you appreciate its value even more.

In most cases, Mac is a productivity tool. Being able to track your computer usage and how much time your spend on productivity tasks and other categories should motivate us to work on ourselves, to be more productive and to strive to invest our time wisely rather than waste it.

For the full set of mockups, be sure to check out his Behance post.

Sunday, The New York Times ran a story asserting that Apple cracked down on screen time-monitoring apps for iPhone just because it has a similar feature of its own in iOS.

iOS 12 Screen Time
And this is what the current Screen Time for iPhone looks like.

The story prompted Apple to publish a detailed explainer explaining it had only removed parental-control apps that leveraged its Mobile Device Management (MDM) technology that could let them “gain too much information” from users’ devices in invasive ways.

“We treat all apps the same, including those that compete with our own services,” Apple spokeswoman Tammy Levine clarified. “Our incentive is to have a vibrant app ecosystem that provides consumers access to as many quality apps as possible.”

How do you like Grozian’s ideas for Screen Time for Mac?

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