- Facebook introduced a new Quiet Mode this week that silences most notifications.
- Facebook’s Quiet Mode will also remind you not to check the app when it is turned on.
- In order to activate Quite Mode, open the Facebook app, click the hamburger menu at the far-right on the bottom of the screen, open the Settings & Privacy menu, and click Your Time on Facebook.
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In the modern world, attempting to limit the amount of time we spend in front of screens has always been difficult, but the novel coronavirus pandemic has made it nearly impossible. Cooped up at home with nothing to do, especially the people who have been furloughed or laid off as a result of the global economy all but shutting down, many of us are turning to TV, computers, video games, and smartphones to keep us entertained.
If you have been on social media at all in the past few weeks, you’ve probably seen people whining about the Screen Time report that the iPhone and iPad spit back at them once a week. Unsurprisingly, those numbers have skyrocketed lately, and the longer we have to stay indoors, the more depressing those reports are likely to be. In response to this, Facebook has introduced a new Quiet Mode feature that might help you manage your screen time.
If you turn on Quiet Mode, which is available now on mobile devices, Facebook will stop sending you “most” push notifications, and will also remind you that you set aside this time to be away from the screen if you attempt to open the app. There are some updates Facebook is required to send out, but the app will bug you less often if you decide to turn Quiet Mode on, which a lot of us could use during this stressful, chaotic time.
In order to activate Quite Mode, open the Facebook app, click the hamburger menu at the far-right on the bottom of the screen, open the Settings & Privacy menu, and click Your Time on Facebook. Click See Tools under Manage Your Time, and you should find a switch to turn on Quiet Mode and set a timer.
“As we all adjust to new routines and staying home, setting boundaries for how you spend your time online can be helpful,” Kang-Xing Jin, Head of Health at Facebook, explains in a post on the company’s newsroom. “Whether it’s to help you focus on your family and friends, sleep without distraction or manage how you spend your time at home, we have tools that can help you find the right balance for how you use Facebook.”
In addition to Quiet Mode, Facebook also added shortcuts to Notification Settings and News Feed Preferences so that when you do want to look at Facebook, you can ensure that you’re seeing what you want to see as often as possible. That way you won’t sit around scrolling endlessly until you find something you care about.
If you want to keep up with everything Facebook is doing in the time of coronavirus, be sure to check this post on the Facebook Newsroom every few days. It has already been updated a number of times, and will undoubtedly have plenty more updates in the weeks and months to come as we fight this virus.
