Google made a big deal out of its Digital Wellbeing back in Google I/O 2018, which was accepted with a positive response from the tech industry. However, several threads on the r/Google Pixel subreddit suggests that the Digital Wellbeing is one such feature that has been responsible for Pixel 3’s sluggish performance.
Digital Wellbeing was introduced back in 2018 with an aim to notify users about their extreme use of their smartphone and to prevent them from using it over a long period of time. App developer and big-tech companies have also responded to growing concerns of smartphone addiction by releasing their own services that are targeted at curbing user’s smartphone addiction.
However, the latest feedback from users suggests that Digital Wellbeing is plaguing Pixel 3’s user experience. Many users have even reported that turning off the feature (Digital Wellbeing) has had a dramatic effect on their Pixel 3’s performance. In fact, some have even said that they’ve experienced a ‘night and day’ difference which was experienced immediately.
Interestingly, slowing down Pixel phones or for that matter any other Android smartphone was not supposed to happen with the Digital Wellbeing, considering by design the feature runs in the background and calculates how much time the user is spending on various apps and on the device in general. However, the fact that Digital Wellbeing is now becoming a hindrance in User’s silky smooth stock experience is alarming.
If this is true, then this has been another disappointing news that has come out Google’s Pixel 3 devices. Ever since its launch Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL has been marred with software glitches and a laggy UI. This is especially disappointing when considering the fact that Google which owns Android can’t monitor and manage its own devices.
For those who own a Pixel device and are suffering from such issue, then you can turn off the feature by following the provided steps mentioned below:
- Go to the settings on your Pixel phone
- Type Digital Wellbeing in the search bar or select it manually
- Click the three dot icon at the top right corner of the screen and select “Turn off usage access”
- Confirm that decision on the next “Usage access” screen by choosing Digital Wellbeing and toggling the “permit usage access” option to off.
