Bedtime mode is one of Google’s digital health features to help you disconnect from your phone and fall asleep. While some OEMs have implemented their own attempts at bedtime mode, such as Zen Mode 2.0, we’ll take a look at how you can effectively use Google’s bedtime mode to (try) a routine without disrupting your sleep cycle.
Use Bedtime Mode on Android
If you’re using Google’s clock app, you can use more bedtime features like sleep sounds. We started with the steps to enable bedtime mode, then what you get when you use the Google Clock app along with the features offered in bedtime mode and bedtime mode. Having said that, let’s get started.
Steps to Enable Bedtime Mode
1. Open the Settings app and Tap on ‘Digital Balance and parental controls’. You will now see your screen time, the option to set website timers, focus mode and bedtime mode under the ‘Ways to disconnect’ section. Here, press the sleep time mode.
2. You can configure the feature to turn on according to your schedule. all you have to do set start and end times and choose the days you need to follow this routine. In an ideal scenario, you should use the same schedules all week, but you can skip the weekends if you have other plans in mind.
3. You can choose to activate the feature even when charging your smartphone overnight. In this way, you can continue to use your phone while charging without hurting your eyes.
What does the Bedtime mode do?
In the customization settings, you can choose to enable Do Not Disturb (DND) mode, enable grayscale that turns the screen to black and white, and turn the mode off when the next alarm goes off. There is also an upcoming feature that lets you turn off the always-on display (AOD) before bed, but this is currently limited to the Digital welfare beta. You can do Sign up for the digital wellbeing beta To use the feature immediately if your phone supports AOD.
Combine Bedtime mode with Google Clock
If Google Clock is your Android clock app of choice, you can do more with bedtime mode. You can view your most recent bedtime activity, set a wake-up alarm with the sunrise effect that gently illuminates the screen before the alarm goes off, and set sleep sounds to help you fall asleep.
Unlike other bedtime features, sleep sounds don’t start playing automatically. Instead, you’ll have to play it manually from the Clock app or by tapping the bedtime reminder notification. You can choose to receive bedtime reminder notifications 15, 30, 45 minutes or 1 hour before bedtime. Tap the start time to activate it and set the most convenient reminder time for you.
You have the flexibility to choose one of Google’s default sleep sounds or your favorite tracks from YouTube Music or Spotify. In this case, I chose Lego’s newest white noise playlist It was made using Lego bricks. You can use the search button to tune in to music that will help you calm down, relax and unwind after a long day.
When you play a sleep sound, you will be greeted with a special sleep sound control page. Here, you can quickly pause the sleep sound or set a timer to stop the sound after a certain time. Available times are 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes and 1 hour. You also have the option to choose another sound from this page.
Try Bedtime Mode for Better Sleep
So you can use bedtime mode to stop using your phone at night. Before I wrap this up, one tip I’d give if you’re planning to give it a shot is to not pause it. Once you start pausing bedtime mode, your mind may treat bedtime mode and its reminder as a spam notification and you may end up not using the feature at all, which defeats the purpose. If you found this helpful, check out our other articles on how to stop wasting time on YouTube and apps to focus on your work.
