By Tripp Mickle 

Apple Inc. on Monday unveiled new controls to help people curb the amount of time they spend on iPhones and iPads, as well as allow parents to remotely track and limit their children's use of those devices -- a response to growing concern from former employees and major investors that apps and devices have become too addictive.

The company said a new app it will release in September called "Screen Time" will provide users with weekly reports of the apps they use and allow them to set time limits for their use of those apps. Parents will be able to use the system to remotely monitor the apps their children use and limit their time on devices.

The new features played a central role at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, a gathering of about 6,000 developers who create the apps for the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. The event is designed to show off Apple's latest software -- including the newest features to further integrate into people's digital lives.

Those new features include a new Shortcuts app that will connect the Siri voice command with certain apps -- for instance, Siri could state flight and hotel information from the Kayak app with a voice command. Apple also introduced new augmented technology, such as a Measure app to capture the dimensions of objects and a developer kit to create more AR tools. And the company unveiled many new features to help people better share themselves digitally, whether through FaceTime group video chat or automatic sharing of photos with friends.

In the middle of all these announcements to drive interactivity, Apple's software chief, Craig Federighi, paused to talk about ways to "prevent distractions" and limit device use. Apple has been under pressure this year to address those issues. In January, the company received a letter from activist investor Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or Calstrs, which control about $2 billion of Apple shares. The letter urged the tech giant to develop new software tools that would help parents control and limit phone use more easily, and to study the impact of overuse on mental health.

The amount of time people spend on mobile devices has increased by more than an hour over the past five years to 3.3 hours a day, according to research by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. A survey sponsored by Common Sense Media found about half of 620 families in 2016 said they felt addicted to their smartphones, and several studies have found smartphones can increase anxiety.

The findings have fostered concern that smartphones could trigger a mental-health crisis for youth growing up with the device. It has also stoked concern, including among some iPhone creators, that adults are spending too much time on their devices and not being present enough in the everyday world.

The concerns have created a predicament for leading smartphone software developers Apple and Alphabet Inc.'s Google. They're now trying to strike a balance between releasing exciting features that make smartphones and tablets more useful for users, potentially increasing the time they spend on those devices, with new tools that empower them to control how much they use the devices.

Google responded last month by announcing its Android mobile operating system, which has an 85% market share world-wide, according to International Data Corp., would add a new dashboard that allows users to set time limits for apps and make the screen automatically turn gray when they're ready for bed]. The company already offers a system called Family Link that allows parents to remotely track their children's screen time.

Though Apple has offered parental controls for years, analysts say the system only allows parents to set limits on their children's device use -- not monitor it on a continuing basis. The new "Screen Time" feature changes that by giving parents those same capabilities.

A new Reports feature will detail how users spend time with the iPhone and iPad, including how often per hour they look at their devices, when they are using particular apps and what apps are sending the most notifications.

"If Apple leads the way and we do a good job of educating parents and the public about using the tools, this could be a major step forward in addressing the challenges of attention, addiction and distraction," said Jim Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that promotes responsible media and technology use for children.

Write to Tripp Mickle at Tripp.Mickle@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 04, 2018 15:23 ET (19:23 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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