Many people open a short video thinking they’ll watch just one, only to realize an hour later that they’re still scrolling. To help users manage this habit, YouTube introduced a new timer feature for Shorts. The feature responds to rising public concern about social media overuse and reflects YouTube’s desire to keep users engaged in healthy, sustainable ways instead of pushing them toward burnout.
Users can now set a daily time limit for watching Shorts in the app’s settings. Once they reach their limit, a pop-up appears telling them that scrolling on the Shorts feed has paused. The alert can still be dismissed, giving users control over whether to continue watching or take a break.
Earlier in the year, TechMarge gathered information showing that Android Authority had spotted the feature while examining one of YouTube’s Android app files. YouTube later confirmed that it was testing this new time-limit tool for Shorts viewing.
The company said the new limit doesn’t yet connect to parental controls. Parents and guardians can’t currently set a fixed viewing time for their kids, but YouTube plans to add that function next year. Once it does, children won’t be able to dismiss the reminders so easily.
YouTube has already experimented with digital well-being tools to help users manage screen time. Features like “Take a Break” and “Bedtime Reminders” encourage users to step away from the app. With “Take a Break,” people can choose to be reminded every 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 minutes. When the timer goes off, the video pauses, and users decide whether to continue watching or close the app.
The bedtime reminder works similarly. Users set a time window for when they want to stop watching. When that time arrives, YouTube displays a notification encouraging them to go to bed.
These features help YouTube show that it takes user well-being seriously, but their optional setup means they might not actually lower screen time. In practice, they allow the company to respond to concerns about addictive design while still keeping people on the platform.
Right now, public concern around social media addiction continues to grow. According to a recent Bloomberg Law report, nearly 2,000 lawsuits are pending in the United States against social media companies. Families, school districts, and state attorneys general argue that these platforms intentionally use addictive features that negatively affect children’s mental health.
YouTube’s new Shorts timer might be a small step in the right direction, but the debate around how far tech companies should go to protect users from endless scrolling is far from over.
