a.k.a. “business as usual” when the government that’s supposed to be policing such behavior had become primarily focused upon doing it themselves.

Those who make for the best leaders very rarely want to be leaders.

If I knew about that beforehand, I’d probably be much less likely turn it on to begin with. If I learned the hard way, I’d likely be dissuaded from ever trying it again & just get one of those other apps. Conversely, the fact that my current phone boots much faster than older ones did makes it not really as off-putting an issue at it once was. It sounds like a major PITA until you realize that.

You have control over it so it’ll soon be just like all the other pre-installed crap that you never use, but still eats up limited storage space.

With the addition, Google isn’t only thinking of users’ well-being, of course.

It’s reacting to increasing regulatory pressure around social media harms and algorithmic dangers. Today, many countries and U.S. states have created laws to restrict or ban minors from using social media, as the impacts of these apps on young people’s mental well-being have become better understood.

Google can now point to a feature like Pause Point to claim it’s part of the solution, not the problem.

Ahhh - there it is.

The thing that is much more concerning to me, tho: if this is pre-installed as a standard part of Android, then it could potentially be abused by work, carriers, governments, malware, etc. to control what you can and can’t easily do.

Please do (even though I personally don’t use those apps). Including imposing more of the incredibly large fines the EU has become known for, and applying the bulk of them towards mental health services & initiatives. It’s long past time those companies were held responsible for what they’ve done to rake in such insane profits.

If you’re relying on AI, well then…

(Yes, I know they can have their uses if done properly, but for too many that’s a HUGE “if”.)

Did you get too close to a 5G tower?

If anyone is still invested in Tesla at this point, they deserve to lose their shi®t.

Now if they’re newly invested, that may be another story entirely. Assuming the battery & solar biz doesn’t get spun off.

Gee, people doing the things they actually want to do (instead of slaving away just to survive while the assholes on top take most of the benefit for their efforts) helps them want to live longer - shocking!

🙄

At this point, it feels like there’s very little left that isn’t malicious.

Sure. If we had a properly functioning justice system. We no longer do.

It’s definitely meant for their Enterprise customers.

It’s not just anti-competition, but anti-privacy - Google will know exactly who is going to what sites, regardless of your browser.

Everyone with a technically inclined, logical, forward-thinking brain did. Unfortunately, that probably at best describes no more than roughly 10-15% of people.

What do you mean “next?” Watch closely which party the parents they pick on belong to. 10:1 odds they’re disproportionately Democratic.

Regarding spoiling the fun, were this a world without enshitification and/or corporate malfeasance that might be a good consideration. For the world we currently actually DO live in, my initial reaction is usually one of mistrust - and I strongly suspect I’m far from alone in that.

As such, I normally might’ve not ventured forth with exploring your offering, but instead waited for someone to give me more of an idea what I was walking into before potentiality giving out information I didn’t want to inadvertently. However, at the moment I came across your post I guess I was feeling gregarious enough (and less concerned with this identity since I’ve only recently created it) to toss my normal inhibitions aside, and share the kind of info I myself would have been wanting to see before taking the risk.

TL;DR: There are an number of psychological factors at play here as well as real-world concerns, so IMHO the more up-front you are in letting potential users know what to expect, the more comfortable they’ll be with giving it a shot. They’ll also be better informed about what to look for in features they might not have otherwise discovered with a quick spin.

There are positives and negatives to everything - highlighting just one side is the modus operandi for manufacturing consent.

A poorly educated public is one of the major underpinnings of a fascist dictator state. It’s why school funding has been on the decline for decades - capitalist alpha-type one-percenters have been pulling the politicians’ reigns (particularly the willing Republicans, but over time the Democrats have been bought, too) & playing the long game, and it’s now reached fruition.

I’m sure it’s an attempt at intimidation for the upcoming election.

Isn’t teletherapy the same? It can work IF done right (and, yes - that’s a BIG “if”).