Instagram is reportedly discontinuing some app time limit options and encouraging its users to update their settings, TechCrunch said.
Originally, users could choose a time limit as low as five minutes per day, while these new options start at 30 minutes and go up to three hours.
According to screenshots sent to TechCrunch by an Instagram user who had previously set a 10-minute daily limit, a pop-up now appears at the top of their feed, telling them to set a new daily limit value according to the update in the app.
Though the pop-up says the user can keep their existing limit if they wish to, clicking the Edit button directs them to choose a present option, the lowest of which is 30 minutes. An additional pop-up on the activity page on Instagram says the 10-minute value is “no longer supported.” The social media platform had sent reminders to change the setting for a couple of weeks, the user says, and they could only avoid selecting a new limit by force quitting the app.
In 2018, Instagram launched the option to set daily time limits, with company representatives saying they wanted time on the platform to be well-spent. Time limiting features were rolled out as a response to criticisms tech companies received about the effects their products had on the health and well-being of users.
“We want to empower people to make intentional decisions about how much time they spend and how they want to engage with the app,” Ameet Ranadive, who has led a user wellbeing team at Instagram, said that year.
