YouTube launches new ‘bedtime’ feature to stop kids from watching videos late at night
YOUTUBE has introduced a new "virtual bedtime" setting – aimed at stopping users from watching videos too late into the night.
It lets you set reminders at specific times to stop watching videos and go to bed.
Parents can set the alert for children, but it's also handy for adults who struggle to self-regulate.
You can set start and end times in your Settings.
And you can even decide whether or not you want the alert to interrupt a video – or wait until it's finished.
If you're feeling rebellious, you can dismiss or snooze the reminder.
The new feature is available from today on iPhone and Android, and will be rolling out to all users in the next few days.
"With many of us at home, it can be especially hard to stick to your routine," Youtube explained in a blog post.
"And it's more important than ever to set boundaries to help manage how much time you're spending online."
How to turn YouTube bedtime reminders on
Here's how to regulate your night-time YouTube binges...
First, remember that this is a mobile-only feature – and won't work on desktop
Now sign in YouTube and go to Settings
Then turn the 'Remind Me When It's Time For Bed' setting on or off
Choose a start and end time for the reminder
Alternatively, you can turn on bedtime reminders by tapping your profile picture, then going to Time Watched
If you want to finish your video before seeing the reminder, choose Wait Until I Finish My Video To Show Reminder
It's possible to snooze the bedtime reminder, which turns it off for 10 minutes
The video will start again, but will be interrupted 10 minutes later by the reminder
This isn't the first feature designed to keep you from wasting away in front of an endless YouTube playlist.
YouTube has a series of tools designed to help you limit your screen time.
For instance, there's the Time Watched profile, which gives you a better understanding of the time you spent on the site.
You'll be able to check your daily average watch time.
And it'll also reveal how long you've watched YouTube videos today, yesterday and over the past seven days.
You can also set a "Take A Break" reminder, which will prod you to switch off at regular intervals.
These reminders can be set to appear every 15, 30, 60, 90 or 180 minutes.
Your video will pause until you dismiss it, or resume playing the video.
According to Youtube, more than 3billion of these reminders have now been sent.
Most read in Phones & Gadgets
In other news, Joe Rogan has signed an £80million deal to host his podcast exclusively on Spotify.
Spotify now lets you hide embarrassing songs in playlists thanks to a new update.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
And, sending these iPhone codewords over iMessage will trigger hidden effects for your pals.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk