Joe Hindy / Android Authority
TL;DR
- YouTube could soon let users set a daily timer for watching Shorts.
- We’ve found code in the latest YouTube app beta suggesting users will be able to set a timer for minutes or hours depending on their consumption preference.
- YouTube won’t block Shorts watching entirely. Individual Shorts that appear elsewhere on the platform will still be viewable.
Short-form videos and doomscrolling go hand-in-hand. If you regularly spend time on social media or video platforms, chances are you’ve fallen into the trap, mindlessly scrolling through endless short videos until your brain checks out. For some, this habit can also become a serious issue. Studies show that overuse of short video apps is linked to problems like distraction, poor time management, and reduced learning capacity.
Still, YouTube Shorts racks up over 70 billion daily views, according to Google. The platform has aggressively pushed Shorts, rolling out easy-to-use tools that make churning out content effortless. But now, it seems Google is starting to recognize how addictive Shorts can be and the toll they might be taking on users.
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An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Our APK teardown of the YouTube app (version 20.15.32 beta) has revealed that Google is working on a new feature aimed at helping users manage their time spent watching YouTube Shorts.
The latest beta includes fresh strings detailing a dedicated daily timer for Shorts scrolling, separate from the existing “Take a break” reminder that applies to general video watching. This new Shorts timer appears to be designed to specifically pause infinite scrolling through Shorts once a user-defined daily limit is reached. See text from the code strings pasted below.
Code
<string name="shorts_time_picker_bottom_sheet_title">Pause scrolling after</string>
<string name="shorts_daily_timer_setting_summary">{number_of_hours, plural, offset:1 =0 {Scrolling is paused after {number_of_minutes} minutes
but you may still see individual Shorts} =1 {Scrolling is paused after {number_of_hours} hour but
you may still see individual Shorts} other {Scrolling is paused after {number_of_hours} hours
but you may still see individual Shorts} }</string>Essentially, once the new YouTube Shorts timer hits your daily limit, you’ll no longer be able to scroll through Shorts continuously. However, it seems YouTube won’t block Shorts watching entirely. Individual Shorts that appear elsewhere on the platform (like in the Home feed or search results) will still be viewable, as per the code text.
It’s unclear when this feature will roll out widely, but its presence in the beta version suggests that YouTube is actively testing the functionality. We’ll keep a close eye on future YouTube updates to see if we can learn more about it. Whether this will actually help users take a break from the swipe-happy Shorts experience is something we’ll have to wait and watch.
