Tag Archives: families

Explore Kids Space: A way to nurture your kid’s curiosity

Parents have told us that they’re constantly wrestling with the role of technology in their children’s lives, and this is especially true for the many families who are spending more time at home. But kids are natural explorers and when they have access to great content, it can be a magical experience--they can read up on their favorite dinosaur, watch videos on how to bake a treat or discover new hobbies.

Family Link was created and built into our core products to give parents the tools they need to stay involved and help manage their child’s online experiences, from setting screen time limits to content safety filters, privacy controls and more. But we’ve heard that parents want more than just parental controls; with so much content out there, they also need help finding things that are enriching and engaging for their kids. To help meet this request, we took a first step with the launch of a new kids tab in Google Play that helps parents easily find and pick “teacher-approved” apps for their kids.

Today, we’re continuing to build upon these efforts with Google Kids Space, a new kids mode on select Android tablets that features apps, books and videos for your kids to explore, learn and have fun.* Kids Space will be available globally on certain Lenovo™ tablets first, including the new Lenovo Smart Tab M10 HD Gen 2, and will be coming to more Android tablets soon.†

Designed for nurturing your kid’s curiosity and creativity

Kids Space is designed with your kid at the center of the experience and made for them to become explorers of the things they love. By selecting their interests, your kids will see new and engaging content to read, play and make. Kids can even customize their experience by creating their own character.

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Kids Space features daily content recommendations, fun facts and silly jokes.
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Pick and choose interests for a more customized experience.
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Build your own avatar to join in on the fun.

Recommended library of free books, apps and videos

To evaluate and select “teacher-approved” apps in Google Play, we worked with academic experts and children’s education specialists to define rubrics. For Kids Space, we’ve built on that foundation and applied our quality standard to an ever-expanding library of apps and books in the Play and Read tabs. We worked with top publishers to make popular children’s books free of charge, and have over 400 free books available in the U.S. alone. In the Watch and Make tabs, your kids can view creative and fun videos from YouTube Kids that are engaging and encourage off-screen activities. And if you’re looking to customize even more, parents can download additional content from Google Play.

Access content that’s age-appropriate, thoughtfully designed and fun or inspiring.

Join us in our journey as we continue to create productive and healthy experiences for kids that adapt to the evolving world and needs of your family.

* Kids Space requires a Google Account for your child. Parental controls require the Family Link app on a supported Android, Chromebook, or iOS device. Books and video content not available in all regions. Video content subject to availability of YouTube Kids app. Books content requires the Play Books app. Availability of apps, books and video content may change without notice.

† Google Assistant not available in Kids Space.

Source: Android

When parents become teachers: tools to help students at home

Editor’s note: On August 11, 2020 Google for Education kicked off a global back-to-school event, The Anywhere School. Check out the full recap of product launches and our collection of announcements.

For me, life at home now means an office in my garage and three children at home attempting to learn. I’m still adjusting to my children making appearances on my Google Meet meetings, trying to schedule more walking meetings to squeeze in some exercise, and creating a schedule that my children will only loosely follow. Luckily, nobody knows about the chaos that ensues behind the scenes thanks to Google Meet’s noise cancellation feature!

With these changes, you may realize that you need a crash course in algebra or Shakespeare, and one on the digital tools your kids are using. The resources below, along with our Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians, including a video series, can answer your questions about helping kids with lessons and homework, new products and features to help with staying in touch with teachers, and safeguarding kids when they’re online.

How to help kids with homework and learning from home

When a student turns to Google Search for help with STEM homework this fall, Search will connect them to potential explanations, a step-by-step breakdown for complex math equations and detailed information on the underlying concepts, like the notorious pythagorean theorem. These features help improve comprehension and understanding of core topics.

Visualizing STEM concepts can be hard without labs or hands-on learning tools. Now, students can see 3D content on Search for nearly100 STEM concepts across biology, chemistry and more using compatible Android and iOS devices. If students search for “Quantum mechanical model,” they can view a 3D atom up close and use augmented reality (AR) to bring it into their space. Check out how to use 3D for STEM concepts.

3D Quantum mechanical model on Search from our partner Signal Garden.

When they’re stuck on a homework problem, students and parents can use Socratic and soon can use Google Lens to take a photo of a problem or equation they need help with. Socratic and Lens provide quick access to helpful results, such as step-by-step guides to solve the problem and detailed explainers to help you better understand key concepts.

Use Google Lens to look up homework questions and get help

Read Along helps kids develop a love of reading. Diya, the in-app reading buddy, uses Google’s text-to-speech and speech recognition technology, to offer assistance for children when they struggle, and reward them with stars when they do well.

BLOG GIF - SIMULTANEOUS.gif — Use Read Along to help kids learn to read with the sound of their voice

When using Google Meet, turn on live captions to see English text. When you can’t meet teachers in person due to social distancing, you can meet them using video calls. If you're new to Meet, we’ve created a Guardian’s Guide that explains why schools choose Meet, and how you can use it at home. Teachers can also send you guardian summaries in Google Classroom to help you stay connected with your child’s work and overall progress.

And for a little help keeping your family on track with virtual learning, try using Family Bell on your smart speakers and smart displays. You can add bell reminders throughout the day that announce when it's time to start an online class, take a break, or settle in for reading time. To get started, simply say “Hey Google, create a Family Bell” or tap on Family Bell in your Assistant settings. Read on for more ways Google can help keep your family on track during the school year.

How to help kids stay safe online

Family Link helps parents and guardians keep an eye on kids while they’re online. You can approve apps and extensions, set time limits, and use content filters to set boundaries for kids. And now, you can add aschool account for a Family Link user so you can set ground rules for your child while they do their schoolwork in Google Classroom, Docs, and other websites where you sign in with Google.

With kids spending so much time online for school and virtual playdates, it’s important to talk to them about internet safety. From password security to phishing to behavior on social media, there’s a lot to talk about. Be Internet Awesome helps kids be positive digital citizens and stay safe online. It provides free family guides, tips from teachers, and Interland, a really fun game for kids to learn about online safety.

How to learn more about digital learning tools

If your child uses a Chromebook, learn how to set it up on home Wi-Fi, set controls like blocking access to harmful websites, and get more information on the Chromebook Help support pages. And make sure to check out the Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians, which has a quick video series on our products and features, best practices for family engagement, and answers to the most frequently-asked technical questions. Guardian Guides offer easy-to-understand overviews of common school tools like Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and G Suite for Education. For more resources, check out Teach from Anywhere.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Online resources for kids and families during COVID-19

As families continue to face the new realities of juggling work, school, and play at home, online tools can make the adjustment a bit smoother. We’re all spending more of our time on our devices, and Google has many products and programs to help families create healthy digital habits and help them stay safe online. From internet safety resources to parental controls, our products help families find and manage quality content and apps, tools for distance learning and virtual field trips. And behind the scenes, our teams work every day to protect our users and make our products safer for everyone.

Helping families and educators with distance learning resources

Families and educators are relying on digital platforms to provide access to online learning and educational tools during COVID-19. Our G Suite for Education tools can be used from any device and help more than 120 million teachers and students around the world work and learn together. To support distance learning, Google is offering premium Meet video conferencing features free for schools through September 30, 2020.

In March, we launched a new Teach from Home hub for teachers with information and resources so that they can keep teaching, even as many schools closed due to COVID-19. This hub includes tutorials, step-by-step guides, and inspiration for distance learning during school closures.

Our teams are working to provide opportunities for families to learn together at home, including the new YouTube Learn at Home families site, virtual field trips and explorations through Google Arts & Culture, and the global roll-out of our AI-enabled reading app, Read Along.

We created a dedicated Distance Learning Fund through Google.org to help educators and parents access tools and resources needed to provide learning opportunities for students. The Fund supports Khan Academy, Wide Open Schools by Common Sense Media, and DonorsChoose.

Helping families discover quality content for kids

Even outside school hours and virtual classrooms, kids are spending more time online so we’re helping parents find quality, age-appropriate content. The new Kids tab on Google Play makes it easier for parents to find enriching and engaging apps for their children. Teacher Approved apps must meet Play’s Designed for Families security and privacy requirements, and are reviewed and curated by teachers to identify fun and inspiring apps kids will love, with or without an educational focus. The Teacher Approved program launched in the U.S. in early April, and will be rolling out globally later in the year.

YouTube Kids

https://www.youtube.com/kids/

offers a more contained environment for kids to explore their interests and curiosity. The app empowers parents to customize their child’s experience, including the content available to watch and how long they can use the app. Kids can access a range of helpful playlists on YouTube Kids right now, such as Healthy Habits, Learning and Indoor Activities. YouTube Kids is available in 79 countries on desktop, mobile and Smart TVs.

Teaching kids how to be safe online and build healthy tech habits

We’ve continued to help families navigate technology, from helping parents set digital ground rules to providing resources for teaching kids how to be safer online.

The Family Link app from Google helps parents create healthy habits for their child or teen as they learn, play, and explore online. Parents can keep an eye on screen time with daily limits and a bedtime on Android and Chromebook devices. They can also help guide their child to better content with download approvals, per-app time limits and content filters. And SafeSearch is on by default for supervised child accounts, helping to filter explicit search results.

Be Internet Awesome teaches kids about digital literacy and online safety. The program offers free resources for educators and families to learn about these topics with a family guide and pledge, online safety coloring book, and simple online tips. The program features an interactive game, Interland, that reinforces internet safety concepts for kids in a fun and engaging way. It’s available globally in over 28 countries and 15 languages.

We’ve also partnered with other tech companies and The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children (EVAC) to create a Public Service Announcement that helps parents keep their children safe online across platforms by providing resources on how to talk to kids about online risks, stay involved in their digital world, know who they’re connecting with, and use privacy and security settings. EVAC’s site dedicated to these resources includes information on how to block and report suspicious individuals to Google and other tech companies. We’re also working with industry partners, child protection nonprofits, and experts on other initiatives to improve child safety across the broader digital ecosystem.

Online classes, quality content, and collaboration tools are important ways to stay connected from home, and we’re proud of the work our Security and Trust & Safety teams do to ensure families can enjoy these, and all Google products, more safely.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Kids can learn at home with Read Along by Google

With many students currently at home due to school closures, families around the globe are looking for ways to help children grow their reading skills. To support families, today we're sharing early access to Read Along by Google. It’s an Android app for children 5+ years old that helps them learn to read by giving verbal and visual feedback as they read stories out loud.

Read Along uses Google's speech recognition technology to help develop literacy skills, and first launched in India (where it is available as “Bolo”). After receiving encouraging feedback from parents, we’re excited to share this app with more young learners around the globe.

Read Along is now available in over 180 countries and in nine languages including English, Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi. Read Along will continue to improve as we receive feedback from families, expanding the selection of books and adding more features.

How Read Along works

Read Along helps kids independently learn and build their reading skills with the help of an in-app reading buddy named Diya. As kids read out loud, Diya uses Google’s text-to-speech and speech recognition technology to detect if a student is struggling or successfully reading the passage. She gives them positive and reinforcing feedback along the way, just as a parent or teacher would. Children can also tap Diya at any time for help pronouncing a word or a sentence.

Read Along keeps young minds engaged with a collection of diverse and interesting stories from around the world, and games sprinkled into those stories. Kids can collect stars and badges as they learn, which motivates them to keep playing and reading.

Parents can create profiles for multiple readers, who tap on their photo to learn at their own pace and to track their individual progress. Read Along will personalize the experience by recommending the right difficulty level of stories and games based on their reading level performance.

Safety and connectivity

Read Along was built with childrens' safety and privacy in mind, and has no ads or in-app purchases. And after the initial download of the app and stories, Read Along works offline without Wi-Fi or data—helping with worries about unsupervised access to the Internet. Parents can simply connect to Wi-Fi periodically to download additional stories.

Read Along is also easy to start and doesn’t require sign in. Even the voice data is analyzed in real time on the device—so that it works offline—and is not sent to any Google servers.

Families can download Read Along for their Android devices by visiting the Play Store. To help us continue to improve the experience, we want to hear your feedback at readalong@google.com.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Find high-quality apps for kids on Google Play

We’ve heard from parents that it’s difficult to dig through all the content that's out there for kids. Today, we’re making it easier for parents to find the good stuff, with a new Kids tab on Google Play filled with “Teacher approved” apps that are both enriching and entertaining. We decided to launch the Kids tab a bit earlier than planned because parents who have tried it out told us that it’s been helpful, especially now with their kids home from school and spending more time with screens. Because it’s early, you may not see some of your favorite apps in there just yet, but we’re adding new content as quickly as possible.

“Teacher approved” kid-friendly app content

Great content for kids can take many forms: Does it spark curiosity? Does it help your child learn? Is it just plain fun? To share the best apps for kids on the Play Store, we've teamed up with academic experts and teachers across the country, including our lead advisors, Joe Blatt (Harvard Graduate School of Education) and Dr. Sandra Calvert (Georgetown University). Apps that have been rated by teachers and meet our quality standards receive a "Teacher approved" badge.

Apps are rated on factors like age-appropriateness, quality of experience, enrichment, and delight. We include information in the app listing about why the app was rated highly to help parents determine if the app is right for their child.

How to find “Teacher approved” apps in Google Play

Whenever parents search the Play Store, they can look for the “Teacher approved” badge to quickly see which apps have been reviewed and rated highly by teachers. If you want to browse content that's been "Teacher approved", simply go to the "Kids" tab. And, if you’re a Google Play Pass subscriber, a great selection of “Teacher approved” content is available within "Apps and games for kids."

Today’s announcement wouldn’t be possible without teachers who’ve been working closely with us for the last few years to curate apps that can help kids develop, grow and have fun. We trust teachers to enrich our kids while they’re in school, and we’re grateful they’ve shared their expertise to rate the apps kids use when they’re not in school as well.

The new Kids tab with “Teacher approved” apps will roll out in the U.S. on Google Play over the next few days, and we’ll be expanding internationally in the coming months. We’d love to hear what you think as we continue to make the Play Store more helpful for parents. You can share your thoughts by opening the menu in the Play Store and tapping “Help and feedback.” And don’t forget—for parents who want to set digital ground rules for their kids, like setting time limits on the apps your child has on their device, check out our Family Link app.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Helping families Be Internet Awesome on Safer Internet Day

Editor’s note: This is adapted from remarks Parisa gave today at the Grow with Google NYC Learning Center.

When I was a kid, my brothers and I had to “take turns” using our family computer with slow, dial-up internet access. It wasn’t until college that I got my own computer and cell phone—which was only for making calls. Now, it’s so different for kids who are growing up with access to the web and mobile apps at home and school; most parents are buying smartphones for their kids at 9.5 years old.

With technology at their fingertips, online safety education is so important for young people. We need to put online safety in the same class, literally, as math, science, and history—it’s a fundamental skill in navigating our digital world. This is why I’m so proud of the work we’ve done with Be Internet Awesome. The idea behind Be Internet Awesome is to make sure the most important people in young people’s lives—their parents and teachers—have the resources to teach online safety and citizenship.

Since launching in 2017, Be Internet Awesome is now available in over 26 countries, 12 languages, and millions of people around the world have used the program. But we aren’t there yet. Anew Google survey found that 2 out of 3 parents believe conversations about online safety should happen both in the home and in the classroom, but only 4 in 10 parents feel confident enough to talk to their families about online safety.

Google wants to help, and we couldn't do it without enthusiastic and deeply committed partners. Today we’re announcing a partnership with the National PTA and YMCA to host more than 400 family online safety, citizenship, and digital wellbeing workshops this week across the country to help parents have the tech talk with their kids. The workshops will also help people learn about our Family Link parental controls, YouTube Kids and Digital Wellbeing tools. We’re hosting many of these free workshops right here at the Grow with Google NYC Learning Center alongside a pop-up online safety experience open to the public, and we’re empowering parents and volunteers via YMCA and PTA to help their fellow parents by hosting them across the US.

Along with these partnerships, we’re expanding Be Internet Awesome to the Netherlands, Indonesia, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. We’re also teaming up with DonorsChoose.org to encourage teachers in over 3,500 classrooms to teach kids about online safety with the Be Internet Awesome Classrooms Rewards Program. And we’re partnering with Scholastic to provide 2 million families with Be Internet Awesome tips and resources for teachers and parents.

Most kids won't know what it's like to wait until college to get a cell phone. So it's even more important that they learn how to make smart choices online at an early age, and Be Internet Awesome can help them get there. We’re excited to kick off these workshops on Safer Internet Day, and continue our work to share these insights for years to come.

Source: The Official Google Blog

When will Santa be here? Find out for yourself!

His boots are on, his coat is well-pressed and his reindeer are ready. Santa is about to start his annual worldwide tour—and you can follow along.

Take off time!

Have you ever wondered what happens right before Santa’s hybrid sleigh takes off? This year, you’ll get to see an exclusive video of the behind-the-scenes preparations. Join the elves while they mark the last lists, the reindeer as they warm up before the long flight, and Mrs. Claus as she helps Santa get ready for the big day!

Video showing a cartoon Santa getting ready for Christmas Eve with the help of Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, and other animated helpers.

Follow the map

Starting Dec. 24 at 2 AM Pacific time, when he heads to the first stop in far-eastern Russia a bit after 10 PM local time, everyone will be able to follow Santa’s route around the world and toward their city. A live map will track the magic, showing Santa’s location, moment to moment, along with photos of seasonal scenes from hundreds of Local Guides around the world. He and his reindeer will visit more than 400 locations, and the Santa Tracker will display how far they are from your town and how long it will take for them to get there. Santa is coming to town, and you’ll know exactly when!

It’s time for a bedtime story

Need a little help winding down? Try reading our new bedtime story called “Ollie Under the Sea.” This richly illustrated rhyming story follows a narwhal named Ollie on his quest for an underwater celebration. Mary Bear, a group of elves and some helpful sea friends will join your visions of sugar plums.

Invite Santa into your home

You can invite Santa into your living room by searching for “Santa Search” on your phone and clicking “View in 3D.” He’ll magically appear, rocking around your own tree, patio, or wherever you are! You might want to take a screenshot to prove that Santa made a pit stop at your home ?.

The jolliest place on the internet

While you’re visiting our village and tracking Santa, scroll down to check out the clumsy penguins, make some gingerbread friends, and even meet a friendly Yeti. Keep exploring, and you’ll find some of the new surprises hidden around the village, including the newest game, Build and Bolt. Bring the family together and take turns with this new two-player game where you race to be the fastest gift wrapper. Ready, set, wrap!

A final note… from your hosts!

Real magic happens when we spend time together. Start the countdown with your family, read a bedtime story together, put a smile on your friend’s face with a funny video or sing some carols with your loved ones.

We’re excited to spend a little time with you and your family as the holidays approach, and of course we also can’t wait to watch Santa as his travels begin!

Source: The Official Google Blog

Live from the North Pole, it’s Santa’s Village!

Good day from Santa Tracker HQ! I’m Dimplesticks the Elf, news anchor for the North Pole Broadcasting Channel. This year, our candy-cane broadcast antenna extends beyond Santa’s Village with Google as our official global rebroadcast partner.

Every day over the next three weeks, you can ask your Google Assistant for my reports from the top of the world. Just say, “Hey Google, what’s new at the North Pole?” You’ll also catch my daily North Pole Newscast alongside other minty-fresh NPBC programming like PMZ, the Reindeer Report, and Good Sleigh Today, on Google’s social channels.

What’s new in Santa’s village

And now for our top headline: Santa’s Village has a big makeover this year. Scroll down from the snowy scene up top to discover Santa’s new toy factory, his greenhouse and the reindeer gym. Just click or tap your way to over two dozen games and learning activities—including a new 3D snowbox where you can build your own wintery scene.

There are two kinds of scoops in my world: mint chocolate chip ice cream, and stories nobody else has reported. So here's some breaking news: holiday cheer is spilling over from the North Pole, and into a bunch of different Google products.

More ways to be merry

On Google Earth, test your knowledge of holiday traditions around the world, or take a tour of the tasty treats people eat in various countries this time of year. Then jingle all the way to Image Search (best on mobile) or Tenor and look for Santa Tracker GIFs to make all your messages merry and bright. And it turns out my reporting isn’t the only sweet treat from the Google Assistant. Just ask, “Hey Google, give me a Santa joke" for some good ol’ ho-ho-ho, or say, “Hey Google, call Santa” to help him solve a wacky problem—coming up with a musical genre for his new band. Parents who want their kids to use the Google Assistant can create an account for their kids under 13—or the applicable age in your country—through Family Link.

Snowbox
Experiment and play in the Snowbox, your own wintery sandbox. Use 3D materials to build your own little winter wonderland.
Santas
Feeling ragged as a running reindeer or silly as a splash-diving Santa today? Use a Santa Tracker GIF to express yourself.
Holiday traditions quiz
This time of year is full of different celebrations around the world. Test your knowledge of festivities in an updated Google Earth quiz.
Holiday foods around the world
Do you know your pavlova from your puto bumbong? See what celebratory foods people are eating around the world this month in this new tour from Google Earth.
Family guide
The Family Guide is a new page to help grownups make the most of the season using Santa Tracker and other goodies from Google.

Some of you eagle-eyed jollymakers may have observed that a few of the activities in the village are still hidden. Mrs. Claus gave me an exclusive overview of what’s to come, but because I promised to keep everything she told me under wraps, all I can say is that in a few more sleeps, there’ll be even more ways to play. Gotta keep you on your mistle-toes!

We’re sticking with this story tighter than an elf’s tongue on a frozen pole. (Ow!) So follow me and my esteemed colleagues from the North Pole Broadcasting Channel on Google’s social accounts. Or you can search for Santa Tracker on Google for a link to a daily dose of delight.

With your Elfwitness News, I’m Dimplesticks at the North Pole!

Source: The Official Google Blog

Helping kids learn to evaluate what they see online

Editor’s Note: This week we're launching six new media literacy activities for Be Internet Awesome, designed to help kids analyze and evaluate media as they navigate the internet. The new activities were developed in collaboration with experts Anne Collier, executive director of The Net Safety Collaborative, and Faith Rogow, PhD, co-author of The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy and a co-founder of the National Association for Media Literacy Education.

As a reading specialist and former high school English teacher, I’ve witnessed technology enhance our lives in and out of the classroom. But that comes with lots of challenges, like learning to communicate responsibly, being kind online and deciphering what is real and what is fake. We need the right tools and resources to help kids make the most of technology, and while good digital safety and citizenship resources exist for families, more can be done for media literacy. I’ve worked alongside dozens of educators who believe that media literacy is essential to safety and citizenship in the digital age, but agree that it’s a topic that can be tough to cover.

Fortunately, the new media literacy lessons developed for Be Internet Awesome make it easy and fun for kids to learn key skills for evaluating what they see online. These lessons complement the program’s digital safety and citizenship topics, which help kids explore the online world in a safe, confident manner.

Be Internet Awesome is like an instruction manual for making smart decisions online. Kids today need a guide to the internet and media just as they need instruction on other topics. We need help teaching them about credible sources, the power of words and images and more importantly, how to be smart and savvy when seeing different media while browsing the web.

All of these resources are not only available for classrooms, but also free and easily accessible for families as well. They’re in both English and in Spanish, along with eight other languages, and if you’d like to get some hands-on training as well, Google is partnering with the YMCA and National PTA across multiple cities to host online safety workshops.

I encourage parents to take advantage of these resources and the new activities on media literacy. Let’s not only teach kids, but also inspire, educate and empower families to make tech work better for them as well.

Source: The Official Google Blog

Find your balance with new Digital Wellbeing tools

Google I/O is always exciting for me. It’s a great moment when we get to tell the world about a wide range of new products and features that can help everyone do more with technology. Because of how intertwined tech is with every aspect of our lives, how we balance its use with our wellbeing has to be front and center. So, as we did last year, we made time to discuss how our users can find a balance by using technology more intentionally (and that might mean using it less).

Last year, we announced our commitment to digital wellbeing, a company-wide effort to help our users balance their technology use in a way that feels right for them. The idea has taken hold. A recent survey we commissioned found that 1 in 3 Americans have taken steps to improve their digital wellbeing in the last year, and more than 80 percent of them said this had a positive impact on their overall sense of wellbeing.

It’s still early, but we’re already seeing that some of our initial Digital Wellbeing features have helped people take control of their tech use. For instance, app timers have helped people stick to their goals over 90 percent of the time, according to our internal data from March of this year, and people who use Wind Down had a 27 percent drop in nightly usage on average.

Android Digital Wellbeing: Tools for balance

Coming to Android Q

We know there’s much more we can be doing, which is why we were excited to announce a number of new tools and features at I/O last week. We’re making several improvements to existing features, such as giving you more visibility into the status of your app timers, and allowing Wind Down to be scheduled by day of the week. And, building on the success of app timers, we’re extending its functionality to Chrome on Android, which will let you to set time limits on specific websites.

Our devices should help support our intentions throughout the day. Whether it’s work, school or family and friends that we want to focus on, our devices shouldn’t get in the way. Notifications are an important part of keeping you informed, but not all of them are urgent enough to divert your attention. Now you can choose to make some notifications ‘Gentle’. Gentle notifications won’t make noise, vibrate or appear on the lock screen but are always available if you want to browse.

And we created Focus mode, which allows you to temporarily pause distracting apps with a single tap from Quick Settings. Finally, because many people want more positive encouragement, we’re adding the ability to set a screen time goal with helpful nudges to stay on track.

New features for families

For parents, screen time is often a unique challenge; in fact, according to a recent study commissioned by Google, 67 percent of parents are concerned about the amount of time their kids spend on devices. People with kids tell us they love that Family Link lets them set daily screen time limits, but we know that nothing about parenting is black and white. We announced last week that Family Link will roll out new features that enable parents to fine-tune these boundaries by setting app-specific time limits and awarding bonus screen time directly from their own device. (We hope this will also help provide a little balance to family dynamics.)

But tools and features are just part of the solution; for families in particular, communication is key. So on wellbeing.google, we now offer tips and advice from experts, including a conversation guide to help parents talk to their kids about technology use.

We believe technology should improve life, not distract from it, so we’ve made a company-wide commitment to prioritize our users’ satisfaction over the amount of time they spend with our products, and our teams are designing with digital wellbeing as a core principle. We’re focused on improving lives—today and in the future—and digital wellbeing is one of the most important ways we’re working to make that happen.