Learn how to understand the chart and data you see for app usages, notifications, and pickups in Screen Time setting to get better insights into your Mac usage.
If you’ve set up Screen Time on Mac, whether for yourself or a child, you likely created limits, scheduled downtime, restricted content, or all three. But another great part of the Screen Time feature is its reporting.
If you want to see exactly how long your child spent using an app or how many times you picked up your own device, these interactive reports can be really handy. They can help you make adjustments based on what you learn.
Let’s walk through those usage reports in Screen Time on your Mac so that you can decide if you need to make changes or if the settings you put in place are working.
Available Screen Time reports
There are currently three helpful reports in Screen Time: App & Website Activity, Notifications, and Pickups. To view each report, open System Settings and select Screen Time from the left sidebar. We’ll go through each one.
If you use Family Sharing and want to see data for a particular person, pick a user from the drop-down box on the top left. If you want to check your child’s reports and do not use Family Sharing, you’ll need to log into their account or device and access Screen Time.
Now, onto those reports!
App and website usage report
The App & Website Activity (previously called App Usage) report is probably one of the most important ones in Screen Time. It shows you which apps were used, for exactly how long, on which days, and at what times. So, the report is actually pretty impressive for gathering data about app usage.
Click App & Website Activity, and you’ll see all of the data on the next screen.
Chart view
At the top of the window, you have the option to select one of your devices or see the information collectively for all devices.
Next, you can choose to view data for Today or a particular day that’s passed. You can also choose to see everything for a certain week.
The top chart in this view shows activity for a week and the one below it breaks down that week into times by day. So, if you click M for Monday in the top chart, you’ll see the bottom chart open and adjust to show the times of that day.
By looking at our example for a Monday, you can see my highest usage was between 6 AM and 7 PM.
And with the key directly below that chart, you can see the apps I used fall into the Productivity & Finance, Social, and Entertainment categories. What’s more, you can also see the exact number of hours and minutes I spent on apps in each of those categories.
Chart data
Now that you understand how the charts work and can display the data, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty.
At the bottom of the window you have the app details. You can choose to Show Apps or Categories to view specific app data.
You will see how many hours you have spent in an app. For instance, I used Safari for 57 minutes.
Similarly, if I choose to Show Categories, it displays that I spent 39 minutes on the Social category.
You can click an app or category from the list and the chart above will change to show the exact times when you used that. For instance, if I click X, you can see the little blues on the chart, showing the times when I used it.
If you think you spend a lot of time using an app, take the pointer over it under the Limits column and use the hourglass icon to add a limit.
Other nuggets of information you can get are the Category, Age Rating, and Developer details for each app (not all apps will have all three of these details). Click the info button ⓘ to see this.
All in all, the interactive App Usage report gives you a clear view and some terrific details for insight into what you or your child use and when.
Notifications report
The next report you can take a look at is Notifications, so select it from the Screen Time pane. This one shows you the notifications you’ve received, when, and from what apps.
The charts work the same way for Notifications as they do for the App & Website Activity report. So, pick a date or week, and you can see the amount of activity from notifications in the charts.
At the bottom, you can check out which apps notified you and how many times for the time frame you’re viewing. Select an app, and it will change the chart to show the times when the notification was sent.
Pickups report
The last report is for Pickups. This one displays information about how many times you wake your device and what app you use first when you do.
Once again, the charts at the top work the same way as the other reports. And at the bottom, you have the list of apps that populate the chart, and can see the number of Pickups for each app.
Find yourself going to the same social media app every time you wake your device instead of to a productivity app? You might decide to make some adjustments.
Need more help?
These Screen Time reports are impressive for gaining insight into your activity or that of your child. They give you the kind of information you need to make changes where they’re needed.
If you ever have a question on one of those Screen Time reports you’re viewing, just click the Help button (question mark) on the bottom right of the Screen Time window.
What are your thoughts on these Screen Time reports? Do you think you’ll find them useful? Or do you think there’s something missing that could make them better? Let us know your thoughts.
Check out next: 15 child-focused features on iPhone and iPad