TikTok recently began experimenting with a meditation feature on the app that encouraged teens to “switch off” after 10 p.m. Now, the company is making the feature official for all users and enabling it by default for all teens under the age of 18.
With the change, teens will be taken to a full-screen “guided meditation exercise” when they try to scroll after 10pm. Obviously, you can ignore this prompt, but teens who do will be confronted with a second prompt that will be harder to refuse. Adult TikTok users will also be able to access meditations in the app using the screen time controls (this feature will not be enabled by default for adults).
The company notes that the first tests of Sleep Hours were successful: 98 percent of teenagers decided not to turn off their nightly meditations. Previous attempts by TikTok to limit screen time had a slightly different track record. Documents that surfaced as part of a lawsuit against the company showed that teens were spending about 107 minutes a day on the app, even when screen time was limited to 60 minutes.
Since then, TikTok has strengthened some of its security features, including parental controls, amid increased scrutiny of the company. TikTok’s fate in the United States is still officially in limbo, as President Donald Trump signed another extension of the app’s ban last month. The terms of the final deal that will allow TikTok to stay in the country permanently have not yet been announced, although there are a number of interested buyers.
