Complaint:
Apple’s Screen Time isn’t working well for me these days.
It’s adding in fake screen time. That bar on Monday included 5 hours from midnight to 5 AM of screen time. I was sleeping so . . . definitely was not on my phone.
And, same with the 5AM and 11 pm bars last night! I was definitely not awake or on my phone, so what is the deal with those blue bars?
Finally, when I add up the time spent on various apps it doesn’t add up to the total.
Case in point:
50 + 7 + 5+ 5+ 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + (not shown: 1m YNAB + 43s boden.com + 35s setting) = 85-86 minutes.
Not 2h 20, which is 140 minutes.
The difference lies in those blue bars which aren’t real.
(Things like this infuriate me but also there is a tiny bit of relief because if we can’t get this right, are the robots REALLY close to taking over!?)
Anyway. I really like to use Screen Time to keep myself in check and am annoyed about this. Fix it please, Apple.
(When I look it up, I just see sites that say “yeah, this happens.” Sigh.)
Fitness Things
I tried a Caroline Girvan workout (this one) this morning in lieu of my usual Peloton (the HCOTF suggested workouts were ones I already had done and didn’t love).
It was good! A little boring (I guess I like the banter/music of Peloton) but a very solid workout. I could see repurposing her workouts to do WITHOUT the videos and with a podcast in the background, and maybe even lengthening the rest intervals somewhat.
The format was 60 sec on / 30 off. To allow for more cardiac recovery, I let myself quit each exercise 5 seconds early so I guess I made it 55/35. I used 20 lb weights (she used 15 kg, lol). I remember I used to use the same weight in lb that she used in kg and found it really hard, so I must have gotten somewhat stronger (I think? maybe?).
It still packed a bit of a cardio punch but average HR 134 for 30 min seems . . . probably okay (the truth is: no one knows). Anyway, no terrible rhythms after or anything (yay).
Anyway: I might try to go through the series over the new few weeks to take a little break from Peloton strength! Mixing it up keeps things more interesting.
WE WENT ON A DATE
After stopping by to see one of his friends visiting from TX (and FaceTiming his wife’s friend who reads the blog! That was wild and hi Stephanie if you are reading this) Josh and I went to Vitolo in Fort Lauderdale beach last night. I MAY have even incorporated some mild 2026 planning (mostly just trips etc).
I wore this (felt a lot more comfortable in it vs the green one, ha):
Sadly I did not get a pic of us going out. A babysat and the kids were awake when we got back, which is going to be true until everyone goes to college (no more arrivals home to a hushed house). And that’s okay! It was lovely not spending $$$ on babysitting and I knew the kids were fine. I welcome this era with open arms.
17 Comments
I’ve noticed the screen time feels really off some days lately too–so this makes sense. I wish it was more accurate–it can be a helpful tool if it works!
If you decide to give up on iPhone screen time tracking… I use the app Opal for blocking various internet time wasters but I also like its screen time tracking features. You can set different apps according to whether they are distracting, productive or neutral and then that is taken into account when you see your screen time. I like that I can see how much time I’m spending on distracting apps and can essentially ignore the time spent on Google Maps and other apps that are purely functional for me.
That dress is SO cute!
YES to the teens babysitting era! Life-changing! We are still getting used to it.
Apple screen time is inaccurate and glitchy and I feel like it is deliberately kept that way to make it hard for parents to track and control their kids screen time. when kids request more screen time through Apple the increments available jump from 15 to 60 minutes. Why? My conspiracy theory says they want to keep kids on their phones longer. Also have noticed inaccurate (skewing higher) time data. If they really wanted to fix this, they would.
Screen time has always been off. Lately it has been waaaaayyyy off. Yesterday I logged into my patient portal to look at my own blood work — it took <5 min. When I checked later, my phone had logged 1h 20min of "health and fitness" app time, which… that was the only health related thing I had done all day. So I try not to put too much stock in what it tells me, and just try to keep my social media use <60 min per day. I usually fail.
I did that Iron series a couple years ago- some of the workouts are REALLY HARD. I agree it’s not entertaining like Peloton though, and I hate some of her music. But- good workouts.
Yay for a date night and not paying for a babysitter! Yes, this is a good phase.
I really like the Caroline Girvan Iron series. It’s my favorite of her series because there are no burpees/HIIT! I like that she doesn’t talk during the workouts as I get annoyed easily by online instructors. But she doesn’t give you just time to rest! That’s great that you could lift more in lb than the numerical Kg amount she’s lifting. My goal is to match her kg number but in lbs. So basically half of what she’s doing!!
Yay for a date night without a babysitter!!! 🙌🙌🙌
I think apple screen time must be counting my watch time. And I don’t mean time doing things on my watch, I just mean normal passive daily tracking. The times don’t make any sense otherwise.
That is so weird that the screen time is so off. Do you use a sleep app or something that runs in the background that could count towards screen time?
nope!!! Nothing running overnight that I am aware of!
I’ll look forward to any updates on Apple’s Screen Time in the future, Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger. I’m actually interested in sharing with you the screen time on my phone – which is not from the Apple company – in the future as well.
I’ve been thinking if you’re saying that no one, including Johns Hopkins Medicine, knows whether or not the bit of a cardio punch that is packed in the Caroline Girvan workout, which led to average HR 134 for 30 min for you, is okay.
I also wonder if the closet in the image is the same closet in which you record podcasts, Dr. Sarah Hart-Unger.
Having one kid be able to watch the other kid is amazing. Right now even my youngest can be home alone for several hours. It’s a whole new world!
That is good to know about Screen Time. I don’t look at mine as much as I should, but I do look at my kids’ a fair amount and sometimes I think, that can’t be right! I hadn’t considered that it really might not be right to such a huge extent.
I’m sorry the dress didn’t work out. I’m impressed that you took it back. I have to really dislike something to take it back. Once it’s in my possession well… it’s so much easier to just keep it. 😉
I have never done a CG workout besides the Dead Bug one. Man, that woman is crazy ripped. I bet her videos are hard. I do think listening to a podcast while you do them could be the way to go. I always listen to a podcast when I do Dead Bug, which is a brutal 12 minutes. The last three minutes kill me every time! Every! Time!
she is SOOOO ripped, it’s insane!
and yes about Screen Time. I think the above commenters are right – if they wanted to fix it, they would . . .
The latest program of CG on the app is Iron Pro – a lot of it is 45 sec work with 60 sec rest. Aim is to lift heavier, although I’m taking extra days in between because of the DOMS. I do still get puffed – especially with the leg workouts!
I have been saying for months that the apple screen time is off!!! I am so happy to find out other people where saying it too. It is so annoying, though I guess minor in the grand scheme of things.
*were not where (face palm)