YouTube is rolling out a daily time-limit timer for its Shorts feed on mobile devices: iOS and Android. Users can now go into the YouTube app’s settings and set a limit for how long they will scroll through Shorts in a day. Once the daily limit is reached, you’ll get a pop-up message saying the Shorts feed is paused for the day.
The pop-up is currently dismissible; which means, you can ignore it and continue watching. The feature is only for mobile apps right now — desktop usage of Shorts isn’t covered yet. Meanwhile, YouTube plans to bring this into parental controls later in the year where children won’t be able to dismiss the limit.
Endless scroll short-form videos—like Shorts, or similar formats on other platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook—are recognized as potentially habit-forming. YouTube itself acknowledged that the “scrolling” behaviour can lead to more time spent than planned.
Infact, there are many lawsuits in the U.S. targeting social-media and video platforms for features that allegedly promote addictive usage patterns among minors. This is one of the major reasons YouTube is bring the Shorts' Timer into parental controls.
However, it’s worth noting that both Instagram and TikTok already offer optional features that allow users to set screen time limits. TikTok, however, is the only platform that extends this option to its web users. Facebook has yet to introduce a similar feature.
YouTube emphasized in its announcement that Shorts remain an essential part of the platform’s overall experience. The company explained that introducing a scrolling time limit helps users enjoy Shorts while being more intentional about how they spend their time.
The company said users can access and customize these time limits through their YouTube account settings. The feature is starting to roll out today, so it may take some time before it becomes available to all mobile users. To increase your chances of getting the feature sooner, you can update your YouTube app from your phone’s app store.
