Google is rolling out Focus mode to Android to help you take a break

Google's way of helping slow down our relationship with our phones is finally ready for primetime. After first announcing the feature at IO in May, Google is taking mode out of beta and rolling it out to Android 9 and 10 devices. 

The new mode is part of Google's Digital Wellbeing tool on Android and designed to help you remove some of the many distractions phones often provide so you can focus on what you need to get done. With the feature enabled, you can select the apps that you find the most distracting such as a social media app, video app or games. If you try to open them, Focus mode will "remind you that app is paused," Android project manager Dayson Pais writes in a blog post announcing the rollout. 

The feature will also "silence those apps' notifications until you're ready to switch out of the mode" to help further minimize temptations. Additional features include automatically turning Focus mode on and off for particular days or times that you choose, such as from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. 

Unlike other similar apps like OnePlus ' Zen Mode, which require you to wait the full 20 minutes when enabled before you can resume using your device, Google's implementation has an option to "take a break, which lets you step out of Focus mode to use certain apps and jump back in when you're ready."

The new feature will be available with new phones launching from today with Android 9 or 10 that have Digital Wellbeing and parental control settings. According to 9to5Google, those who weren't part of the beta program will get an update to the Digital Wellbeing app in the coming days.