If you're a Pixel owner and are facing performance issues with your phone, this might be the solution to your problems. According to numerous Reddit users, Google's Digital Wellbeing has been slowing down Pixel phones. One Reddit user, ploewer, who owns a Pixel 3 reported that turning off Digital Wellbeing made a huge impact on the smartphone's performance, stating that the difference was like "night and day". Google announced Digital Wellbeing (Android Dashboard) at its annual Google I/O event back in 2018. It enables people to log their phone and tablet usage and track how they use their time on these devices by recording how long they spend on apps, the number of times they unlock their phones on a given day, and the number of notifications they receive. The feature aims to help users limit their digital screen time. On the popular Reddit thread that discusses this issue, multiple users have commented that switching off Digital Wellbeing improved frame rate, battery life, typing speed, and allowed smooth switching between apps. Accounts of affected phones include the Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. While the idea of turning off this feature seems to have helped a lot of Pixel owners, many have also reported that it made little or no difference in performance. This topic has been under discussion for a little over one week on Reddit. In a post made earlier this week, Reddit user Trueray17 was the first person to suggest turning off the Digital Wellbeing software to solve performance issues such as sluggishness, lags, and stutters on Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. Source: Reddit via The Verge<doc-sep>Does your Pixel device feel like it is harboring untapped performance potential? Is it acting sluggish at times, or have you noticed any unusual stuttering? If so, the culprit could be Google's Digital Wellbeing feature in Android 9 Pie , which is designed to help you manage how much time you are spending on your smartphone. Turning it off could actually help solve performance issues. The Digital Wellbeing app offers a daily view of your digital habits, including how frequently you use different apps, how many notifications you receive, and how often you check your phone. It allows you to set limits for how much you use apps, and can silence notifications at nighttime to ensure a good night's rest, among other things. Over on Reddit, however, there are multiple threads pointing to the app hampering performance on a range of Pixel devices, both past and present. "Saw it was a known bug on some YouTube comment about the Pixel 3a, turned it off on my Pixel 3 and it has made the world of difference. Can't believe I was living with so much stuttering thinking it was normal. The difference is like night and day. If you have a Pixel 3, I highly recommend you give it a go even if you think you have no performance issues," user ploewer wrote There are numerous complaints of Google's Digital Wellbeing app causing performance woes on Pixel devices. Several others have chimed in with similar testimonials. One user said disabling Digital Wellbeing on his first generation Pixel XL "made a huge f**king difference." Another user said he chalked up the stuttering on his first-gen Pixel XL as it being an aged device, but noticed that "even the camera is snappier" after disabling Digital Wellbeing. In a separate thread , Trueray17 said he spent months trying to resolve the stuttering and sluggishness he observed on his Pixel 3 . He tried rebooting, uninstalling unwanted apps, clearing cache, and even full system wipes, all to no avail. "A few days ago I stared at my Pixel 3 just confused why is performance so terrible, I personally don't believe it's the lack of ram but software related. I asked myself what is the last big feature that Google added to Android Pie?! Just maybe that is the culprit. Then, Digital Wellbeing came in to mind," he wrote. After disabling the feature, he claims his phone has been "butter smooth" with no more stuttering or lag. He also noted that "switching between apps is a breeze now, no more text input lag just speedy performance throughout the whole UI. Also, if you reduce animations in developer options it's a whole new experience (blazing fast)." Settings, select Digital Wellbeing, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner and select Turn off usage access. Confirm it when asked on the Usage access screen, then turn off permit usage access. There might be something to this, given the number of complaints and testimonials that cover a variety of Pixel phones, including the recently launched Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL . If you own a Pixel phone and want to see for yourself if this makes a difference, head to, selectin the upper-right corner and select. Confirm it when asked on thescreen, then turn off As far as we can tell, this is not a acknowledged issue by Google, so it is unclear if the company is working on a fix.<doc-sep>One of the most exciting additions to Android Pie was Google’s suite of Digital Wellbeing tools. However, users have been reporting lately that Digital Wellbeing tools could be the cause of performance problems on a plethora of devices, including the Pixel 3. Over the past couple of weeks, some reports have been sparingly popping up regarding performance issues being solved by simply turning off Google’s Digital Wellbeing feature. Over the weekend, though, more users have chimed in with their results in trying this out, and it seems pretty clear at this point that those tools are the cause of some performance issues. A lengthy Reddit thread sees dozens of Google Pixel users of various generations confirming that turning off Digital Wellbeing greatly improved the performance on their devices. There are many reports here of users who see “immediate” improvements in performance, especially on Pixel 1 and Pixel 3 devices. Apparently, some users are even seeing battery improvements too. Personally, I’ve been testing a Pixel 3 XL on Pie with Digital Wellbeing turned off since I was first tipped off to the potential performance gains, and while it feels less laggy, I can’t say I’ve seen the same dramatic difference on my device. Other members of the 9to5Google team have also tried this out with mixed results. To some extent, I think this difference in speed is a placebo. However, it’s clear that there is some benefit to flipping the switch. Turning Digital Wellbeing off seems to fix performance issues on Pixel 3 devices and more… This doesn’t just affect Pixel devices from the looks of it either. Another Reddit thread sees examples of a Nokia 6.1 user as well as a OnePlus 5T user on a custom ROM who see similar improvements after turning off Digital Wellbeing. So what’s the consensus after all of that? In short, something is seriously wrong with Google’s Digital Wellbeing feature. One can only hope that future updates to Digital Wellbeing will focus on improving the performance issues that it currently causes. In the meantime, users should definitely deactivate Digital Wellbeing on their devices if they aren’t actively using the tools. More on Google Digital Wellbeing: FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:<doc-sep>If you own any of Google's Pixel phones, you might have heard about a new movement to disable the Digital Wellbeing feature. As neat as it is to try and curb phone addiction, a lot of people have been reporting that turning it off helps to boost performance across the board. We've already created a step-by-step guide showing you exactly how to turn Digital Wellbeing off if you want to give it a shot, but now we want to know how many of you have actually gone and done that. Here's how the AC forum community has responded so far. What do you think? Does turning off Digital Wellbeing really make Pixel phones faster? Join the conversation in the forums!<doc-sep>
In brief: Launched as a major new feature under Android 9 Pie and debuting on Google's own Pixel phones, Digital Wellbeing tracks and measures phone usage and is meant to keep people from being glued to their screens all the time. Now it seems the feature may have outdone itself by slowing down Pixel phones to an extent that it's inadvertently keeping owners off their devices by hindering their user experience. Similar to Apple's Screen Time, Google's Digital Wellbeing is designed to monitor your smartphone usage habits and help in achieving a healthier digital lifestyle. It runs in the background and keeps track of how long you use your phone as well as individual apps, each day. The feature recently had an unwanted side effect on a number of Pixel phones causing speed and frame rate stutters. A thread on Reddit, particularly around the Pixel 3, discusses on how disabling Digital Wellbeing has drastically improved the performance of the phone. "Can't believe I was living with so much stuttering thinking it was normal. The difference is night and day," says a Pixel 3 owner. Google hasn't commented about the issue but the reports appear genuine, giving owners a very good reason to disable this feature regardless of how useful it may be. If you're experiencing this issue on your Pixel 3 device, you can also apply a temporary fix and look for any noticeable performance improvements. Go to Settings, choose Digital Wellbeing and then tap on the three-dot icon at the top right. Tap on Turn off usage access which will be confirmed in the next screen by switching off the Permit usage access option for this feature. Digital Wellbeing is set to expand in Android Q with a new Focus mode and it's likely that Google may already have a fix in the works.