Why can't we download data from screen time feature on Apple devices?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24995294
by maximusJ • 6 years ago
3 2 6 years ago

Recently I was looking for software that I could use to track and ultimately better understand where I spend my time. I did a little bit of looking and found a few options like rescuetime but after trying it out I found it was hard to track time because I had to have the application open while using apps/software on my laptop and phone. I knew about screen time but was unaware that it was also available on macOS. When I found this out I thought that I had found my solution to tracking my time. However apple screen time lacks a lot of features and is quite limited. For example there is no way to look at weekly or monthly trends, the categories are unable to be changed, and I can't access data from more than a month ago. In addition, when I select the metrics for all devices they differ on my iphone and mac. I was hoping that I could just download the data and create a better visualization/user interface, however I could not find any easy way to do this. I can't think of why Apple would not be able to allow this data to be downloaded if they are not willing to create a better screen time feature. This data should be accessible to the user especially if there are no third party alternatives that can accurately track screen time.

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