Google confirms future Android 12 beta release to bring back screen-on time

Screen-on time helps users better understand their phone usage habits.

What you need to know

• Google has confirmed that it will be bringing back screen-on time information with a future Android 12 build.
• The option to view your screen-on time since the last full charge was removed in the first Android 12 beta.
• You can still use a third-party app to check your screen time in Android 12 Beta 2.

Google introduced a ton of new features with the first Android 12 beta last month — including Material You design tweaks and privacy enhancements. Weirdly, the first public Android 12 beta also removed the ability to view the "screen-on time" in the Battery section of the Settings app.

On Android 11, users can view their phone's screen-on time by heading over to Settings > Battery > screen usage since full charge. The screen-on time could be accessed from the same section in the first two Android 12 Developer Preview builds as well. With the third Android 12 Developer Preview, however, Google moved the screen-on time to the Screen section under Settings > Battery > View battery usage, and with the beta, it's completely gone.

Google has now confirmed in the main screen-on time "bug" thread on the Android issue tracker page that the issue has now been fixed, and screen-on time will be added back to the Settings menu in a future Android 12 build. While Google hasn't confirmed exactly when the "fix" will arrive, it is likely to be included in the third Android 12 beta. We expect the next Android 12 beta to begin rolling out to the best Android phones from Google and other OEMs sometime early next month.

Right now, Android 12 only lets you view the screen-on time for the current day under the Apps sections or from the Digital Wellbeing dashboard. This makes the feature useful only for people who charge their phones every day. If you want to analyze your phone usage for more than a single day, using a third-party app such as AccuBattery is currently the only option you have.

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