SAN JOSE, Calif., April 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Today, ZenScreen is launching a cross-platform smartphone app and browser extension to help individuals and families reclaim the time and mental energy lost to unhealthy screen usage and addictive social apps. ZenScreen pairs artificial intelligence with research-backed best practices to analyze user behavior and then systematically help people master the use of technology in their lives.

According to national surveys, the average adult spends over nine hours per day in front of various screens, with 80 percent of that for personal and entertainment purposes. Breaking news alerts, endless scrolling, and social notifications trigger unhealthy dopamine reactions and chip away at our ability to live calm and productive lives, maintain focus, and even keep healthy sleep schedules. Technology is designed to addict us, and children are affected by these trends even more than adults. ZenScreen allows parents to monitor their own behavior, in addition to their kids, and lead by example.

ZenScreen, developed by Zenlabs, is the first AI solution that guides people towards reasonable smartphone usage and better screen time habits. ZenScreen leverages secure VPN technology to anonymously monitor app usage across devices and can differentiate between app types, such as productivity, social media, and news. The service uses AI to detect unhealthy behaviors, like spending too much time on social networks or continually closing and reopening the same app or website. Finally, ZenScreen acts as a digital assistant, letting users see their app usage at a glance, suggesting breaks, and even enforcing them by restricting access to certain apps for a ‘cool off period.’

ZenScreen offers a number of useful features to help maintain better habits:

• Detailed usage dashboard and gauge, broken down by specific app
• Calm Night and Smart Morning features to help users maintain a healthy sleep schedule
• AI assistant technology that suggests and even enforces breaks based on user behavior
• Granular user controls for setting maximum entertainment usage per day
• Ability to add up to seven family member profiles, each with their own browsing limits and device settings

ZenScreen was founded and developed by a team led by Nitin Bhandari, a serial entrepreneur, creator of the highly successful Skyfire mobile browser (sold for $150M), and the former SVP of consumer apps at Opera Software. Nitin built his career making apps more engaging for users. This came to a boiling point two years ago when he took his team to a conference about making apps more addictive. At the conference, Nitin had an epiphany and instead decided to use technology for good and help people manage their devices. He looked around and found few good choices — all solutions were easy to circumvent by picking up another device and, moreover, none were crafted to help both adults and families maintain healthy digital habits.

“Screen time is a modern health crisis that affects individuals and families all over the world. Apps and websites today are designed to entice rather than empower — turning people into glassy-eyed zombies,” said Nitin Bhandari, Founder and CEO of Zenlabs. “We’ve built ZenScreen around the idea of a digital food pyramid. Just as not all calories are the same, not all screen time is the same; navigation and streaming music do not affect our mental wellness, while others, like social media, can have huge detrimental impacts when not used in moderation. ZenScreen provides the structure and smart nudge needed for people to master technology, rather than being mastered by it.”

ZenScreen users will have unlimited free access to ZenScreen’s app usage dashboard, as well as the Quiet Time feature, which restricts usage for a set timeframe. All other advanced AI features such as Smart Mornings, Calm Nights, Zen Breaks, and Activity Limits will be available as part of a 30-day free trial, then as part of ZenScreen’s $4.99 monthly subscription.

Download ZenScreen on Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and the Chrome Web Store: https://zenscreen.app.link/launch

About ZenScreen
ZenScreen is developed by Zenlabs, a Silicon Valley company founded by Nitin Bhandari, Naveen Puvvula, Jack Furr, and Sean Miceli, and devoted to empowering technology use and helping people develop better digital wellness habits. ZenScreen uses AI technology to set sensible screen time limits for individuals and families. The app is available on iOS, Android, and as a Chrome extension. To learn more, please visit www.zenscreen.ai

Media Contact:

Kayvan Farzaneh for Zenlabs
press@zenlabs.io

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SOURCE Zenlabs