TikTok wants you to stop doomscrolling (on its own app)

Wednesday 19 November 2025 13.24

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TikTok has spent years perfecting the dark art of keeping you glued to your phone, but now it wants to help you turn off your phone.

In a move that feels almost surreal, the company on Wednesday announced the launch of a new center called ‘Time and Wellbeing’ designed to help people get away from TikTok – by using TikTok.

We’re talking guided meditations after 10 p.m., calming sound machines, breathing exercises, and digital “missions” that reward you for healthier habits.

It’s hard to ignore the thrill of an app that perfects the dopamine hit of endless browsing, promoting a kinder, gentler version of the app itself.

But China’s viral app ByteDance called the move a way to stay ahead of regulators and improve user health.

As the UK’s Online Safety Act places greater obligations on tech companies to protect underage users, these features also have a practical purpose.

Although some lawmakers have called the law too lenient on “legal but harmful” content, TikTok believes its welfare tools can help it meet demands and build goodwill.

TikTok saves you from itself

At the heart of TikTok’s new wellbeing push is a new ‘Time and Wellbeing Hub’, where users can journal affirmations (there are more than 120 prompts), listen to calming audio, and try guided breathing or meditation.

There are also “well-being missions” that function like micro-challenges for oneself, set to limit activities in the evening, set daily screen time limits, or meditate regularly.

For teen users, TikTok will automatically suggest meditation if they’re still scrolling past 10 p.m., and then show persistent prompts if they ignore the first message.

According to the short video platform, nearly all teens in internal testing kept the feature enabled.

Elsewhere, TikTok is also addressing concerns about AI-generated content by giving users more control over what they see.

To do this, a new button in the ‘manage topics’ section of the app lets people decide how much AI-produced content they want in their feed, regardless of topic category.

Strategy or genuine concern?

Why is TikTok doing this now?

On the one hand, these new tools represent a response to increasingly stringent regulatory scrutiny, particularly in the UK, where the Online Safety Act demands stronger protections for minors.

By building wellness features directly into the app, TikTok can show that they’re not just paying lip service to digital wellness.

But on the other hand, the move has room to increase brand trust.

As society grows tired of the endless loop and as other platforms like Meta and Pinterest launch similar features, being proactive can be smart business. Encouraging users to regulate their use risks reducing engagement, and the tension between mindfulness and well-being will be difficult to manage.

However, for a platform whose business has long relied on attention, asking users to take a break is an interesting move. Whether it’s self-care, strategy, or a combination of both, the platform is trying to make it easier for people to stop doomscrolling.