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The Bedtime Mode on the Galaxy S22 is a hot mess. Let's untangle it

By Preslav Kateliev

Updated: Apr 13, 2022, 9:33 AM

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The Bedtime Mode on the Galaxy S22 is a hot mess. Let's untangle it

Smartphones — both Android and iPhone — have been getting these new "wellbeing" features over the past few years. You can track how much time you spend watching the screen, and specifically how much time you spend in some apps. Supposedly, the point is to help you curb that TikTok addiction by imposing a time limit in the settings.

Aside from those, we now have "Bedtime reminders" on our phones. First introduced on iOS (as Sleep Schedule) but soon after adopted in Android's Digital Wellbeing section, Bedtime reminder lets you set your ideal hours for going to sleep and waking up. The app will then remind you that it's time to wind down some minutes before the bedtime hour strikes, it will dim the screen and it will turn on Do Not Disturb.

Awesome, right? Yeah. The small caveat is that, while Bedtime on iOS is easy to find and very accessible (it's right in the Clock app), the story is not the same on Android. In order to get to Bedtime on Google's operating system, you need to go into Settings -> Digital Wellbeing -> Bedtime.

It's fair to assume that not a lot of people have found or bothered with the setting. I myself only discovered it because the Galaxy S22 Ultra clock app enticed me to look for it with a popup message.

If you don't know where to find the Bedtime mode in the Clock app, here:

That's absolutely great. The graphic is pretty, the setting is accessible, and a lot of people will get to experience this automated feature for the first time. But, since Android is such an open, customizable, and modular system, you can sometimes get confused as a feature can be accessed in a few different places, and it can manipulate a few different things.

Sleep Schedule on iPhone, Bedtime on S22 Ultra

I definitely lost my bearings with how Bedtime works in the new Samsung Clock app, so I took the time to untangle all of it.

Here's how it goes:

Is Bedtime in the Samsung Clock app the same as Bedtime in Digital Wellbeing?

Yes. It is not very visually clear, since the Clock app uses a different UI than the one that Digital Wellbeing used to have. However, you can be sure that the Bedtime option in the Samsung Clock app speaks directly to the Digital Wellbeing feature.

Clock Bedtime on the left, Digital Wellbeing Bedtime on the right

If you go to Settings -> Digital Wellbeing -> Bedtime and tap to set the hours, you should still be taken back to the Samsung Clock UI. This is good — it's supposed to take you to the same rotating wheel UI, so to avoid confusion.

This is how to reach the Bedtime menu in Digital Wellbeing

That said, while tinkering with the thing, I was able to "separate" the Clock from the Digital Wellbeing feature, with one of them showing that the schedule is "on", while the other one showing me that it's "off". This was one of the sources of my confusion, as I was wondering — is the Clock Bedtime mode a different feature than Digital Wellbeing Bedtime? No, it's not, just make sure it doesn't bug out.

Is Sleeping Schedule the same as Bedtime on Samsung Galaxy S22?

Ah, the beauty of legacy features. No, it is not. Sleeping Schedule is an old default schedule that can be found in your Do Not Disturb sub-menu (Settings -> Notifications -> Do Not Disturb -> Schedules). By default Sleeping Schedule (if turned on) will mute notifications from 10 PM to 7 AM.

This setting does not get affected by Bedtime in any way — not the hours, and not the toggle. It's best to just delete it if you plan to use the new Bedtime mode instead.

This is another place that got me a bit confused. See, when Bedtime is active, you will see two persistent notifications in the top left. One is the Digital Wellbeing icon, letting you know that Bedtime Mode is on. The second is a Do Not Disturb icon, which works in conjunction with Bedtime.

When Bedtime is active, if you open the Do Not Disturb setting, you will see that a Bedtime Mode schedule has now appeared in this sub-menu.

Turning off Bedtime Mode from the Do Not Disturb menu will allow calls and notifications to come through. However, it will not turn off Bedtime Mode in Digital Wellbeing, meaning the screen will still be dimmed and grayscaled.

Bottom line — do not touch the Do Not Disturb toggle. If you want to turn Bedtime Mode on or off, only do so through the Clock app or the Digital Wellbeing sub-menu.

What do you mean your head hurts, that was not complicated or convoluted at all! Joking aside, take what you learned here and enjoy your Bedtime Mode — it really is a great feature for us sleep-deprived tech addicts.

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Preslav, a member of the PhoneArena team since 2014, is a mobile technology enthusiast with a penchant for integrating tech into his hobbies and work. Whether it's writing articles on an iPad Pro, recording band rehearsals with multiple phones, or exploring the potential of mobile gaming through services like GeForce Now and Steam Link, Preslav's approach is hands-on and innovative. His balanced perspective allows him to appreciate both Android and iOS ecosystems, focusing on performance, camera quality, and user experience over brand loyalty.