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Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#31

Post by Bmalone »

Do a tech/ social media fast...it sounds like you would benefit from being more imaginative,as there are already a dearth of applications out there to aid creativity (or, even to fool people into thinking they are creative, i.e. GarageBand loops, etc).

From the basic 'notes' app included in all phones for creative writing, to the camera for photography, to FL studio app for music.

Not only for you, but for myself and many other people who like to 'make stuff', a good tech/ social media detox to spark some imagination is the only thing I think will truly get you being creative (myself included). The paradox of choice out there, coupled with instant gratification is a productivity/ creativity killer...get that imagination firing again!

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#32

Post by sova »

michaericalribo wrote: post #21
robjan wrote: post #16

The only thing I can think of is writing a blog if that's of interest to you. If you use wordpress of blogspot you can use their app to write drafts then edit whatever you wrote on a desktop.

Any alternatives to a touchpad screen for text input? Touchscreens are garbage for writing...

SpeechNotes

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#33

Post by [deleted] »

st1x7 wrote: post #28
michaericalribo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I want that, but if I’m standing in line at the grocery store, I’m not at my desk, I don’t have a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Those tools may be good for some situations. But what about all the other situations? Some of the best art is created under adversity. To be clear, the grocery line isn’t an adverse situation. But being in prison, working a physical / manual job, poverty—these are all adverse situations…

If you're in line in the grocery store, not taking out your phone to fill those 30 seconds and just being there by yourself might be better for your creativity than opening an app and pretending that you have accomplished something in that time.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#34

Post by troyvit »

kgwxd wrote: post #12

Touch screens are the worst possible input for anything productive. Maybe if there was far less latency, you could make some decent music but, in my experience, anything beyond basic, unexpressive rhythm, chords, and melodies are the best you can achieve. Nuance can be added in post, but that's tedious and sucks the life out the process. I don't draw, but I know doing it on a touch screen is far more painful than pap…

I have to disagree. My daughter started drawing on paper but quickly moved a tablet. What she can do is faster and more precise than a) what she can do on paper, and b) what modern desktop drawing software can do. I think she'd call her style cartoonish for sure, so maybe drawing something other than interesting characters doing weird things is beyond touch screens, but the ability to generate, combine, and manipulate elements in a drawing app on a tablet blows anything else I've seen out of the water in terms of the quality of the end result and the speed at which she can achieve it. And yeah I'm probably a little biased.

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#35

Post by lemonspat »

peterlk wrote: post #22
michaericalribo wrote: post #15

This is a great question! I think other commenters miss the basic point that mobile is frictionless and can be used anywhere. I think OP is thinking along the following lines: I’m on the bus / in the loo / waiting for my lunch to heat in the microwave. How can I use these moments to produce creatively? I already have a great tool that I know can deliver content efficiently and accessibly to me in these situations—I u…

Yes, this is exactly what I mean. I feel your pain for writing. This morning, I accidentally deleted all my notes from yesterday and could not recover them from my phone because there is no undo (!!? How can phones still not have an undo?) in my note-taking app. I had to get up and recover the version from my desktop because I wasn't signed in to dropbox on my phone.

The iPhone has an undo when you shake it. Works for text boxes and deleting emails and other things

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#36

Post by vagrantJin »

michaericalribo wrote: post #15

This is a great question! I think other commenters miss the basic point that mobile is frictionless and can be used anywhere. I think OP is thinking along the following lines: I’m on the bus / in the loo / waiting for my lunch to heat in the microwave. How can I use these moments to produce creatively? I already have a great tool that I know can deliver content efficiently and accessibly to me in these situations—I u…

Speech to text?

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#38

Post by 5tefan »

st1x7 wrote: post #4

I still don't get the motivation behind this. If you want to consume less stuff on your phone, you can reduce the consumption without replacing it with anything - you don't have a phone time quota that you need to meet on any given day, just cut down on the things you don't like. When you're creating anything, it makes sense to do it in the best possible environment that you have for it - I would rather write code on…

This. Don't get it as well. Rather enjoy my free time. I live along the line of "work smart not hard" to get as much free time as possible. But if it is a must to you... thinking is also working. No need to produce a text or edit something or such things. Wrap your head around a topic and there's no need for an input device.

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#39

Post by blindpixel »

peterlk wrote: post #29
blindpixel wrote: post #14

Try making some art. You can use art apps to remix old photos and also to generate completely new pieces. Not sure about iOS, but on Android there are fantastic apps like Glitch Lab, Mirror Lab, and so on. Here is a link to art made on Android using Mirror Lab: https://www.instagram.com/mirror_lab/

Yes! This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. There appear to be some interesting fractal apps as well. Any other suggestions?

On my iPad, I have briefly used Amaziograph and Kaleidacam. Other apps are Hyperspektiv, Glitche etc.

You can also buy the iPhone version of Procreate which is a super sweet painting app.

Besides that, I use Garageband and Beathawk on my iPad to compose music.

Re: Ask HN: How can I use my phone to create things rather than consume them?

#40

Post by Matthias247 »

tga wrote: post #30
peterlk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is exactly what I mean. I feel your pain for writing. This morning, I accidentally deleted all my notes from yesterday and could not recover them from my phone because there is no undo (!!? How can phones still not have an undo?) in my note-taking app. I had to get up and recover the version from my desktop because I wasn't signed in to dropbox on my phone.

On iOS, try shaking your phone in frustration, you may discover undo. https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...

There are also new interactions for that starting from iOS 13: https://www.macworld.com/article/3410596/ios-13-and-ipados-1...

I would recommend the 3 finger tap and hold one which brings up the edit menu, since I personally can’t remember all the other gestures.

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