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Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

scrollguard.app

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Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#101

Post by mrbombastic »

Lutger wrote: post #69
anticrymactic wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of discussion is about the security of these devices (resistance to false open states). But most of the time the safety (false closed states) has even higher stakes associated to it. Having to wait because some api server is slow is annoying but can quickly become life threatening in a different context. Fail-Safe vs Fail-Secure is (imo) often overlooked and probably just as important as the actual implemented…

Wait, are there smartlocks that depend on the availability of some api service to even open the door? I'd rather call that stupidlocks instead. I mean, just because you're an IoT device it doesn't mean you are smart, ffs.

I have been locked out of more than 1 airbnb due to lack of cell service not being able to get codes for locks, it is very annoying and dumb.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#102

Post by micromacrofoot »

coffeecoders wrote: post #63

This is one of those things that should be unnecessary if we all had perfect self-control, but the reality is these apps are engineered explicitly to bypass that. It feels a bit silly to need guardrails for something as trivial as scrolling. Shameless personal plug: I wrote about it here. https://nabraj.com/blog/swipe-scroll-repeat-addiction/

One thing I think a lot of people need to realize and ponder on more... is that these companies have nearly infinite resources, they have entire teams studying the psychology of how to get you to use their apps more (because they primarily chase engagement to sell your attention to advertisers).

Not only do they have well-paid experts working on getting you using their platform more often and for longer, but they also have a scary amount of metadata on hundreds of millions of people... they can pluck a person that behaves just like you out of the ether, compare their engagement trends, and apply the same algorithm to you.

The resource imbalance becomes really difficult to comprehend. It's like you're trying to avoid a pickpocket that has successfully pickpocketed millions of people, and the pickpocket has years of your behavior at their fingertips and can cross-reference it with every pickpocketing attempt they've ever attempted... oh, and they designed everything about the city you're walking in to make it easier to pickpocket you.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#103

Post by lm28469 »

coffeecoders wrote: post #63

This is one of those things that should be unnecessary if we all had perfect self-control, but the reality is these apps are engineered explicitly to bypass that. It feels a bit silly to need guardrails for something as trivial as scrolling. Shameless personal plug: I wrote about it here. https://nabraj.com/blog/swipe-scroll-repeat-addiction/

> This is one of those things that should be unnecessary if we all had perfect self-control,

It's like food, easier to have self control not to buy candies in the supermarket than to have self control at home when you know you have candies in the pantry.

I haven't felt the need to watch a reel since I uninstalled IG, before that I ended up scrolling here and there, not much but enough to regret the lost time at the end of the week

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#104

Post by willdelorm »

wtk wrote: post #95
thinkling wrote: post #65

Instagram tip: if you click the wordlogo “Instagram” at the top (in the mobile app), you can select “Following” and get a feed of only posts from accounts you follow, with no suggested posts and no reels. I end up going through that feed in a few minutes and it insulates me from the endless scrolling.

Can you set this as default?

You can't, and I've watched as they've added/removed UI to indicate that you can even press it. I'm glad the feature is there, but it's clear Meta doesn't want you finding it.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#105

Post by brailsafe »

I respect any effort put towards this, seems like a decent project.

Incidentally I used to love the SelfControl mac app, but it started having leaks in its ability to function a while back and now seems unmaintained. The irony being that even though it's open source, anyone who'd be inclined to fix/maintain it would need to not know how it works or sacrifice their ability to use it. Afaik there wasn't anything as effective for mobile.

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#106

Post by [deleted] »

jajko wrote: post #87
coffeecoders wrote: post #63

This is one of those things that should be unnecessary if we all had perfect self-control, but the reality is these apps are engineered explicitly to bypass that. It feels a bit silly to need guardrails for something as trivial as scrolling. Shameless personal plug: I wrote about it here. https://nabraj.com/blog/swipe-scroll-repeat-addiction/

A very effective partial solution - there is absolutely 0 reason to have any meta app cancers on phones/tablets. Just let them go, leave them for laptop/desktop and you are more than 50% there. This way they lose a lot of their instant addictivity. Same goes for tiktok and similar other shit forming and then feeding on addictions. Everything becomes much easier afterwards, especially long term. I removed FB apps quit…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#108

Post by adrianhacar »

lsd85 wrote: post #2

I just can't authorize an app to have full control on my phone if it's not open-source. What guarantee do I have that you are not selling all my user data?

I understand your point.

The short answer is that, indeed, it comes down to trust, and I really understand and respect your perspective.

The long answer is that it's very unlikely this trust would be broken. Let me explain:

Firstly, the accessibility service doesn’t provide anything close to "full control." It’s just an API provided by Android that gives accessibility events, like changes in the screen layout and the UI nodes present on the screen to infer the type of content shown (Reels in my case). You can check online for details on accessibility events. It's nothing like a constant screen recording where the app gets all your data.

Also, Google is very strict with these permissions. When you publish an app on the Play Store, you need to clearly disclose why you're using those permissions. If you do something wrong or try to abuse this, they will take your app down. Anyone who values their reputation wouldn’t attempt something like this just to sell some user data.

Lastly, ScrollGuard doesn’t need to connect to any server to work!, all the detection happens on the device. So, if you want to be extra cautious, you can always go to your phone settings and block internet access to ScrollGuard. It will still work, and without internet access is imposible to export any data.

If you want even more control and just need a solution for Instagram, you can modify the app yourself. I wrote an article a couple of years ago on how to do this here: https://breakthescroll.com/block-reels-instagram/

Re: Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

#109

Post by lezojeda »

wtk wrote: post #95
thinkling wrote: post #65

Instagram tip: if you click the wordlogo “Instagram” at the top (in the mobile app), you can select “Following” and get a feed of only posts from accounts you follow, with no suggested posts and no reels. I end up going through that feed in a few minutes and it insulates me from the endless scrolling.

Can you set this as default?

[dead]
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