Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#21

Post by tigereyeTO » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:38 PM UTC

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all?

Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags?

It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#22

Post by ajoseps » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:38 PM UTC

I use the brick app: https://getbrick.app/, and it works pretty well, but they have this weird bug where selecting certain apps on a block list crashes the app. They have a pop-up indicating that it's some apple-related bug, which I find kind of hard to believe. Is this something that also happens in your app?

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#23

Post by netsharc » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:48 PM UTC

compootr wrote: post #5

I was intrigued by brick, now this, and can't use either. is there seriously no android app like these? :(

Tasker has NFC reading capabilities and is programmable to do stuff when it detects an NFC ID, I don't know if it can lock the phone though (there's an app called Lock My Phone, and Tasker has the ability to cause apps to take some actions, but I don't know if both can be combined).

E.g. I have 2 NFC tags on my desk, when Tasker detects one of them, it calls a HTTP URL of a PHP script on my NAS, the script tells my Hue Bridge to switch on a Hue-enabled power socket (into which my monitor and speakers are plugged), and then the script sends a Wake-On-LAN packet to my desktop PC. The other one turns off that Hue-enabled power socket (I put my computer into sleep separately).

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#24

Post by kojeovo » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:48 PM UTC

tigereyeTO wrote: post #21

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags? It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

I think its so that you can't easily toggle them off by using the phone software. for example, you are trying to get work done so you set two up: a focus one by your desk, another somewhere else where you have to get up. so you have to get up and walk over to the 2nd one to turn off the focus mode

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#25

Post by enoch_r » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

tigereyeTO wrote: post #21

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags? It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

It's a commitment device - e.g. leave your "mindless scrolling" NFC tag at home so you don't mindlessly scroll while you're out.

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#26

Post by dsp_person » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:50 PM UTC

I noticed the trend of "Made with (Love emoji)", but has anyone tried Made with Hate or other emotions?

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#27

Post by wduquette » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:50 PM UTC

tigereyeTO wrote: post #21

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags? It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

I was wondering that myself. At a guess, you put a tag at each focus location for the kind of focus you do at that location. At your desk, you put a tag that enables your working focus. At your bedside, you put a tag that enables your sleep focus.

Sounds cool but unnecessary.

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#28

Post by hecanjog » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

tigereyeTO wrote: post #21

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags? It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

It appealed to me since the way I block distractions is easy for me to unblock them, too. (like HN, I unblocked it to look for commentary on the bitbucket outage and now I'm reading random articles)

If unblocking via software is easy too, this doesn't really work, but I could see giving the physical tag to a friend or leaving it somewhere in a different building causing enough friction for me to reconsider if I really want to go to the effort just to look at some news headlines.

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#29

Post by dingnuts » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:53 PM UTC

wduquette wrote: post #27

tigereyeTO wrote: post #21

I'm curious why the NFC tags are required at all? Can't you switch profiles on your phone without scanning an NFC tag already? Couldn't your app allow profile switching without requiring any NFC tags? It's not clear to me what the NFC tags add to this experience.

I was wondering that myself. At a guess, you put a tag at each focus location for the kind of focus you do at that location. At your desk, you put a tag that enables your working focus. At your bedside, you put a tag that enables your sleep focus. Sounds cool but unnecessary.

necessary for those of us who forget what they're doing whenever they open their phone. The ability to tell my phone "shut up I'm at my desk" without opening it and being confronted with the home screen & notifications (and then forget what I was doing) is a super cool idea.

I have ADHD though

Re: Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

#30

Post by awaseem » Tue, Jan 21, 2025, 6:56 PM UTC

ajoseps wrote: post #22

I use the brick app: https://getbrick.app/ , and it works pretty well, but they have this weird bug where selecting certain apps on a block list crashes the app. They have a pop-up indicating that it's some apple-related bug, which I find kind of hard to believe. Is this something that also happens in your app?

I haven't noticed this on my personal use. It does seem like they use the family picker activity built into iOS. So maybe the issue is here as well.