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Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

wired.co.uk

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Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#71

Post by agitator »

I don't get why people think that this is apple's problem.

Do a better job of parenting. Have some self discipline.

There are so many products in this world that take advantage of our biology. The iPhone is just one. And it's currently being obsessed over by media outlets. What about all the processed foods making people fat and unhealthy? What about Starbucks selling addictive drugs on every corner and getting away with it? Same with Coca-Cola, why is adding addictive chemicals to a soda that is sold to everyone including children okay? What about television? All of these TV shows coming out are designed to hook you in. Walking my dog every night, I can see everyone just sitting in front of their televisions, wasting time.

If you are going to force a company to help people ween themselves from addiction, don't be a hypocrite. You have your own addictions and vices, what makes yours more valid than someone else's. If we are going to make products provide tools to limit their own use, lets do that with all of the addictive products out there, and not single out one company because it's trendy to not be on your phone.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#72

Post by jmgregory »

chadash wrote: post #24
whitepoplar wrote: post #5

I think smartphone use has split into two paths: utility and "discovery." Utilities are the tools we use every day, the tools we want to be stable, fast, and (relatively) unchanging. E.g. sms, maps, browser, phone, camera, email. "Discovery" is all the new, unstable, changing stuff. I think there's an enormous market for a utility smartphone...and it doesn't even have to be a smartphone. Something between an old Noki…

This. I have thought a lot about switching to a "dumb phone" recently. There were two things that I use regularly that would make this switch tough though: 1) Google maps. This is so much better than using a built-in or dashboard-mount GPS that it would be hard to go back. 2) Podcasts. I listen to these in the car and having a good app for them is nice. Ultimately, I decided to delete the apps on my phone that were s…

I made the switch a few years ago. (Got disgusted with myself for neglecting my kids to check work emails). It was much easier than I thought it would be. To your points:

1) Maps - I try to look at an online map before I leave for a place. If the directions are just too complicated I'll print the last leg or so. This has gotten me temporarily lost before, but figuring it out on my own makes for an adventure (definitely not for everybody) and significantly increases my retention of the geography of the area. I do miss real-time traffic-informed routing, though (i.e., Waze).

2) Podcasts - My dumb-phone has an MP3 player, but the UI was so bad (especially for longer tracks like podcasts) that I ended up buying a used iPod Nano. Works great for me.

Downside is the phone is thick ("is that a flip-phone in your pocket, or...") and the UI is clunky, and sometimes it crashes when family send me large files over MMS. I'm seriously considering that Light Phone 2 someone linked above. Seems about perfect.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#73

Post by LeicaLatte »

beenBoutIT wrote: post #52
LeicaLatte wrote: post #4

Legitimizing smartphone addiction is the main reason why Apple will never put a dark mode in iOS. Atleast I hope they don't. It has never been a personal problem (I am carrying my own bunch of bad habits) but I hate watching friends, partners constantly checking their phones in the night.

We could have said the same thing about facial recognition technology back in 2011 when Android debuted Face Unlock. Here we are, 6+ years later and Apple introduces its Face ID technology which does the same thing. Just give them time, they have a finite number of paid engineers and they're competing against an ever-growing pool of unpaid open source enthusiasts that enjoy working on Android.

The bigger problem for Apple here is users. A huge number of addicts have been asking for a dark mode in iOS for quite some time. If enough people ask for feature X enough number of times, it is hard for a public company like Apple to resist. I mean it is so easy to at tim or at federighi and get such features these days.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#74

Post by graeme »

jf wrote: post #16

With the Apple Watch with LTE, Apple _is_ tackling the issue of smartphone addiction. I've been using my Apple Watch as my sole form of communication for 3 months now, it's great.

Does Siri understand you well, or do you have any cases where you have to scribble, send typos, etc?

What do you do for taking notes? Do you have a system for processing later on a phone or a computer?

Any apps like whatsapp where you can't initiate a message? How do you get around it?

Do you carry a phone? If not, do you carry a camera?

I'm interested in doing the same myself.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#75

Post by DonaldPShimoda »

Jyaif wrote: post #70
DonaldPShimoda wrote: post #26

Something that I don't know if they've mentioned specifically in public was that the Apple Watch was partly designed to deal with smartphone addiction. I don't have a citable source handy here, so it's just my word, but when I interned with Apple last year there were a few "town hall" events where interns could ask questions of senior management (Cook, Ahrendts, Cue, Maestri, etc). At one of them (I think the Tim Coo…

Wasn't the town hall's content confidential? If you are going to leak things, at least do it anonymously.

I don't think I breached any agreements here, but in any case this handle is not my real name, and personal information I give through it is not all factual. :)

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#76

Post by graeme »

whytaka wrote: post #64
DonaldPShimoda wrote: post #26

Something that I don't know if they've mentioned specifically in public was that the Apple Watch was partly designed to deal with smartphone addiction. I don't have a citable source handy here, so it's just my word, but when I interned with Apple last year there were a few "town hall" events where interns could ask questions of senior management (Cook, Ahrendts, Cue, Maestri, etc). At one of them (I think the Tim Coo…

I purchased the Apple Watch when the cellular version came out. You can bet that my smartphone usage has gone down since I've stopped carrying it around. I get my messages, my calls, and my emails. I can get directions if necessary. I even get my wallet, my weather, my reminders/schedule AND my music. What else do I need? EDIT: Did I mention it also tells time?

Do you have a camera for photos? I have an LTE watch. That + written notes are the two big things I miss.

Also can't wait till all apps are phone independent. Right now most third party apps stop working without a phone.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#77

Post by himom »

Have a switch that reduces motion effects and dulls the colors... smartphone dramamine.

Otherwise, society is likely to devolve further into ground-lighted sidewalk crossings with distracted people hunched over, oblivious to everyone else and missing life. Tinder: nuf said.

[Insert Banksy smartphone lovers gaze pic]

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#78

Post by rock_hard »

agitator wrote: post #71

I don't get why people think that this is apple's problem. Do a better job of parenting. Have some self discipline. There are so many products in this world that take advantage of our biology. The iPhone is just one. And it's currently being obsessed over by media outlets. What about all the processed foods making people fat and unhealthy? What about Starbucks selling addictive drugs on every corner and getting away…

I also think generalizing smartphone use as “addiction” is a misrepresentation!

I have no doubt that some people are addicted to their phones...but just as some people are addicted to Siracha sauce

The media needs to chill the fuck out and move on to the next hype cycle...or better (but unrealistic): stop the hype around anything and just go back to reporting actual news

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#79

Post by ASalazarMX »

DonaldPShimoda wrote: post #26

Something that I don't know if they've mentioned specifically in public was that the Apple Watch was partly designed to deal with smartphone addiction. I don't have a citable source handy here, so it's just my word, but when I interned with Apple last year there were a few "town hall" events where interns could ask questions of senior management (Cook, Ahrendts, Cue, Maestri, etc). At one of them (I think the Tim Coo…

You have to admire their ingenuity in fighting smartphone addiction by selling you another smart device.

Re: Apple needs to tackle the issue of smartphone addiction

#80

Post by whytaka »

graeme wrote: post #76
whytaka wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I purchased the Apple Watch when the cellular version came out. You can bet that my smartphone usage has gone down since I've stopped carrying it around. I get my messages, my calls, and my emails. I can get directions if necessary. I even get my wallet, my weather, my reminders/schedule AND my music. What else do I need? EDIT: Did I mention it also tells time?

Do you have a camera for photos? I have an LTE watch. That + written notes are the two big things I miss. Also can't wait till all apps are phone independent. Right now most third party apps stop working without a phone.

I do not. I'm in the market for a camera that's the size of the AirPods case so I could bring it on vacation. It'd be great if I could have something like the cameras off of today's latest and greatest phones but in a much more miniature and standalone form factor.

The apps I'm waiting for are Car2Go or Uber that work totally independently. Also, unfortunately, Google Hangout for work.

While I'm making wishes, it'd be amazing if I could sync with my MBP instead of my iPhone.

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