iOS 15 Humane

Unless those lock outs are non-reversible lockouts, people will get around it. And if they find themselves doing that, they won’t even bother to turn it on next time, just like Apples Screen time.

The locks must be strict, but even that may drive people to get another phone, or just use their PC instead. People need to be taught the value of their time and realize those moments when they are actually viewing past a certain point.

Teach a person to fish.

These methods remind me of cruel methods where you tie up a drug addict to stop them from taking drugs, it may work for a while but the underlying problems will likely reel them back in.

I really like the ideation here (and in the HN comments!). They're not the first to come up with most of these ideas though, the Nudge extension (https://nudgeware.io/) already has nudges against infinite scroll & other interventions for Twitter/Facebook/, and there are plenty of "app blocker" apps out there (for App Conditions). Still, I liked to see concrete designs on how Apple could make improvements that only they have the power to implement: the persuasive design settings, the Time Well Spent/Regret Tax.

But the problem is broader and more systemic than Apple can address I'm afraid. "persuasive design" is a direct result of ad-based attention-seeking business models. We need purposeful social apps like https://readup.com or Strava, whose business model incentives are directly aligned with our wellbeing. I'm spending 4-10 hours reading on Readup weekly, and I invariably consider that Time Well Spent (https://readup.com/@thorgalle).

>Constantly nagging yourself to close social media? Reminding yourself that social media is a waste of time by asking whether the time is “well spent”?

It's a business opportunity for Apple to be able to judge what gets graded as good, bad or a waste of time. That's what this is about in my opinion.

They push Apple Music promos from time to time. They also send notifications via the Apple Store app about new product releases.

To be fair, they don't ABUSE it to the extent that it happens frequently. But they are still promotional messages I didn't want. I'd say they send 6-8 per year.

The Apple "Tips" app sends TONS of messages too. Granted that can be fixed by deleting the app. But people like my Mom still gets those messages to this day because she doesn't realize they are tied to that app and I don't believe they are opt-in, I think they are opt-out, meaning they are enabled on new phones by default (like Messages app and your Phone app). I know everyone here has deleted that app, but I bet most of our parents or children still have it installed and still get those messages.

The funny thing about this comment in general is that many people probably don't realize they get notifications from Apple either. But as I mention examples they probably think, "Oh yeah, I've gotten those too". That is the biggest problem. We get so many notifications that many of us simply forget them. You get a notification that the new Macbook Pro is released and you simply read it on the backthread of your brain and dismiss it without much intentional thought. That is how Notifications have become for people. I tried to get my mom to clear up her notifications recently and she simply doesn't think about it anymore. It is just something you deal with if you own a modern phone. It isn't something you control. Like how you don't really control the billboards that you see while commuting to work. You can't disable billboards (other than actively driving to avoid them). But you brain doesn't dwell on them either. You are aware of their presence, but don't expel energy to digest every one. Notifications have become the same way. But they shouldn't be that way. We can (technologically speaking) disable them and the tools to disable them or control them should be granted to smartphone users.