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Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

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Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#141

Post by jarko27 »

jeofken wrote: post #24

For me the only really useful intervention was getting a black and white e-ink Android smartphone. I started to read a book per month and my short video watching time was decimated. I got the Bigme Hibreak which isn’t the worst, but lacks recent android versions. Gives me hours of my life back every day, compared to the phone addiction I experience with my lcd colour screen smartphone

As an experiment, I wanted to try something similar, but more extreme maybe since it's not Android AFAIK

https://www.thelightphone.com.

Also I wonder if my app is working nicely on an e-ink smartphone, very interesting.

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#142

Post by artisanspam »

guitarlimeo wrote: post #107
retSava wrote: post #106

Great! Apps like these are sorely needed. My feedback would be, apart from what others are saying about sub vs one-time purchase, to look at what Leechblock firefox extension is doing. The key point is to make it harder (but not impossible) for me to use the phone. A "Do you need this?" is a great start, but since I can easily sneak by, I will soon do that. Even if I click "1 minute" to get a reminder, that should no…

I tried LeechBlock for a while and had that 64-char random string passphrase thing on. Turns out I became really quick at typing those 64 characters to get my dopamine fix.

You can make it up to 128 characters. That's impressive that you are able to type a random string of nonsense so fast.

My hack was to take a picture on my phone, have Apple's image recognition copy the string to my iCloud clipboard, and I'd paste it on my mac.

It's too easy to defeat the purpose of these things if you're even slightly driven.

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#143

Post by seba_dos1 »

stillasleep wrote: post #124
lrvick wrote: post #111

I just deleted an app a month until I was happy. My phone got so boring after a few months of this I started forgetting it when leaving home. Ended up using it so little on the go, wifi was enough and canceled my cell phone plan. Been four years since I had cell service or regularly carried any internet capable devices and I have never been happier. My anxiety has plummeted and my attention span and productivity have…

how do you listen to music then?

Listening to music isn't a networked activity.

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#144

Post by [deleted] »

icetank wrote: post #86
PittleyDunkin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazingly they've found a way to put "in-app purchases" though. I've been so happy slowly going through my phone and removing every single app on my phone that has either ads or in-app purchases. I don't miss a single one.

Hacker news has ads in the form of job positions. Do you also consider not using Hacker news anymore?

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#145

Post by [deleted] »

mzhaase wrote: post #36
jarko27 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Allow me to clarify about "in-app purchases". The "in-app purchases" are for small complementary features, like making the screen appear on a schedule, making it impossible to skip the screen, and adding a lock button to lock the screen. Those features aren't essential for the app to function. > This app could just be an image set as your lock screen background. Well, yes and no. In the app, you can interact with the…

The point I think was more a critique on the fact that everyone now tries to extract profit with everything, even the simplest of apps.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#146

Post by hed »

superasn wrote: post #6

Have you tried RescueTime? It's a similar app that prompts you to log your activities every time you unlock your phone. It's surprising to see how much time can slip by unnoticed each day. Using it can really make you more mindful of how you're spending it.

Does it do this on iOS? I just cancelled RT because it crashed on my work computer all the time but if the phone app weren’t useless that might be different.

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#147

Post by ben_w »

stillasleep wrote: post #124
lrvick wrote: post #111

I just deleted an app a month until I was happy. My phone got so boring after a few months of this I started forgetting it when leaving home. Ended up using it so little on the go, wifi was enough and canceled my cell phone plan. Been four years since I had cell service or regularly carried any internet capable devices and I have never been happier. My anxiety has plummeted and my attention span and productivity have…

how do you listen to music then?

I'm genuinely amazed that this question exists, but then I grew up with radio, then CDs, then MP3 players.

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#148

Post by alanbernstein »

lrvick wrote: post #111

I just deleted an app a month until I was happy. My phone got so boring after a few months of this I started forgetting it when leaving home. Ended up using it so little on the go, wifi was enough and canceled my cell phone plan. Been four years since I had cell service or regularly carried any internet capable devices and I have never been happier. My anxiety has plummeted and my attention span and productivity have…

This is what I want to do, but as a husband, father, homeowner, etc, I find it is not in my best interest to be unreachable by phone.

So I think about carrying a flip phone for my telephone, an e-reader for entertainment, and a smartphone in airplane mode for (mainly) maps, photos, music, notes. But then I'd be carrying three devices, which seems worse in its own way.

Probably worth the change ultimately?

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#149

Post by ThatMedicIsASpy »

lrvick wrote: post #111

I just deleted an app a month until I was happy. My phone got so boring after a few months of this I started forgetting it when leaving home. Ended up using it so little on the go, wifi was enough and canceled my cell phone plan. Been four years since I had cell service or regularly carried any internet capable devices and I have never been happier. My anxiety has plummeted and my attention span and productivity have…

I would never read books today if it wasn't for e-ink. I can adjust the font or the line spacing and at the end of the line I will read the correct next line instead of a 20% chance I will start at the same line.

I never had a big relationship to my phones simply because I can't stand typing on them. My plan (prepaid) is 1€/month for 1GB and 9cents per min/SMS.

Re: Show HN: App that asks ‘why?’ every time you unlock your phone

#150

Post by oytis »

aesh2Xa1 wrote: post #139
oytis wrote: post #123

Great idea, I'm a bit worried about security. To have control over phone unlocking the app has to be pretty privileged, right?

It does not list any special privilege except drawing over other apps. I think the author could justify the network permission or they could remove it, but I personally don't consider it a big problem as-is anyway. https://developer.android.com/training/permissions/requestin... The Play Store lists these permissions: * view network connections * full network access * run at startup * draw over other apps * prevent de…

> does not list any special privilege except drawing over other apps

This one is huge though? You can e.g. imitate other apps' login forms and collect passwords.

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