Dumber phone • Hacker News Board

Re: Dumber phone

#121

Post by Skylled » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:22 PM UTC

yosito wrote: post #27

Personally, I find my smartphone addiction gets worse when I turn off all notifications. Because then FOMO takes over and I spend tons of time digging into apps to make sure I didn't "miss anything". For me, it works much better to intentionally choose the notifications I get to be the things I really want to be interrupted by. I wish there were an AI or human secretary who could make those judgements on a per-notifi…

I started on this path recently with email by using the Astro app, and only getting notifications for "Priority Emails" which are intelligently chosen.

Re: Dumber phone

#122

Post by adhambadr » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:24 PM UTC

Checkout our phone www.blloc.com .

I think its exactly what we thought of, dumbing down the smartphone to the bare essentials without missing out too much. we don't have it perfectly communicated (working on it), but we're trying to find the middle between a "smartphone" and full blown detox. We got inspired from some of our friends who went "dark" and didn't work out; we were as product designers sick of snapchat, gaming and the addicting viscous cycle however we still wanted to be in touch with some news, use uber and be sometimes reachable on whatsapp, messenger or telegram. We re-designed notifications to make it less distracting easy to turn off per app and most important functionalities reachable. Mainly theres no lock, you can lock some apps, but its ready to use (I was about to throw my iphone everytime it showed me 4 popups before i can use it).

check it out let me know if it would make sense if we create the possibility for people (or you) to extend it and build their own integrations / functionalities.

Re: Dumber phone

#123

Post by egypturnash » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:27 PM UTC

thanatropism wrote: post #108

fragmede wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are various apps to try and promote healthy levels of smartphone engagement. Eg in Forest (iOS and Android, no affiliation)[0] you plant a tree and it will grow with time, but will wither away the more you play with Facebook. It will occasionally notify in case you get lost in facebooklandia. If you object to that particular implementation, the point is there's a usage API in case you'd like to write your own a…

I don't have the facebook app, will this detect if I use it in the browser?

From the app's site:

"Whenever you want to focus, plant a tree.

The tree will grow in the following time.

The tree will be killed if you leave this app."

So probably, yeah. I assume there is some point at which the tree won't be killed since it goes on to talk about keeping a forest of trees representing stretches of time not using your phone to do anything other than run this app - hitting up its app store page describes it as a pomodoro timer, so about 25min gets you a tree.

My inner paranoid says "wow, what a great way to get people to help you mine cryptocurrency" but I will choose to assume that they're happy with the money they're making by selling it for two bucks, plus the occasional "sunshine elixir" IAP.

Re: Dumber phone

#124

Post by Lionsion » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:27 PM UTC

zem wrote: post #119

marpstar wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I don't need a notification for every single "like" I get on Twitter/Instagram. In fact, it's similarly rewarding when I come back to the app and see a bunch of notifications waiting, knowing that they didn't distract me.

even in terms of sheer dopamine, i find it rewarding to see a bunch of new notifications at once. to me push notifications feel more like an annoyance than a dopamine hit. i keep them turned on for sms because it's useful as a way to contact me immediately, but they're off for everything else, including email. (i never turned them on for twitter or facebook because i discovered back in the 90s that i was happier turn…

> even in terms of sheer dopamine, i find it rewarding to see a bunch of new notifications at once. to me push notifications feel more like an annoyance than a dopamine hit.

The social networks understand this. I've read that they have algorithms that will batch and spread out your dopamine hits for maximum re-enforcement effect.

Re: Dumber phone

#125

Post by peacetreefrog » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part.

What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts, Uber, and a camera.

That's it, no email (technically have the ability to send an email if i need to, but no notifications and no checking) and no random internet browsing and twitter etc consumption. There are some blocking apps that might help with this, but the biggest thing is the attitude. Twitter in line at the grocery store is no longer what my phone is for. Not that reading tabloid headlines is any better, but the main point is stretching out your focus muscles, getting rid of the urge to immediately grab your phone anytime there's a lull or hint of boredom in your life.

Overall, it's nice. Almost like being back in the 90's pre smart phone but also with a super powerful computer that can play any song you want/give you directions to anywhere you need to go.

Re: Dumber phone

#126

Post by freehunter » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

zem wrote: post #119

marpstar wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I don't need a notification for every single "like" I get on Twitter/Instagram. In fact, it's similarly rewarding when I come back to the app and see a bunch of notifications waiting, knowing that they didn't distract me.

even in terms of sheer dopamine, i find it rewarding to see a bunch of new notifications at once. to me push notifications feel more like an annoyance than a dopamine hit. i keep them turned on for sms because it's useful as a way to contact me immediately, but they're off for everything else, including email. (i never turned them on for twitter or facebook because i discovered back in the 90s that i was happier turn…

>i find it rewarding to see a bunch of new notifications at once

My wife wonders why I scan all my groceries at the store and then enter my loyalty card instead of doing it up-front as the system asks for. It's because if I see the price read $130 and then I enter the card and it drops to $110, it feels like I came out ahead. Even though it's going to be the same number.

Re: Dumber phone

#127

Post by rhizome » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

adhambadr wrote: post #122

Checkout our phone www.blloc.com . I think its exactly what we thought of, dumbing down the smartphone to the bare essentials without missing out too much. we don't have it perfectly communicated (working on it), but we're trying to find the middle between a "smartphone" and full blown detox. We got inspired from some of our friends who went "dark" and didn't work out; we were as product designers sick of snapchat, g…

Looks very cool, but your 10px font-size on the site is punishing.

Re: Dumber phone

#128

Post by egypturnash » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

willnewman wrote: post #14

I adhere to a lot of these rules myself and have recently noticed peers doing the same. Another I'd add that really makes the phone boring is putting it in grayscale mode. On iOS: Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters > Grayscale. Then you can set the Accessibility Shortcut to Color Filters, and when you triple click the home button your phone goes grayscale. I don't have it on 2…

Choose the "color tint" color filter, set it to full-strength red, and you have a really good Night Mode as well, if you use your phone/tablet for reading in bed.

Re: Dumber phone

#129

Post by Spooky23 » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

yosito wrote: post #27

Personally, I find my smartphone addiction gets worse when I turn off all notifications. Because then FOMO takes over and I spend tons of time digging into apps to make sure I didn't "miss anything". For me, it works much better to intentionally choose the notifications I get to be the things I really want to be interrupted by. I wish there were an AI or human secretary who could make those judgements on a per-notifi…

The key thing is to break the cycle where Facebook (or other attention generating machines) is the personal personal equivalent of O365 or GSuite at home. Never, ever, never use the app and you've solved 80% of your problem, because you don't have this external force trying to corrupt your decisionmaking.

Not only will you not be dealing with their stalking draining your battery, but you'll get rid of the FOMO thing. Visit the site every couple of days for the events or whatever other excuse keeps you on there. You'll figure out that you're missing nothing, although Facebook in particular will get increasingly desperate and try to hook you in via bullshit emails, etc.

Once you get bad/abusive actors away from you, you'll find that your phone has robust notification and other mechanisms to help you get productive notifications.

Re: Dumber phone

#130

Post by therealmarv » Tue, Apr 24, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

Get a low cost smartphone! You are so often upset it takes so long on some tasks that you use it less and less... something I discovered whole last year with a 150 Euro smartphone! Nevertheless if you life is dependent on it a 2017 150 Euro smartphone from a store will also make it.