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I made my phone slow on purpose

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201–210 of 217 posts

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#201
post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, please state your point if you have one.

Treating your health, or having someone close to you tell you it could probably be better, shouldn’t be taboo. Also, hold the snark, I’m engaging in good faith, here.

Good faith? All you’ve done in this thread is vaguepost and talk down to people who opened up about something they’re struggling with.

You said tech can’t fix human problems. I gave you examples. You dodged with something cryptic about mental health. al_borland said they’re helping a friend off these platforms and you told them “good luck fixing your own problem.” gf263 said they’ve been trying for ten years, and you said they’re “resistant to positive change, and that’s dangerous to me.” Here’s what you’re actually doing: reframing an ordinary struggle as a pathology someone’s in denial about, which puts you above them and turns their disagreement into “resistance.” It’s unfalsifiable. Any tool that works didn’t fix the real problem; anyone who pushes back isn’t ready yet. You’ve built a position where you can’t be wrong and everyone else needs help.

Do you actually want people to solve their problems, or do you just want to talk down to them and feel bigger? Ask yourself who really has the problem here.

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#202
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 for One Sec, a fantastic app, if one has the patience to wire it up using Apple’s first-party Shortcuts app (which is probably the main reason most normies aren’t going to use it). Really helped curb my Instagram usage down from about ~15 minutes per day to around ~5 minutes/day at most, and often now a few days go by without me checking the app at all. It is remarkable how much a 4, 6, or 10 second wait will just…

There is a nice book by Jonathan Haidt about this called The Happiness Hypothesis. He uses a "Elephant and Rider" psychological metaphor to describe the internal battle between our rational mind (the rider) and our emotional, intuitive drives (the elephant). We think the rider is in control. But he isn’t!

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Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#203
post #54

There is a great habit-breaking app called “One Sec.” You configure it with your addicting apps or websites and it uses iOS shortcuts to interrupt you when you open them, and make you wait for some time — optionally with the selfie camera open — and confirm you really want to open it. It’s extremely effective and I highly recommend it. I don’t have it anymore since it led me to eventually delete Instagram and I never…

Wow, that is a fantastic idea. Basically interrupting the instant gratification loop by just enough to let the more rational mind get a word in. Another tool that I've found to be incredibly helpful for breaking app-addition is the colorblind accessibility tool. You can use it to make the entire phone greyscale, which entirely defeats a huge range of techniques that apps and feeds use to draw your attention. Tiktok i…

The greyscale trick is underrated

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#204
post #154

I used to drink a lot. I vaguely remember funneling a shitload of salt and lime juice into a bottle of whiskey to encourage a visceral repulsive reaction and help break the habit. I vaguely remember drinking some whiskey that definitely had something wrong with it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. If you really have a problem, novel solutions like throttling aren't gonna cut it.

Thanks, I’ll give this a go.

Edit: now i’m addicted to margaritas.

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#205
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Treating your health, or having someone close to you tell you it could probably be better, shouldn’t be taboo. Also, hold the snark, I’m engaging in good faith, here.

Good faith? All you’ve done in this thread is vaguepost and talk down to people who opened up about something they’re struggling with. You said tech can’t fix human problems. I gave you examples. You dodged with something cryptic about mental health. al_borland said they’re helping a friend off these platforms and you told them “good luck fixing your own problem.” gf263 said they’ve been trying for ten years, and you…

> Here’s what you’re actually doing: reframing an ordinary struggle as a pathology someone’s in denial about

Is being wildly overweight also an insurmountable problem that I should not talk about?

Ordinary struggles are often unnecessary, and fixable - yes.

> Ask yourself who really has the problem here.

I’m gonna say - with 100% certainty: the people complaining they can’t stop bringing social media with them to the bathroom.

If what I’ve said is upsetting, put your phone down and look into the mirror.

(Vouched your comment to reply.)

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#206
post #83

I have recently fully switched to a flip phone running AOSP. After years of fiddling with OneSec and others this really has been the only solution that has worked for kicking my screen addition. Best thing - with AI I can quickly build APKs for whatever I actually need! I build an app to give me turn by turn directions and (ironically) an app to talk to Claude w/ web search. I feel like I'm living in a world of truly…

Which phone, as someone looking at a similar move?

tcl flip 2 !

I got it for about $40 a year ago, but it looks a bit more expensive now ($90 on Amazon). It was a bit of a pain to root it, but I was able to follow some online guides - I've been meaning to publish a repo with exact steps. Let me know if you order! There are a couple similar phones that work well, the important thing is getting AOSP and not other firmware.

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which phone, as someone looking at a similar move?

tcl flip 2 ! I got it for about $40 a year ago, but it looks a bit more expensive now ($90 on Amazon). It was a bit of a pain to root it, but I was able to follow some online guides - I've been meaning to publish a repo with exact steps. Let me know if you order! There are a couple similar phones that work well, the important thing is getting AOSP and not other firmware.

Thanks!

I'm looking at a number of options, mostly those recommended at /r/dumbphones on Reddit. There are the Lightphone II, Mudita Kompact, and Clicks Comm there.

Elsewhere: Punkt MP02, Kyocera Dura series, Cat B22 / S22, and a few of the Nokia / HMD phones, preferably flips.

Most are AOSP, HMD/Nokia are S30+. KaiOS also turns up (an AOSP variant).

What other firmware don't you recommend?

And what was your primary motivation? Just simplifying your phone, or security /privacy / other on top of that?

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One person who texts me most often primarily sends vapid social media content. I disabled notifications on his texts and check them on my time, skipping most of them. I don't feel the need to cut someone out of my life who I've known for 20+ years over their instagram addiction (which seems to be what you're implying if I read between the lines). The big AI push has made him more interested in what is happening with…

> I don't feel the need to cut someone out of my life who I've known for 20+ years over their instagram addiction Then, bluntly, good luck fixing your own problem with the same. How many decades will you nudge before realizing you’re yelling down a well? These aren’t new concepts or tricks people are falling for.

I don’t have a problem with it. The only social media adjacent sites I use are YouTube and this one. Any other accounts I had in the past have either been deleted or deactivated for years now.

You’re theory, that my friend using Instagram translates into an addiction for me, doesn’t hold water. I spent 6 years where the 5 people I spent the most time with all smoked, and I’ve never had a cigarette in my life. Values are stronger than peer pressure, especially as an adult. By the end of those 6 years there was only one smoker left.

I’m not sure why you assume I should trend toward an unhealthy habit, instead of him trending toward a healthier habit, especially as his hate for the tech industry grows. I also don’t really care if he quits himself, I just want him to not send so many reels my way. He is already good about not being on his phone when hanging out in person. It’s not that big of a deal.

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't feel the need to cut someone out of my life who I've known for 20+ years over their instagram addiction Then, bluntly, good luck fixing your own problem with the same. How many decades will you nudge before realizing you’re yelling down a well? These aren’t new concepts or tricks people are falling for.

I don’t have a problem with it. The only social media adjacent sites I use are YouTube and this one. Any other accounts I had in the past have either been deleted or deactivated for years now. You’re theory, that my friend using Instagram translates into an addiction for me, doesn’t hold water. I spent 6 years where the 5 people I spent the most time with all smoked, and I’ve never had a cigarette in my life. Values…

> I don’t have a problem with it

Then your reply is minorly off-topic, and unexpected, in the context your sibling commenter established.

> You’re theory, that my friend using Instagram translates into an addiction for me

Didn’t say it would cause anything for you. Just that if you had the same issue, it’ll cause you undue friction trying to fix it.

Re: I made my phone slow on purpose

#210
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally prefer ScreenZen. It is a lot less restrictive on the free version and you can just tip once to get full access instead of a subscription. It also has a system where you can “earn back” app unlocks if you don’t use the app for the full allotted time, which encourages using your apps even less rather than feeling like having to make the most of your unlock. App Store Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sc…

I used it a bit but it’s buggy: failing to unlock, or just tapping the button once for unlimited use. Eventually it completely stopped working.

It only does this if you have the apps in multiple groups. Dump them all in one group. Yeah it sucks that you can't configure each of them separately, but it works really reliably now.
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