51–60 of 347 posts
For me it's the browser. What I did yesterday on Firefox for Android: - installed uBlock Origin (also First Party Isolation and HTTPS Everywhere), - disabled JavaScript via about:config javascript.enabled, - and added .css| rule to uBlock Origin (I would still like to disable CSS entirely, this only half works). Basically I would like to have "links2 -g" [0] for Android. There is also an extension for Firefox to auto…
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…
Now that I don't wear my android watch daily, I find myself with my phone on my desk or table more. The fear of missing important notifications makes me more obsessed with all notifications.
I really recommend unplugging for a few days. It helps you notice how you are interacting with technology. I spent 4 days on a tiny island (population 11) a few years ago. I was there with one friend and we decided that there would be no screens and no watches/clocks for the whole time. You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon…
Not sure why do you need adjusting to eat when you wake up and sleep after dark, and how technology prevents you from doing that in your usual life?
One thing I would add to this, is either disable, or put in the same folder as the other distracting apps, the web browser. You really need it for a surprisingly little things on your phone, and I found it as an alternate route to my time wasting websites.
I really recommend unplugging for a few days. It helps you notice how you are interacting with technology. I spent 4 days on a tiny island (population 11) a few years ago. I was there with one friend and we decided that there would be no screens and no watches/clocks for the whole time. You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon…
Just take some time on the reg to disconnect.
One huge distraction-enabler is the fingerprint sensor. It makes things too easy for me - I put my hand in my pocket, put my finger on the sensor, and by the time it's in front of my face I can be mindlessly browsing reddit. So I would add the following tip: disable the fingerprint sensor if you have one (also face recognition, etc), and replace it with an inconveniently long password. This way you really need to thi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> As somebody who had an always on internet connected PDA back it times when most PDAs were black and white, I can say it will eventually pass. I don't think the software and cultural environment was that same for those devices as it is for smartphones now. An old internet-connected PDA chiefly had utility apps like this guide advocates. There was nothing from giant companies whose business is to capture and sell you…
>no attention slot machines I lived in the time when slot machines were standing on the street in the open in Russia, and yes, mentally infirm people were wasting themselves on them. Normal people not. It takes a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of a bling bling slot machine is to waste time and money. It takes a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to…
Plenty of "normal people," even intelligent ones, are addicted to smartphones (though the degree of addiction varies). Smartphone slot machines are subtle enough to snare people would wouldn't be taken in by a traditional slot machine, even though they use the same primal re-enforcement mechanisms.
> It takes a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of 20 bling bling popups a second smartphone apps is to waste time and money and suck out clicks out of mentally infirm.
I think this comment reflects a bizarre disconnect from everyday reality. By your logic, you're labeling a ridiculously large fraction of the population as "mentally infirm." "Basic logical reasoning" is not something people typically apply to everyday activities like smartphone use; those are typically done on autopilot and bypass it, because "basic logical reasoning" is expensive and slow.
Most people, myself included, look at the very long list of changes and think "I dont know how to do all that"
And the coder in me wont do it manually ...
Does anyone with an Apple watch (or other smartwatch ) feel it helps them leave their smartphone behind and/or reduce their smartphone usage?
So there are more times I can just leave it either on a charger or somewhere in the house and not worry about where it is exactly. Until I get an MMS or a phone call.
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…
If you object to that particular implementation, the point is there's a usage API in case you'd like to write your own app.
[0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.forestapp