zlacker

>>saeede+(OP)
Apps to fight apps has never worked for me. When I'm bored/tired enough, it becomes a game to disable my own restrictions.

What works for me is removing the antecedent completely by charging my phone in another room at night.

Now the battle is easier: Decide once a day to put it there, and track how many days you succeed.

For me that's a lot easier than having it in my pocket, where the Internet is always a couple lazy taps away. Now I at least have to walk to it if I want it, and that often "breaks the spell."

I finish work and chores hours earlier when my phone is charging in another room, without consciously doing anything else differently.

It really makes me want a 1980s-style cellphone with no screen and big physical buttons.

>>brushf+TC
I am currently working on a phone designed to reclaim the digital toolbox nature of the smartphone- access to maps, messages email etc, but with an e-paper display. There are some (albeit not so interface friendly) e readers with SIM cards, but I think there is great power in just having a screen that doesn't vibe with the oversaturated video and image based distractions we are so used to lugging around with us all the time.

One of the most interesting things about a hardware based restriction is that it entirely avoids the game of turning on and off apps or deinstalling them. Even if you want to respond to a message in your DMs in Instagram, it will work, but the temptation to pull up the Reels or For you page just isn't there when it's all black and white and choppy.

Mind you we are super early stages but the idea feels promising and by my own testing I have really found it to be a much more pleasant phone experience.

I'll post some links here if people are interested.

>>weast+Sl1
> I think there is great power in just having a screen that doesn't vibe with the oversaturated video and image based distractions we are so used to

Similarly (easier but less drastic) I’ve seen people turn their phone to grayscale mode to make the device less engaging and remind you that it’s a productivity device, not an entertainment device. On iOS you can do this through the Accessibility settings. (Settings > Display & Text Size > Color Filters > Color Filters on, Grayscale

>>thinkl+Wn1
I tried grayscale for a few months but it changed absolutely nothing. Videos are just as good as it turns out.

I would give a try to an e-ink based smartphone if there was a good one. The only reason I got a smartphone in the first place in 2020 was access to maps/taxi/banking apps which would work with any display. But given the grayscale experience I wonder if you get used to laggy e-ink videos as well.