by chatmasta
18 subcomments
- 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 looked back. Although I should reinstall it and apply it to YouTube shorts…
App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id15...
- Personally, my recent and surprisingly greatest win was to set up my old phone (samsung S21) with the addictive apps, removing them completely from my iPhone.
Quite literally "cold-turkey'ed" from 4.5-ish hours/day to 2 hours a day in a single day, consistent over the last few weeks.
I set up my second phone with a custom homescreen, and installing the 'bad' apps on there (Instagram, Youtube, NYTimes in particular). I dont use it for other apps.
Now if I want to scroll, which I still do sometimes, I have to walk to a specific chair next to which my 'addiction phone' is, I'll scroll for 10-15 minutes, and get back to the real world. I used to have particular issues with scrolling during vibe-coding sessions, and I'm genuinely surprised how well this approach worked for me.
- I log out of every social media website/app because the act of logging in is just enough friction for me to be mindful: do I really want to do this?
The sense of slowness creates the conditions for pausing and being mindful of what you're doing.
In spirit, this reminds me of the return to slow/analog: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48084980
Consider it the no- or low-alcohol alternative to full speed. https://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
by Version467
4 subcomments
- I think more people should set up their iPhone using Apple Configurator, a Mac app used to control apples mdm solution.
You do have to factory reset your phone for this once, but after that you have extremely granular control over what you can and can’t do.
It’s much more powerful than the parental controls system and much harder to circumvent.
I use it to straight up disallow a bunch of apps and websites (tiktok, Reddit, YouTube, etc.)
For a while I even uninstalled safari which you can just do with this. Not having a browser at all on your phone is a neat experiment and really changed how I interact with tech on the go.
I did eventually install safari back, but overall I prefer the Apple Configurator setup a lot over any of these kinds of apps.
- As someone who used to have actually slow phones before: this will not help your doom-scrolling. You will still doom-scroll, but you'll just be frustrated and miserable due to the lags. You're welcome.
- This is a method, but it's the underlying issue that needs to be resolved.
People doomscroll primarily to avoid certain thoughts/feelings/situations.
The way out of it is to:
1. Note that you're avoiding something.
2. Identify what it is.
3. Face it.
This is an addiction and reaching for the phone is just what gives relief to whatever pain one might be experiencing. Just removing that is laying ground for a substitute.
- Brilliant. Too bad there's apparently no built in way to do it.
I was reminded of when Apple started slowing down the CPUs on older phones. Would be nice if you could just configure that on first run. "How addictive would you like your phone to be, sir?"
by meaningofdesign
1 subcomments
- Years ago, during a company design committee review for a major product launch, I was the only one who raised concerns about the iOS flat design trend. Icons were getting more and more abstract. The newer versions literally required users to be familiar with the previous icon version (the waves, the microphone, etc.) just to understand what they meant. To be fair, I am totally okay with moving away from the floppy disk for the "save" action, but we went too far in other icons.
That trend reminded me of a friend who volunteered at the SF Central Library. They told me how seniors would come up asking how to use their Kindles, and they would simply write down instructions in physical notebooks: how many icons from the top and which sequence in order to bookmark a page or swap a book.
I see this with my own parents during overseas troubleshooting calls. It is an unpleasant, overwhelming experience for both sides. I used to get frustrated whenever my dad asked whether he should press "Next" on a screen, even though it was the only button available in the setup flow.
For him, that pause wasn't a lack of technology background. It was complete paralysis. He was nervous that one wrong click would break everything. Different mental models don't help, and our industry keeps making it worse.
The rate of technology is just too fast. AI is making things even faster and not necessarily easier, there will just be more apps to try, more buttons to click, and more content to swipe. More is not always good for my parents' age.
But I wouldn’t make the phone slow for them either. The one good thing about technology now is that systems can finally understand context better than 10 years ago when I was debating teams on interfaces for video calls. We have better tools now to meet users where they actually are.
The meaning of design is different than the meaning of technology. It is less about how we can show users this, and more about why we need to show users this.
I am taking a technology break myself right now (getting away from reels and tweets) and just reading Hacker News. This is where my head is at. I want to stop designing for the endless cycle of engagement, and start designing for: “presence”.
- 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 personalized software.
I find the interface itself (number pad with t9, tiny screen) to be the most important part of dissuading compulsive use. Would highly recommend!
- I like the analogy of having a cookie machine in your pocket
maybe instead of slowing down your phone for no reason you could run a bunch of "useful programs" on it that slow down your phone (idk what these would be... compilation? rendering? Maybe a comment response to this has an idea)
I also think instead of slowing down the phone, maybe developing some habit of not using the phone might be more effective than trying to slow down the phone (like exercising outside without it if you can for example)
- I did something similar. I like to keep my phone limited (the only real useful/joyful things on it for me are family pictures, music and maps). So I used an iphone SE until it fell apart, now I use an iphone mini that doesn't have enough storage so it offloads all but the top ten apps I use.
I didn't make it slow and buggy on purpose though. Apple did that for me with Liquid glass. Which I guess works!
by Cider9986
2 subcomments
- The truth is that none of these apps can really make your distracting phone into a smart dumb phone because of Apple's limitations on their power. And yet, Apple's own tool, screentime, also can be easily bypassed.
The solution is Mobile device management (MDM) using Apple Configurator. All you need is a Mac and your iPhone and you can make it impossible to install distracting apps, create un-bypassable limits, and disable Safari. It's all very customizable and is the only solution that worked for me.
One sec is the second best to this in my opinion, but would be greatly improved if you could make it un-bypassable.
Something really rubs me the wrong way about apps that are supposed to make you healthier like One sec or meditation apps that are filled with trackers or ads.
That's another win for one sec as they only collect a bit of telemetry, no insane tracking.
There's also a way to do this on Android if someone is curious I can link my explanation of it.
by articsputnik
0 subcomment
- I also tried to convert my "smart" phone to a "dumb" phone with ScreenZen and Minimal apps that show no icons. And it works a little, but it will not fully prevent you from using any social media, still. As the article says, it's hard to overcome. Great to read another way. I am also thinking about GrapheneOS to control more of the apps, to make social media, which are most addictive, less collect data, and maybe turn off after a while. Not sure yet. I wrote about it at https://www.ssp.sh/brain/dumb-phone with the links to apps I mentioned.
- One of the things that helped me is Brick (https://getbrick.com/), which blocks and unblocks apps using a small device with an NFC tag.
by prmoustache
0 subcomment
- I find deleting accounts to be more effective.
I can still view the occasional instagram post or tiktok vid I get sent via instant msg but since it has to be opened on desktop mode in a browser I don't risk spending more than a few seconds on it.
- Imagining a version of this that scales by how long I've been using the phone since the screen's been off. If I need to check something quickly, I want the internet and processing to be fast, because checking my phone a lot is fine with me – just not zoning out for long periods of time. First 60s or so unpenalized. Then beyond that, if I'm getting close to my daily target, it starts throttling. A little longer than 60s? Maybe only a bit slowed down. 5min? I want it to get cronchy. Not sure network's the right axis though. Maybe actual screen responsiveness?
by jjenks1106
0 subcomment
- This is a really cool idea.. I've used the app limiters (screenZen, Opal) and honestly they really helped limit my screen time and I've been able to transition away from having to use them. I wonder what the psychological difference between limiting access to apps and making the overall experience less smooth, whether friction at the network level can feel like a more natural nudge, where I found app blockers could at times feel like your fighting yourself. Would be interested to see retention data and the sustainability comparing the two approaches.
- Just get an eink phone? They're $300 and come with slowness built in.
- Having grown up with an unreliable sluggish gsm dial up connection when the web was already getting heavier payloads, and forced to have developed the virtue of patience and love of progress bars, I think this might work with latency intransigent people, but I know I will blank stare into the load spinner to get my doom ration.
Hard blocks (gotta re enable noprocrast here asap) and behavioral nudges like keeping an ebook with page open positioned inconveniently close and my phone out of reach work better for me.
by unglaublich
0 subcomment
- Frontend developers must do this to their browsers too. Sure, your M5 Max or i7 on a 1gbit connection runs things well... but does it run well on a mobile cpu with flaky 4g?
- I simply didn't get a smart phone. I had to get a new vertical flip phone last year — $80 plus tax to own it outright (and I think they gave me some credit on my pay-as-you-go balance too) — in order to migrate to 4G, but I was definitely not about to take the opportunity to get anything fancy. I do my computing, and my "app" usage, at home on my desktop (and play games on a dedicated handheld), thank you.
- I think this is a great idea. Wouldn't have guessed this would be possible so I looked into how it'd actually be implemented.
I guess this is done on the device as a VPN via Apple's NetworkExtension config. But instead of a normal VPN where traffic goes through a server, the app just locally applies rules based on the app the packet came from and then routes them normally to their destination.
by stronglikedan
1 subcomments
- HN hug so I can't read it right now, but this approach doesn't really work for most people. The problem with these types of approaches is that anything done can be undone. And if you have the willpower to not undo it, then you have the willpower to not need to have done it in the first place. Now, buying a slow phone on purpose may work, but that's a different approach.
- That is a very neat solution. Can still get a little and then you get less than a little.
Personally I just deleted the accounts and apps but that doesn't work for everyone.
Also my phone is a 7 year old Oppo something that had a low end Mediatek CPU that sucked from day one. I fear how it would handle any doomscrolling app, it would probably physically eject the media decoder out of the phone after a minute.
by chuckadams
0 subcomment
- I have that too where I live. It’s called “Verizon”
by SapporoChris
1 subcomments
- "It was a bit ironic to spend that much on a phone just to build the thing that would slow it down."
That doesn't seem ironic to me, it seems economically foolish. Why not simply buy an older phone?
Okay, reading further down. Really this is just an advertisement for an app they made targeted to people without self control who watch videos on their phone too often.
- The most effective rule for me is no addictive apps on my phone or laptop - browser apps only. The browser apps are _far_ less addictive and just enough friction to keep me off them for extended periods of time. As well, infinite scroll just isn't as effective in a browser and there's a real feeling of limited content running out.
by thatguymike
0 subcomment
- I love the concept - blocking apps are often too restrictive which makes me disable them. Slowing could be a nice alternative.
This probably uses a vpn? It’s important to think about how to stop me disabling it casually. I use Opal which blocks my settings page too. Which works great but frustratingly it blocks my legitimate needs very often too!
by eckelhesten
0 subcomment
- My take on detoxing from doomscroller apps was to uninstall their phone app and use their web version instead. The experience is so much less rewarding that i barely open instagram any longer. This is the only thing that worked for me. I even tried MDM:ing my devices once...
- As long as there is something user can control (turn it on or off), mostly user will end up disabling the feature after some time.
On other hand one can have this default behaviour in custom rom for android devices (don't let user to disable the feature :D)
by ernesto905
0 subcomment
- Something that's been working for me the last few weeks is turning off all cookies on the safari browser. That, plus no addictive apps seems a solid combo. I've been pleasantly surprised by how few sites break, and how effectively all social medias lose their flavor.
- Turning my phone to grayscale solved the doomscrolling issue for me. Now I only browse HN all day long.
- This app already exists for android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenbytelab...
by alex_suzuki
0 subcomment
- I switch mine to monochrome mode, it’s quite effective… everything just looks less attractive. I use the Accessibility Shortcut (triple-press side button) with “Colour Filters”, no extra app required.
- Here are things that I’ve found helpful to substitute time spent doomscrolling.
* periodic feed tidying to unfollow as much content as possible. It will be obvious which content is low quality. Right click and “not interested” on apps that support that.
* fill the time with edifying activities: creative pursuits, social activities, helping out, gaming , fitness, bible study .
* turn the phone off (up , down + power button – it’s deliberately onerous) . Stash it in the glovebox or backpack. Even half an hour is a relief. moving my car key to the watch allowed me to leave the phone behind when doing fitness. Try to identify the specific “hook” to your phone.
* turn off push notifs & background app refresh. try moving your important contacts over to a single messaging app if you can so you can minimize the ones with notifications . Otherwise use pull over push if possible (i get that work often isn’t practical) . iOS focus modes let you automate this.
* replace doomscrolling with AI dialogs on any topic. You can go much deeper this way by asking “why” questions like a toddler. Let’s say you’re watching motorcycle crash videos, do a dialog on the history of motorcycle racing. Or any topic
- Actually seems like a good idea. It's like when I use a 2012 laptop. I can't last more than 30 minutes on it. Probably a LAN proxy that throttles the network for some devices...
- I have a much simpler solution. I read before my son (5) one to two books, and he is allowed to watch a short movie (Lego technics, marble run, that kind of stuff). Sound is OK, if it is relaxed (so not music with 120 BPM, but lo-fi OK). Then he watches something of about 10 minutes. If he has to go to school tomorrow, he knows that's it, but in vacations and weekends he may watch another one. After he is done, he likes to pick the next movie for tomorrow (very important for him).
- At this point you might as well jump fully on the e-ink phone train and not even really bother with a full blown smartphone.
- There is a group of people out there who love this idea. Then there is a group of people that need this (me).
by paul_knoxops
0 subcomment
- That’s a great idea. Waiting for a video to load for a few dozen seconds makes me lose all interest in scrolling further.
- Making the experience slightly worse instead of blocking it completely feels more psychologically realistic
by benjaminclauss
0 subcomment
- No amount of deleting or blocking applications will substitute for a genuine interest in what's in front of you.
- My home wifi doesn't reach my side the bed from the router downstairs.
Best way to prevent doomscrolling.
- I wish I could uninstall Safari from my iPhone. I'd love to just have no internet app.
- I love this.
Here’s something else you can try: take off your phone case. My phone screen is scratched to hell and I think it runs slower from dropping it without a case so many times.
Someone should run a randomized trial with screen time against phone case usage. I wonder what would show up. Imagine the human connection and true critical thinking that would happen with just a 1% decrease in screen time!
- This guy is crippling a top notch device he paid good money for. This is crazy.
This isn't a personal problem. It is a social one, and there lies the solution. These apps are engineered for addiction, to Dubai our attention and lives. The companies behind them should br punished and their employees ashamed.
Society must curb socially and environmental nocive organizations.
by Cider9986
1 subcomments
- >For a long time I struggled with doomscrolling. I tried the usual stuff (cold turkey, app blockers) but they didn’t address the craving, and they were easy enough to bypass on top of that, none of it worked.
Cold turkey is for desktop not phones, not sure why that's relevant.
- https://xkcd.com/862/
>[Reddit page.]
>Luke (thinking): I shouldn't be looking at Reddit. Why can't I stop?
>After years of trying various methods, I broke this habit by pitting my impatience against my laziness. I decoupled the action and the neurological reward by setting up a simple 30-second delay I had to wait through, in which I couldn't do anything else, before any new page or chat client would load (and only allowed one to run at once). The urge to check all those sites magically vanished--and my 'productive' computer use was unaffected.
https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/02/18/distraction-affliction-corr...
by matthewfcarlson
0 subcomment
- My phone is in black and white for similar reasons
by mistyvales
0 subcomment
- It's sad that it's come to this..
- I have a few hacks that work for me, documented here: https://open.substack.com/pub/theperfectlycromulent/p/how-to...
tl;dr
Don’t keep your charger handy.
Don’t have a good charger.
Lose your phone (at home).
Don’t have a phone case.
Have a phone case.
by metalliqaz
1 subcomments
- I want that for my whole house
by youarenotyu
0 subcomment
- such a cool idea! I might use it as well to cope with my unhealthy habits
- I have Instagram installed, and it has a self-regulating feature for me. I sometimes load it up and see if any posts from the dozens of accounts I follow show up in the first 10.
When they do not, and I just get 10 random tiktok style slop videos from accounts I do not follow, I close the app and try again in a few months.
I am so glad they put in this feature that stops me scrolling further.
- 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.
- brilliant. can someone build this for android apps next?
by analogpixel
0 subcomment
- I found the easiest way to give up social media, is to just stop using it cold turkey. With all these other systems you just end up slowly weaning yourself back on over time.
it would be a good conspiracy if all these apps were made by facebook/twitter/etc because they know that's the case.
- I hate typing on a smartphone. Thick fingers, I guess. So I turned off word completion, and it works perfectly to stay off messenger apps while real life passes by around me. Avoids becoming a phone zombie. I love to chat with others online, but do it on a keyboard on my laptop at home.
by insane_dreamer
0 subcomment
- Not a bad idea.
- another good technique is to use boomer mode- make the fonts as large as possible, which has the side effect of making instagram (for instance) practically unusable and all of it just generally unpleasant. you're welcome.
- thats a cool technique
by stanleydupreez
0 subcomment
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