7 ms·

I made my phone slow on purpose

238 points by gcampos 4mo ago

andai 4mo ago
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?"
- gepeto42 4mo ago
  I feel like my phone is so sluggish when in low power mode (even a 17 Pro), that it could work for this.
  - Insanity 4mo ago
    This might say more about the quality of modern apps than the power of the iPhone lol.
    - gepeto42 4mo ago
      Absolutely does. But it would definitely keep you away from switching between 13 Slack groups!
      - mh- 4mo ago
        It's funny, I'm on a Delta flight right now with bad wifi and a few minutes ago I was thinking about how slow internet access completely changes my browsing habits to be more deliberate. Example from a few seconds ago: I frequently click into HN user's profile pages when I read an interesting comment from them as I scroll past. At home, it loads ~instantly even on 5G. But when it takes 5-7 seconds to load one, you get a lot more thoughtful about navigating your browser. There's definitely something interesting about intentionally downgrading your own experience in targeted ways.
  - mh- 4mo ago
    It definitely downclocks the chip, but it also does some other stuff like capping the frame rate on the display, which (to me, ymmv) goes a long way towards making the phone "feel slower". My (teenaged) kids frequently let their phones go into low battery and then run in power saving mode for hours, when one of them hands me their phones it's super jarring and feels awful to use coming from my 120hz phone haha.
- w4der 4mo ago
  On android you can do so from developer mode, but it's a blanket throttle for the whole device. I've been using mine with a 5mbps cap for a few years now.
thatguymike 4mo ago
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!
p0358 4mo ago
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.
- d1str0 4mo ago
  I think it’s a valiant effort. Sometimes having multiple influences can make it easier to change behavior.
  - p0358 4mo ago
    Maybe it can work to some degree for some people. But there are other methods that should help much more effectively, without being self-destructive and miserable. I view this solution in similar categories as, say, suggesting someone should drunk themselves off to the point of passing out, because you know... at least they won't scroll at that point probably? And yet there are some very obvious downsides of such approach. I mean if someone wants to try something in this direction, but without the misery, I'd suggest things like making the screen monochromatic, which will make the content seem less appealing to the brain, but without that being a nuisance.
    - latexr 4mo ago
      > I mean if someone wants to try something in this direction, but without the misery, I'd suggest things like making the screen monochromatic, which will make the content seem less appealing to the brain, but without that being a nuisance. That’s a common suggestion, but personally I found it ineffective. Like you GP comment states, it made everything worse while mitigating or solving nothing.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
- fhdkweig 4mo ago
  My solution to doom scrolling on the desktop was to edit my /etc/hosts file to disallow me from going to the offending sites. After a few weeks, the habit was broken and I didn't even miss them anymore.
drchaim 4mo ago
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...
rapnie 4mo ago
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.
herbertl 4mo ago
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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48084980 Consider it the no- or low-alcohol alternative to full speed. https://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html https://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
- MisterTea 4mo ago
  At work I curbed most of my internet wandering by turning off all the autocomplete and history of the browser. When I close the browser, everything is wiped. This way I have to explicitly type in the site url instead of an autocomplete in the url bar or history suggestion. I don't do anything personal on a work computer anyway so I don't need to log into anything. On my phones it's even easier: no apps save for absolutely necessary. If I need an app while traveling or whatever, I install it only for the necessary duration then uninstall it when done.
- SapporoChris 4mo ago
  I like the idea of increasing friction, but I also found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-control https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-control to be useful.
  - guilhermeasper 4mo ago
    If we are talking about increase friction to avoid something, unfortunately self control is way past us.
- mk_stjames 4mo ago
  I edit my /etc/hosts file and send domains that I've realized I'm addicted to (ahem, lichess) to 0.0.0.1 This gives enough friction to the point, when I muscle-memory type the URL in a browser, and get an unreachable error... after a while I learn to just... break the habit.
stronglikedan 4mo ago
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.
- d1str0 4mo ago
  By that logic, buying a slow phone can also just be undone. A perfect solution that works 100% is not the goal. Small influences that can help you change behavior can still be beneficial. Maybe they doom scroll 5% less because of this tweak? Still a positive change.
  - hibhfyingg 4mo ago
    > By that logic, buying a slow phone can also just be undone. That is such a first-world comment it should be coloured red, blue and white. Wow.
chis 4mo ago
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.
- gcampos 4mo ago
  That is correct! There is no annotation of which apps a packet comes from, so VineWall also runs locally a DNS proxy and uses the domain to infer the app
paul_knoxops 4mo ago
That’s a great idea. Waiting for a video to load for a few dozen seconds makes me lose all interest in scrolling further.
thatmf 4mo ago
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.
- tonymet 4mo ago
  I like this one.
frangonf 4mo ago
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.
Version467 4mo ago
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.
- halapro 4mo ago
  > Not having a browser at all on your phone I would not last 5 minutes. I'm occasionally offline outside planes and the amount of times I pull out my phone to "google something really quick" is high. You can already disallow apps without an MDM, but I'm curious what else you can do with it. I generally uninstall apps like Instagram so it takes a minute to even download it again, but it gives me a way to download it, post something and delete it once a week or so.
  - garyfirestorm 4mo ago
    I found an incredibly simple solution for this. Screen time in iOS can block specific websites and apps installed on your device. Set harmless time limits - 5 min for instagram. 2 mins for Reddit.com etc. Ask your spouse or a friend you trust to set screen time passcode. You can’t bypass it and you’re not going cold turkey either or losing an important utility like Safari. Doom scroll all you want in 2 mins then it’s locked for the day. I have succeeded and it’s been 3+ months.
    - halapro 4mo ago
      I'm so addicted I'd find a way around. It's incredible how many times I type x[enter] in my browser even if I'm met with a login screen. Being logged out stops me from mindlessly scrolling, but won't stop me from going on auto-pilot and opening X three times in a row.
whall6 4mo ago
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!
Tade0 4mo ago
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.
- gausswho 4mo ago
  While a popular refrain, this is not the only reason one might engage in avoidance. Furthermore, even if it is rooted in a pain, not everyone will be motivated optimally by thinking of it as something that must be analyzed and extracted. One can simply be bored without it being a pathology.
  - hibhfyingg 4mo ago
    If one is so constantly bored that doomscrolling turns into an addiction, then that person most certainly is suffering from some kind of psychological imbalance. Occasional boredom is normal, constant boredom is not.
  - Tade0 4mo ago
    My understanding is that when someone uses the term "doomscrolling", they mean something negative.
  - Barrin92 4mo ago
    >One can simply be bored without it being a pathology. yes but the point is that the people who doom-scroll cannot be bored, boredom is exactly what they want to avoid. People who constantly have their phone in their hands often want to avoid boredom because when you're bored your mind wanders and you have to encounter in silence, your own thoughts. Which now a lot of people are uncomfortable with. Just like people who overeat sure you can brute force yourself to stop doing it, but you're going to have much more success if you understand why you're engaging in an unhealthy habit, what you're trying to suppress, and then what you want to do instead. People struggle to break bad habits, and sustain changes when all they have is a reactive attitude of "I don't want to do it".
ak217 4mo ago
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!
sgm1018 4mo ago
thats a cool technique
neves 4mo ago
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.
novia 4mo ago
brilliant. can someone build this for android apps next?
- gcampos 4mo ago
  That is on my TODO list :)
js98 4mo ago
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.
- irawen 4mo ago
  cold-turkey doesn't seem to be the right phrase here, but i do agree with your overall point. i really do treat my scroll sessions as like a cigarette break, which, in a funny way, helps me feel better about wasting the time. it's an indulgement of a vice :p
  - MarcelOlsz 4mo ago
    I've combined my scrolling with my smoking to get two birds stoned at once. I'm currently trying to combine working out, scrolling, and smoking, for ultimate productivity.
    - p1necone 4mo ago
      A phone/tablet hooked up to your brainrot feed of choice and a treadmill that only works when you're walking/running seems like a great idea.
      - LAC-Tech 4mo ago
        You could break into a sprint when rage baited.
      - MarcelOlsz 4mo ago
navs 4mo ago
I have a few hacks that work for me, documented here: https://open.substack.com/pub/theperfectlycromulent/p/how-to-use-your-phone-less 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.
- hibhfyingg 4mo ago
  > Don’t have a phone case. Have a phone case. …
mmastrac 4mo ago
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.
- 65 4mo ago
  If you use the broswer verison of apps you can also inject custom scripts. I have one for Instagram that completely removes the recommendation feed. Works great.
kixiQu 4mo ago
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?
SapporoChris 4mo ago
"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.
- orsorna 4mo ago
  Your comment carries disdain for people who lack "self control" from engaging with algorithms that are proficiently designed to keep you engaged with the content, as if checking little boxes in the user's grey matter. Does your grey matter have foolproof methods to avert manipulation from processes that have billions of dollars and thousands of man hours poured into figuring out how to keep you engaged? Are you immune to tricks being developed in the future right now? Who's to say you haven't been manipulated through multiple degrees of separation?
chatmasta 4mo ago
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/id1532875441 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id15...
- resonious 4mo ago
  For me, 2 kids and 2 jobs has done wonders for curbing my social media habits.
- Taek 4mo ago
  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 in greyscale I would estimate is 1/10th as likely to pull me into a 5+ minute video binge vs the full color version. And 1/100th as likely to pull me into a 90+ minute video binge (which unfortunately does happen to me in full color).
  - Swizec 4mo ago
    > 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 As a counter-anecdata: I've had my phone in greyscale for a few years now. At first it worked amazingly, made me hate my phone and pickups dropped significantly. But over time I realized "Oh wait, 90% of my phone use is text and this is actually super nice for reading". Now I use my phone just as much as before, except in greyscale.
    - 4mo ago
metalliqaz 4mo ago
I want that for my whole house
- gcampos 4mo ago
  I have good news for you! I'm also working on a plugin device to apply VineWall protections to the whole home network.
meaningofdesign 4mo ago
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”.
- forlorn_mammoth 4mo ago
  > 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. To be fair, your fathers caution is not unwarranted. As a toy example, a few years back Amazon updated their checkout flow so that clicking 'next' defaulted to the paid shipping; you really have to pay attention to find the free shipping option. clicking next in a world of dark patterns is a bad idea.
protortyp 4mo ago
Turning my phone to grayscale solved the doomscrolling issue for me. Now I only browse HN all day long.
tonymet 4mo ago
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
- seabass-labrax 4mo ago
  Wikipedia blue-link surfing can be a good substitute for conversing with LLMs (and could be significantly cheaper too, the way things are going).
  - tonymet 4mo ago
    Good tip. I found a nice wiki Apple Watch app for wikoomscrolling
chuckadams 4mo ago
I have that too where I live. It’s called “Verizon”
joelres 4mo ago
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!
- dredmorbius 4mo ago
  Which phone, as someone looking at a similar move?
  - joelres 4mo ago
    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.
    - dredmorbius 4mo ago
      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?
      - joelres 3mo ago
        Hi! Sorry, not great at responding to hn comments, feel free to dm! My primary motivation is helping my anxiety by strictly limiting my inputs in most life contexts (when I'm with friends, walking around) so that I can be more present. While having a device just in case of emergency or for the convenience of scheduling to meet up, etc. My primary security is that only about 20 people have the number (people that I'm meeting up with, I'm not very stingy about it), and I don't get any OTP to the phone. I think this is more of a feature, it feels really nice to have a feeling of disconnection and privacy when I go out. I still use my old iphone and it's number via my mac. I've had a good time with AOSP! From my very limited understanding, KaiOS could be a bit limiting? But honestly I don't know. Curious if you try these other options! TBH for what I want, I think having a very low price (~$50 is ideal) is a huge feature because I feel like it gives me the permission to experiment without really worrying about it. Worst case I can brick it, order another, and swap the external SIM.
Cider9986 4mo ago
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.
- sphars 4mo ago
  I'm curious about your Android method, just to see if it's something I want to explore as a solution.
  - Cider9986 4mo ago
    Here I talked about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963 I bet you could use an MDM method on a regular Android, but I'm waiting for one that supports GrapheneOS. It's still a WIP https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13587-mdm-on-grapheneos/38 https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13587-mdm-on-grapheneos/38
- griffinli 4mo ago
  What's your Android method? I use Apple Configurator too.
  - Cider9986 4mo ago
    Here I talked about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963
soledades 4mo ago
Just get an eink phone? They're $300 and come with slowness built in.
unglaublich 4mo ago
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?
Cider9986 4mo ago
>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.
- zahlman 4mo ago
  I'm pretty sure "cold turkey" here refers to the original English idiom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_turkey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_turkey) and not any particular software.
  - Cider9986 4mo ago
    Ah you're right mb.
zahlman 4mo ago
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.
- Darwins_Toffees 4mo ago
  The one thing that's kept me from this path is tickets to events. Getting into a concert or MLB game without a smartphone is nearly impossible these days.
  - Gigachad 4mo ago
    It’s usually a QR code right? You should be able to print it off.
alex_suzuki 4mo ago
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.
analogpixel 4mo ago
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.
matthewfcarlson 4mo ago
My phone is in black and white for similar reasons
prmoustache 4mo ago
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.
benjaminclauss 4mo ago
No amount of deleting or blocking applications will substitute for a genuine interest in what's in front of you.
HerbManic 4mo ago
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.
Fnoord 4mo ago
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).
jjenks1106 4mo ago
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.
ernesto905 4mo ago
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.
snthd 4mo ago
https://xkcd.com/862/ 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-correction-extensio/ https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/02/18/distraction-affliction-corr...
insane_dreamer 4mo ago
Not a bad idea.
stanleydupreez 4mo ago
[flagged]
mistyvales 4mo ago
It's sad that it's come to this..
splwjs 4mo ago
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.
- haritha-j 4mo ago
  Thanks, I’ll give this a go. Edit: now i’m addicted to margaritas.
youarenotyu 4mo ago
such a cool idea! I might use it as well to cope with my unhealthy habits
dangus 4mo ago
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.
My_Name 4mo ago
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.
dominojab 4mo ago
[dead]
eckelhesten 4mo ago
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...
virajk_31 4mo ago
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)
giga90 4mo ago
This app already exists for android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenbytelab.slowdown&hl=en_GB https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenbytelab...
flobosg 4mo ago
One of the things that helped me is Brick (https://getbrick.com/ https://getbrick.com/), which blocks and unblocks apps using a small device with an NFC tag.
articsputnik 4mo ago
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 https://www.ssp.sh/brain/dumb-phone with the links to apps I mentioned.
zkrause33 4mo ago
There is a group of people out there who love this idea. Then there is a group of people that need this (me).
erelong 4mo ago
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)
everdrive 4mo ago
I wish I could uninstall Safari from my iPhone. I'd love to just have no internet app.
JR1427 4mo ago
My home wifi doesn't reach my side the bed from the router downstairs. Best way to prevent doomscrolling.
ErigmolCt 4mo ago
Making the experience slightly worse instead of blocking it completely feels more psychologically realistic

238 points by gcampos 4mo ago

andai 4mo ago

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?"

gepeto42 4mo ago
I feel like my phone is so sluggish when in low power mode (even a 17 Pro), that it could work for this.
- Insanity 4mo ago
  This might say more about the quality of modern apps than the power of the iPhone lol.
  - gepeto42 4mo ago
    Absolutely does. But it would definitely keep you away from switching between 13 Slack groups!
    - mh- 4mo ago
      It's funny, I'm on a Delta flight right now with bad wifi and a few minutes ago I was thinking about how slow internet access completely changes my browsing habits to be more deliberate. Example from a few seconds ago: I frequently click into HN user's profile pages when I read an interesting comment from them as I scroll past. At home, it loads ~instantly even on 5G. But when it takes 5-7 seconds to load one, you get a lot more thoughtful about navigating your browser. There's definitely something interesting about intentionally downgrading your own experience in targeted ways.
- mh- 4mo ago
  It definitely downclocks the chip, but it also does some other stuff like capping the frame rate on the display, which (to me, ymmv) goes a long way towards making the phone "feel slower". My (teenaged) kids frequently let their phones go into low battery and then run in power saving mode for hours, when one of them hands me their phones it's super jarring and feels awful to use coming from my 120hz phone haha.
w4der 4mo ago
On android you can do so from developer mode, but it's a blanket throttle for the whole device. I've been using mine with a 5mbps cap for a few years now.

thatguymike 4mo ago

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!

p0358 4mo ago

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.

d1str0 4mo ago
I think it’s a valiant effort. Sometimes having multiple influences can make it easier to change behavior.
- p0358 4mo ago
  Maybe it can work to some degree for some people. But there are other methods that should help much more effectively, without being self-destructive and miserable. I view this solution in similar categories as, say, suggesting someone should drunk themselves off to the point of passing out, because you know... at least they won't scroll at that point probably? And yet there are some very obvious downsides of such approach. I mean if someone wants to try something in this direction, but without the misery, I'd suggest things like making the screen monochromatic, which will make the content seem less appealing to the brain, but without that being a nuisance.
  - latexr 4mo ago
    > I mean if someone wants to try something in this direction, but without the misery, I'd suggest things like making the screen monochromatic, which will make the content seem less appealing to the brain, but without that being a nuisance. That’s a common suggestion, but personally I found it ineffective. Like you GP comment states, it made everything worse while mitigating or solving nothing.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]
fhdkweig 4mo ago
My solution to doom scrolling on the desktop was to edit my /etc/hosts file to disallow me from going to the offending sites. After a few weeks, the habit was broken and I didn't even miss them anymore.

drchaim 4mo ago

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...

rapnie 4mo ago

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.

herbertl 4mo ago

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 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48084980 Consider it the no- or low-alcohol alternative to full speed. https://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html https://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html

MisterTea 4mo ago
At work I curbed most of my internet wandering by turning off all the autocomplete and history of the browser. When I close the browser, everything is wiped. This way I have to explicitly type in the site url instead of an autocomplete in the url bar or history suggestion. I don't do anything personal on a work computer anyway so I don't need to log into anything. On my phones it's even easier: no apps save for absolutely necessary. If I need an app while traveling or whatever, I install it only for the necessary duration then uninstall it when done.
SapporoChris 4mo ago
I like the idea of increasing friction, but I also found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-control https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-control to be useful.
- guilhermeasper 4mo ago
  If we are talking about increase friction to avoid something, unfortunately self control is way past us.
mk_stjames 4mo ago
I edit my /etc/hosts file and send domains that I've realized I'm addicted to (ahem, lichess) to 0.0.0.1 This gives enough friction to the point, when I muscle-memory type the URL in a browser, and get an unreachable error... after a while I learn to just... break the habit.

stronglikedan 4mo ago

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.

d1str0 4mo ago
By that logic, buying a slow phone can also just be undone. A perfect solution that works 100% is not the goal. Small influences that can help you change behavior can still be beneficial. Maybe they doom scroll 5% less because of this tweak? Still a positive change.
- hibhfyingg 4mo ago
  > By that logic, buying a slow phone can also just be undone. That is such a first-world comment it should be coloured red, blue and white. Wow.

chis 4mo ago

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.

gcampos 4mo ago
That is correct! There is no annotation of which apps a packet comes from, so VineWall also runs locally a DNS proxy and uses the domain to infer the app

paul_knoxops 4mo ago

That’s a great idea. Waiting for a video to load for a few dozen seconds makes me lose all interest in scrolling further.

thatmf 4mo ago

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.

tonymet 4mo ago
I like this one.

frangonf 4mo ago

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.

Version467 4mo ago

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.

halapro 4mo ago
> Not having a browser at all on your phone I would not last 5 minutes. I'm occasionally offline outside planes and the amount of times I pull out my phone to "google something really quick" is high. You can already disallow apps without an MDM, but I'm curious what else you can do with it. I generally uninstall apps like Instagram so it takes a minute to even download it again, but it gives me a way to download it, post something and delete it once a week or so.
- garyfirestorm 4mo ago
  I found an incredibly simple solution for this. Screen time in iOS can block specific websites and apps installed on your device. Set harmless time limits - 5 min for instagram. 2 mins for Reddit.com etc. Ask your spouse or a friend you trust to set screen time passcode. You can’t bypass it and you’re not going cold turkey either or losing an important utility like Safari. Doom scroll all you want in 2 mins then it’s locked for the day. I have succeeded and it’s been 3+ months.
  - halapro 4mo ago
    I'm so addicted I'd find a way around. It's incredible how many times I type x[enter] in my browser even if I'm met with a login screen. Being logged out stops me from mindlessly scrolling, but won't stop me from going on auto-pilot and opening X three times in a row.

whall6 4mo ago

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!

Tade0 4mo ago

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.

gausswho 4mo ago
While a popular refrain, this is not the only reason one might engage in avoidance. Furthermore, even if it is rooted in a pain, not everyone will be motivated optimally by thinking of it as something that must be analyzed and extracted. One can simply be bored without it being a pathology.
- hibhfyingg 4mo ago
  If one is so constantly bored that doomscrolling turns into an addiction, then that person most certainly is suffering from some kind of psychological imbalance. Occasional boredom is normal, constant boredom is not.
- Tade0 4mo ago
  My understanding is that when someone uses the term "doomscrolling", they mean something negative.
- Barrin92 4mo ago
  >One can simply be bored without it being a pathology. yes but the point is that the people who doom-scroll cannot be bored, boredom is exactly what they want to avoid. People who constantly have their phone in their hands often want to avoid boredom because when you're bored your mind wanders and you have to encounter in silence, your own thoughts. Which now a lot of people are uncomfortable with. Just like people who overeat sure you can brute force yourself to stop doing it, but you're going to have much more success if you understand why you're engaging in an unhealthy habit, what you're trying to suppress, and then what you want to do instead. People struggle to break bad habits, and sustain changes when all they have is a reactive attitude of "I don't want to do it".

ak217 4mo ago

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!

sgm1018 4mo ago

thats a cool technique

neves 4mo ago

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.

novia 4mo ago

brilliant. can someone build this for android apps next?

gcampos 4mo ago
That is on my TODO list :)

js98 4mo ago

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.

irawen 4mo ago
cold-turkey doesn't seem to be the right phrase here, but i do agree with your overall point. i really do treat my scroll sessions as like a cigarette break, which, in a funny way, helps me feel better about wasting the time. it's an indulgement of a vice :p
- MarcelOlsz 4mo ago
  I've combined my scrolling with my smoking to get two birds stoned at once. I'm currently trying to combine working out, scrolling, and smoking, for ultimate productivity.
  - p1necone 4mo ago
    A phone/tablet hooked up to your brainrot feed of choice and a treadmill that only works when you're walking/running seems like a great idea.
    - LAC-Tech 4mo ago
      You could break into a sprint when rage baited.
    - MarcelOlsz 4mo ago

navs 4mo ago

I have a few hacks that work for me, documented here: https://open.substack.com/pub/theperfectlycromulent/p/how-to-use-your-phone-less 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.

hibhfyingg 4mo ago
> Don’t have a phone case. Have a phone case. …

mmastrac 4mo ago

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.

65 4mo ago
If you use the broswer verison of apps you can also inject custom scripts. I have one for Instagram that completely removes the recommendation feed. Works great.

kixiQu 4mo ago

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?

SapporoChris 4mo ago

"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.

orsorna 4mo ago
Your comment carries disdain for people who lack "self control" from engaging with algorithms that are proficiently designed to keep you engaged with the content, as if checking little boxes in the user's grey matter. Does your grey matter have foolproof methods to avert manipulation from processes that have billions of dollars and thousands of man hours poured into figuring out how to keep you engaged? Are you immune to tricks being developed in the future right now? Who's to say you haven't been manipulated through multiple degrees of separation?

chatmasta 4mo ago

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/id1532875441 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id15...

resonious 4mo ago
For me, 2 kids and 2 jobs has done wonders for curbing my social media habits.
Taek 4mo ago
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 in greyscale I would estimate is 1/10th as likely to pull me into a 5+ minute video binge vs the full color version. And 1/100th as likely to pull me into a 90+ minute video binge (which unfortunately does happen to me in full color).
- Swizec 4mo ago
  > 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 As a counter-anecdata: I've had my phone in greyscale for a few years now. At first it worked amazingly, made me hate my phone and pickups dropped significantly. But over time I realized "Oh wait, 90% of my phone use is text and this is actually super nice for reading". Now I use my phone just as much as before, except in greyscale.
  - 4mo ago

metalliqaz 4mo ago

I want that for my whole house

gcampos 4mo ago
I have good news for you! I'm also working on a plugin device to apply VineWall protections to the whole home network.

meaningofdesign 4mo ago

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”.

forlorn_mammoth 4mo ago
> 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. To be fair, your fathers caution is not unwarranted. As a toy example, a few years back Amazon updated their checkout flow so that clicking 'next' defaulted to the paid shipping; you really have to pay attention to find the free shipping option. clicking next in a world of dark patterns is a bad idea.

protortyp 4mo ago

Turning my phone to grayscale solved the doomscrolling issue for me. Now I only browse HN all day long.

tonymet 4mo ago

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

seabass-labrax 4mo ago
Wikipedia blue-link surfing can be a good substitute for conversing with LLMs (and could be significantly cheaper too, the way things are going).
- tonymet 4mo ago
  Good tip. I found a nice wiki Apple Watch app for wikoomscrolling

chuckadams 4mo ago

I have that too where I live. It’s called “Verizon”

joelres 4mo ago

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!

dredmorbius 4mo ago
Which phone, as someone looking at a similar move?
- joelres 4mo ago
  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.
  - dredmorbius 4mo ago
    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?
    - joelres 3mo ago
      Hi! Sorry, not great at responding to hn comments, feel free to dm! My primary motivation is helping my anxiety by strictly limiting my inputs in most life contexts (when I'm with friends, walking around) so that I can be more present. While having a device just in case of emergency or for the convenience of scheduling to meet up, etc. My primary security is that only about 20 people have the number (people that I'm meeting up with, I'm not very stingy about it), and I don't get any OTP to the phone. I think this is more of a feature, it feels really nice to have a feeling of disconnection and privacy when I go out. I still use my old iphone and it's number via my mac. I've had a good time with AOSP! From my very limited understanding, KaiOS could be a bit limiting? But honestly I don't know. Curious if you try these other options! TBH for what I want, I think having a very low price (~$50 is ideal) is a huge feature because I feel like it gives me the permission to experiment without really worrying about it. Worst case I can brick it, order another, and swap the external SIM.

Cider9986 4mo ago

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.

sphars 4mo ago
I'm curious about your Android method, just to see if it's something I want to explore as a solution.
- Cider9986 4mo ago
  Here I talked about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963 I bet you could use an MDM method on a regular Android, but I'm waiting for one that supports GrapheneOS. It's still a WIP https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13587-mdm-on-grapheneos/38 https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/13587-mdm-on-grapheneos/38
griffinli 4mo ago
What's your Android method? I use Apple Configurator too.
- Cider9986 4mo ago
  Here I talked about it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48275963

soledades 4mo ago

Just get an eink phone? They're $300 and come with slowness built in.

unglaublich 4mo ago

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?

Cider9986 4mo ago

>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.

zahlman 4mo ago
I'm pretty sure "cold turkey" here refers to the original English idiom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_turkey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_turkey) and not any particular software.
- Cider9986 4mo ago
  Ah you're right mb.

zahlman 4mo ago

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.

Darwins_Toffees 4mo ago
The one thing that's kept me from this path is tickets to events. Getting into a concert or MLB game without a smartphone is nearly impossible these days.
- Gigachad 4mo ago
  It’s usually a QR code right? You should be able to print it off.

alex_suzuki 4mo ago

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.

analogpixel 4mo ago

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.

matthewfcarlson 4mo ago

My phone is in black and white for similar reasons

prmoustache 4mo ago

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.

benjaminclauss 4mo ago

No amount of deleting or blocking applications will substitute for a genuine interest in what's in front of you.

HerbManic 4mo ago

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.

Fnoord 4mo ago

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).

jjenks1106 4mo ago

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.

ernesto905 4mo ago

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.

snthd 4mo ago

https://xkcd.com/862/ 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-correction-extensio/ https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/02/18/distraction-affliction-corr...

insane_dreamer 4mo ago

Not a bad idea.

stanleydupreez 4mo ago

[flagged]

mistyvales 4mo ago

It's sad that it's come to this..

splwjs 4mo ago

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.

haritha-j 4mo ago
Thanks, I’ll give this a go. Edit: now i’m addicted to margaritas.

youarenotyu 4mo ago

such a cool idea! I might use it as well to cope with my unhealthy habits

dangus 4mo ago

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.

My_Name 4mo ago

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.

dominojab 4mo ago

[dead]

eckelhesten 4mo ago

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...

virajk_31 4mo ago

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)

giga90 4mo ago

This app already exists for android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenbytelab.slowdown&hl=en_GB https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zenbytelab...

flobosg 4mo ago

One of the things that helped me is Brick (https://getbrick.com/ https://getbrick.com/), which blocks and unblocks apps using a small device with an NFC tag.

articsputnik 4mo ago

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 https://www.ssp.sh/brain/dumb-phone with the links to apps I mentioned.

zkrause33 4mo ago

There is a group of people out there who love this idea. Then there is a group of people that need this (me).

erelong 4mo ago

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)

everdrive 4mo ago

I wish I could uninstall Safari from my iPhone. I'd love to just have no internet app.

JR1427 4mo ago

My home wifi doesn't reach my side the bed from the router downstairs. Best way to prevent doomscrolling.

ErigmolCt 4mo ago

Making the experience slightly worse instead of blocking it completely feels more psychologically realistic