7 ms·

Siempo's new app will break your smartphone addiction

64 points by andrewmd 8y ago

navls 8y ago
"To help you understand your current phone habits, Siempo needs permission to store information on this device. We do not read your private files or collect information about files on your device." No option to opt-out
- andrewmd 8y ago
  Andrew from Siempo here - with optimizations in an upcoming release we will no longer need to ask for this permission. Apologies for the inconvenience! We are committed to respecting user's privacy and are currently working with The Center of Humane Tech community to improve our privacy policy word by word, and make the changes necessary for GDPR.
  - superflyguy 8y ago
    You've got two days.
    - jpzisme 8y ago
      Neat, bro.
      - groovybits 8y ago
        Not sure if you know, but GDPR deadline actually is May 25. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/gdpr-compliance-deadline-is-approaching-10-things-to-do-right-away/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/gdpr-compliance-deadlin...
thirduncle 8y ago
It's actually quite easy to "break" your addiction to smartphones: Don't use them in the first place.
- rkangel 8y ago
  That comment is even less helpful than saying "It's actually quite easy to break your addiction to alchohol - just don't drink". The reason it's even less helpful is that, unlike alcohol, smartphones provide useful functionality in day to day life.
  - thirduncle 8y ago
    Smartphones provide useful functionality in day to day life. Do they now?
    - aaron695 8y ago
      Actually it was this statement that was incorrect and misses exactly what the phone problem is - > unlike alcohol, smartphones provide useful functionality in day to day life. Many many people meet and get to know friends and partners with alcohol. Many people do business over alcohol. Many people would suicide without alcohol (A lot of people use it for self medication) Alcohol has a huge functionality, but they missed the connection because it's negatives are well know. An interesting question is, without either would the world currently be a better place. Another interesting question is do they positively push the world forward while doing harm currently. But both are hypothetical, neither is going away, what we do need to do is not say just don't use them and instead work on harm minimisation.
- mfringel 8y ago
  Vacuous truths are still vacuous.
- gcp123 8y ago
  If you've ever done any work to break a habit, or talked to someone who has, you'd know that it's not always that easy.
  - thirduncle 8y ago
    I have actually - including some pretty nasty ones. But I'll confess at this point to be at a loss to understand this "smartphone addiction" thing people keep talking about. Being as I've tried using them, and never understood their appeal in the first place.
deft 8y ago
Is smartphone addiction really a thing that needs this constant coverage? I use my phone quite often but I've never felt controlled by it or like I need it. Maybe people should just delete the apps that are causing problems, instead of downloading another app to manage it. Is this the smartphone equivalent of safe-injection sites?
- unit91 8y ago
  > Is smartphone addiction really a thing that needs this constant coverage? The reporters have smartphone addiction addiction. Deep down, they want to cover something else but...they...just...can't. :-)
- gcp123 8y ago
  >Is smartphone addiction really a thing that needs this constant coverage? I use my phone quite often but I've never felt controlled by it or like I need it. An alcoholic would say the same exact thing. :-) Just sayin!
amelius 8y ago
I think the per-app distinction of notifications is too coarse. I want an app that allows me to train it on the notifications I receive, regardless of what app they come from. For instance, if I get a message from a random Facebook group that I find not very interesting, I want to be able to indicate that. Conversely, if I get a Facebook message that is urgent, then I want to indicate that too. Please don't ask me upfront whether I want to enable/disable all Facebook messages, because I can't possibly answer that question now.
solutionyogi 8y ago
Currently, I use the Moment App on the iOS to keep track of how much time I spend on my phone and it has been immensely useful. Though it only captures my usage and can't actively help me reduce my smartphone usage. I love the ability to batch up the notifications. In my ideal world, I would get notifications at 8AM, 12pm, 5pm and 9pm. And that's all. I am jealous of the Android platform that it is possible to create an app like Siempo. I don't think iOS has an API to create a comparable experience. I wonder what plans do Siempo team have for iOS.
- andrewmd 8y ago
  Moment is great! Android gives devs the freedom to be so much more than just a self control app - we can reimagine the interface from scratch. We'd love to be on iOS, but b/c of strict permissions we are unable to do the majority of what we have built in the beta so far. A number of our users have actually switched from iOS to Android, not just for Siempo but also for apps that let you set SMS autoresponders, block apps with geofencing, and other cool things that won't be possible unless Apple radically changes their interface or permissions.
- tetrep 8y ago
  > I love the ability to batch up the notifications. In my ideal world, I would get notifications at 8AM, 12pm, 5pm and 9pm. And that's all. Couldn't you do this manually by silencing your phone except for alarms, and then setting vibrate-only alarms at those times? Alarm goes off, you check your phone and deal with any notifications you have so far, and then you go back to ignoring it.
  - chefandy 8y ago
    For me, this would functionally be no different than just deciding I wasn't going to check. Alarms would make sense if I had trouble remembering to check if I didn't check constantly, but the problem is the compulsion to thoughtlessly reach for my phone to check for notifications every few minutes. If I could batch up notifications therefore making the act of grabbing my phone and looking at it pointless, that seems like it would have a real impact.
Rotdhizon 8y ago
RIP to anyone who clicked that link without ad block. The app is a cool concept but I don't see it ever taking off. They broadly assume that people want to be distanced from their phones, which I'm sure most don't. There is nothing wrong with enjoying technology. Yes I check my phone at last once every few minutes when I'm at home, does that made me an "addict"? I'm not checking social media, I'm just browsing through the things I have installed to pass the time or have some laughs. Add on the fact that this is a paid app once it releases, who is actually going to pay for an app to inconvenience them? Some of the features are noble, such as forcefully blocking notifications until user specified times, and putting a more human catered UI for apps in. I applaud the effort, but I just can't see this taking off and becoming a best seller. Sure many people will pay for it, but it won't reach as many people as they are hoping. EDIT: Adding on some more thoughts There are absolutely people who have unhealthy addictions to phones. I have a nephew who is staring at his phone screen nearly every waking moment. Every minute he doesn't have a phone in his hands he is whining. That is a new generation of smartphone addiction that I don't think most current adults have. Do you think these type of people want to forcefully have that addiction helped? Do you think they'd actually pay money to inconvenience themselves? I agree with whoever said that app notifications need to be catered to. It might not work well with generic settings. Allow all and deny all for apps isn't doing much. I agree with the other fellow who also chimed in about smartphone addiction really not being a newsworthy topic. It's not something that can really be fixed at large. Even getting a small number of individuals to break their truly unhealthy smartphone addiction seems near impossible.
- solutionyogi 8y ago
  I am not sure why you are so down on this app. I would agree that majority of people don't realize how addictive smartphones can be and they don't care about fixing it. At the same time, I think there are a decent number of people who realize that a smartphone is a GREAT tool they must have in their life but if they are not careful, it will take over their attention completely. The fact that apps like Moment (https://inthemoment.io/ https://inthemoment.io/) exist and do well is a proof. I welcome Siempo and I hope they offer a compelling app on the iOS platform. (See my other comment to know why I have my doubts regarding this)
peacetreefrog 8y ago
This is pretty cool. Some feedback: 1. Lock screen functionality would be good. It's sort of jarring to go back and forth between this (pleasant, mellow) and my normal lock screen (looks just like my normal phone). 2. It'd be nice to be able to resize the custom background images. 3. Not sure I like the distinction between "tools" and "apps", especially because I try to view all my apps as tools. It'd be nice to be able to add a custom tool (I wanted to add Audible for example) that would just be on the one page.
- andrewmd 8y ago
  Thanks for this feedback! Feel free to pass along other thoughts or suggestions to feedback@siempo.co 1. We are exploring possibilities for the lock screen. Any ideas? 2. Absolutely! We plan on offering more formatting options in upcoming releases. 3. On our roadmap :)
arrakeen 8y ago
imo these apps are completely unnecessary. all i needed to do was leave my phone on do-not-disturb mode at all times. this way, i don't have notifications and vibrations constantly nagging me, and i only check my phone during natural breaks in my activities give it a try
- RBerenguel 8y ago
  That’s my setup too (also for smartwatch). Only allow notifications on call or IFTTT (have been playing with notify to watch at the end of compile/test/package)
- shishy 8y ago
  Second this... had the same problem; FB started giving me notifications for the most pointless things just so I'd put my eyes back on the phone. Using that meant I gradually checked the phone on "my terms" and overtime reduced it rather significantly.
- andrei_says_ 8y ago
  That’s where it’s at. The constant stream of notifications does not distinguish well what’s important and too much of it ends up in the Important/Urgent quadrant. Important | Urgent ------------------ | Important | | ------------------ | Urgent | | I hope we'll start seeing more app- and os-level tools to sort out notifications into the correct quadrant. This is where I'd welcome AI-based solutions. Gmail already offers me to unsubscribe from un-opened newsletters. Can't wait for a She-like AI-assistant who would take on the drudgery of my inbox. Such changes of course would be counter productive to the business model of many social apps which use intermittent rewards to create easy to exploit addictive behaviors allowing them to monetize on the unregulated resource of human attention. This includes establishing addiction in children, as a business model. Attention is one of the most valuable assets human beings have. Focused attention + time are two of the pillars of any achievement and becoming. Robbing humanity of its power to become and achieve is not a healthy or sustainable source of profit.
SuperPaintMan 8y ago
I've been using this as my launcher for the last few weeks, it's actually pretty good at what it advertises to do. This mixed with a blocking app, greyscale and the Messenger Lite have made my device a semi-smart. The last page of the launcher randomizes everytime you swipe over to it so that's super handy. Notifs every 20 minutes has literally changed how I use my device allowing me to balance group chats vs constant attachment to my phone. Devs: Please, please, please add some theming support it's ugly as sin, maybe regex style controls over which notifs get through on a per-app basis.
- andrewmd 8y ago
  Thanks for sharing this feedback! Check out today's update: we now offer a dark theme and ability to set custom wallpaper :) We also let you select apps that may interrupt you during Tempo (Settings > Control notifications). We need to do a better job of making users aware of this. More customizations to come - feel free to send over any suggestions to feedback@siempo.co
  - SuperPaintMan 8y ago
    You're the man, man! Keep up the great work :)
krupan 8y ago
You can do a lot of this yourself. Put your apps in folders, leave your home screen mostly empty, turn off notifications. Don't even install apps like twitter or facebook, you have to use the browser if you want to see those sites. The phone is still pretty tempting though when there is downtime.

64 points by andrewmd 8y ago

"To help you understand your current phone habits, Siempo needs permission to store information on this device. We do not read your private files or collect information about files on your device." No option to opt-out

andrewmd 8y ago
Andrew from Siempo here - with optimizations in an upcoming release we will no longer need to ask for this permission. Apologies for the inconvenience! We are committed to respecting user's privacy and are currently working with The Center of Humane Tech community to improve our privacy policy word by word, and make the changes necessary for GDPR.
- superflyguy 8y ago
  You've got two days.
  - jpzisme 8y ago
    Neat, bro.
    - groovybits 8y ago
      Not sure if you know, but GDPR deadline actually is May 25. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/gdpr-compliance-deadline-is-approaching-10-things-to-do-right-away/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/gdpr-compliance-deadlin...

thirduncle 8y ago

It's actually quite easy to "break" your addiction to smartphones: Don't use them in the first place.

rkangel 8y ago
That comment is even less helpful than saying "It's actually quite easy to break your addiction to alchohol - just don't drink". The reason it's even less helpful is that, unlike alcohol, smartphones provide useful functionality in day to day life.
- thirduncle 8y ago
  Smartphones provide useful functionality in day to day life. Do they now?
  - aaron695 8y ago
    Actually it was this statement that was incorrect and misses exactly what the phone problem is - > unlike alcohol, smartphones provide useful functionality in day to day life. Many many people meet and get to know friends and partners with alcohol. Many people do business over alcohol. Many people would suicide without alcohol (A lot of people use it for self medication) Alcohol has a huge functionality, but they missed the connection because it's negatives are well know. An interesting question is, without either would the world currently be a better place. Another interesting question is do they positively push the world forward while doing harm currently. But both are hypothetical, neither is going away, what we do need to do is not say just don't use them and instead work on harm minimisation.
mfringel 8y ago
Vacuous truths are still vacuous.
gcp123 8y ago
If you've ever done any work to break a habit, or talked to someone who has, you'd know that it's not always that easy.
- thirduncle 8y ago
  I have actually - including some pretty nasty ones. But I'll confess at this point to be at a loss to understand this "smartphone addiction" thing people keep talking about. Being as I've tried using them, and never understood their appeal in the first place.

deft 8y ago

Is smartphone addiction really a thing that needs this constant coverage? I use my phone quite often but I've never felt controlled by it or like I need it. Maybe people should just delete the apps that are causing problems, instead of downloading another app to manage it. Is this the smartphone equivalent of safe-injection sites?

unit91 8y ago
> Is smartphone addiction really a thing that needs this constant coverage? The reporters have smartphone addiction addiction. Deep down, they want to cover something else but...they...just...can't. :-)
gcp123 8y ago
>Is smartphone addiction really a thing that needs this constant coverage? I use my phone quite often but I've never felt controlled by it or like I need it. An alcoholic would say the same exact thing. :-) Just sayin!

amelius 8y ago

I think the per-app distinction of notifications is too coarse. I want an app that allows me to train it on the notifications I receive, regardless of what app they come from. For instance, if I get a message from a random Facebook group that I find not very interesting, I want to be able to indicate that. Conversely, if I get a Facebook message that is urgent, then I want to indicate that too. Please don't ask me upfront whether I want to enable/disable all Facebook messages, because I can't possibly answer that question now.

solutionyogi 8y ago

Currently, I use the Moment App on the iOS to keep track of how much time I spend on my phone and it has been immensely useful. Though it only captures my usage and can't actively help me reduce my smartphone usage. I love the ability to batch up the notifications. In my ideal world, I would get notifications at 8AM, 12pm, 5pm and 9pm. And that's all. I am jealous of the Android platform that it is possible to create an app like Siempo. I don't think iOS has an API to create a comparable experience. I wonder what plans do Siempo team have for iOS.

andrewmd 8y ago
Moment is great! Android gives devs the freedom to be so much more than just a self control app - we can reimagine the interface from scratch. We'd love to be on iOS, but b/c of strict permissions we are unable to do the majority of what we have built in the beta so far. A number of our users have actually switched from iOS to Android, not just for Siempo but also for apps that let you set SMS autoresponders, block apps with geofencing, and other cool things that won't be possible unless Apple radically changes their interface or permissions.
tetrep 8y ago
> I love the ability to batch up the notifications. In my ideal world, I would get notifications at 8AM, 12pm, 5pm and 9pm. And that's all. Couldn't you do this manually by silencing your phone except for alarms, and then setting vibrate-only alarms at those times? Alarm goes off, you check your phone and deal with any notifications you have so far, and then you go back to ignoring it.
- chefandy 8y ago
  For me, this would functionally be no different than just deciding I wasn't going to check. Alarms would make sense if I had trouble remembering to check if I didn't check constantly, but the problem is the compulsion to thoughtlessly reach for my phone to check for notifications every few minutes. If I could batch up notifications therefore making the act of grabbing my phone and looking at it pointless, that seems like it would have a real impact.

Rotdhizon 8y ago

RIP to anyone who clicked that link without ad block. The app is a cool concept but I don't see it ever taking off. They broadly assume that people want to be distanced from their phones, which I'm sure most don't. There is nothing wrong with enjoying technology. Yes I check my phone at last once every few minutes when I'm at home, does that made me an "addict"? I'm not checking social media, I'm just browsing through the things I have installed to pass the time or have some laughs. Add on the fact that this is a paid app once it releases, who is actually going to pay for an app to inconvenience them? Some of the features are noble, such as forcefully blocking notifications until user specified times, and putting a more human catered UI for apps in. I applaud the effort, but I just can't see this taking off and becoming a best seller. Sure many people will pay for it, but it won't reach as many people as they are hoping. EDIT: Adding on some more thoughts There are absolutely people who have unhealthy addictions to phones. I have a nephew who is staring at his phone screen nearly every waking moment. Every minute he doesn't have a phone in his hands he is whining. That is a new generation of smartphone addiction that I don't think most current adults have. Do you think these type of people want to forcefully have that addiction helped? Do you think they'd actually pay money to inconvenience themselves? I agree with whoever said that app notifications need to be catered to. It might not work well with generic settings. Allow all and deny all for apps isn't doing much. I agree with the other fellow who also chimed in about smartphone addiction really not being a newsworthy topic. It's not something that can really be fixed at large. Even getting a small number of individuals to break their truly unhealthy smartphone addiction seems near impossible.

solutionyogi 8y ago
I am not sure why you are so down on this app. I would agree that majority of people don't realize how addictive smartphones can be and they don't care about fixing it. At the same time, I think there are a decent number of people who realize that a smartphone is a GREAT tool they must have in their life but if they are not careful, it will take over their attention completely. The fact that apps like Moment (https://inthemoment.io/ https://inthemoment.io/) exist and do well is a proof. I welcome Siempo and I hope they offer a compelling app on the iOS platform. (See my other comment to know why I have my doubts regarding this)

peacetreefrog 8y ago

This is pretty cool. Some feedback: 1. Lock screen functionality would be good. It's sort of jarring to go back and forth between this (pleasant, mellow) and my normal lock screen (looks just like my normal phone). 2. It'd be nice to be able to resize the custom background images. 3. Not sure I like the distinction between "tools" and "apps", especially because I try to view all my apps as tools. It'd be nice to be able to add a custom tool (I wanted to add Audible for example) that would just be on the one page.

andrewmd 8y ago
Thanks for this feedback! Feel free to pass along other thoughts or suggestions to feedback@siempo.co 1. We are exploring possibilities for the lock screen. Any ideas? 2. Absolutely! We plan on offering more formatting options in upcoming releases. 3. On our roadmap :)

arrakeen 8y ago

imo these apps are completely unnecessary. all i needed to do was leave my phone on do-not-disturb mode at all times. this way, i don't have notifications and vibrations constantly nagging me, and i only check my phone during natural breaks in my activities give it a try

RBerenguel 8y ago
That’s my setup too (also for smartwatch). Only allow notifications on call or IFTTT (have been playing with notify to watch at the end of compile/test/package)
shishy 8y ago
Second this... had the same problem; FB started giving me notifications for the most pointless things just so I'd put my eyes back on the phone. Using that meant I gradually checked the phone on "my terms" and overtime reduced it rather significantly.
andrei_says_ 8y ago
That’s where it’s at. The constant stream of notifications does not distinguish well what’s important and too much of it ends up in the Important/Urgent quadrant. Important | Urgent ------------------ | Important | | ------------------ | Urgent | | I hope we'll start seeing more app- and os-level tools to sort out notifications into the correct quadrant. This is where I'd welcome AI-based solutions. Gmail already offers me to unsubscribe from un-opened newsletters. Can't wait for a She-like AI-assistant who would take on the drudgery of my inbox. Such changes of course would be counter productive to the business model of many social apps which use intermittent rewards to create easy to exploit addictive behaviors allowing them to monetize on the unregulated resource of human attention. This includes establishing addiction in children, as a business model. Attention is one of the most valuable assets human beings have. Focused attention + time are two of the pillars of any achievement and becoming. Robbing humanity of its power to become and achieve is not a healthy or sustainable source of profit.

SuperPaintMan 8y ago

I've been using this as my launcher for the last few weeks, it's actually pretty good at what it advertises to do. This mixed with a blocking app, greyscale and the Messenger Lite have made my device a semi-smart. The last page of the launcher randomizes everytime you swipe over to it so that's super handy. Notifs every 20 minutes has literally changed how I use my device allowing me to balance group chats vs constant attachment to my phone. Devs: Please, please, please add some theming support it's ugly as sin, maybe regex style controls over which notifs get through on a per-app basis.

andrewmd 8y ago
Thanks for sharing this feedback! Check out today's update: we now offer a dark theme and ability to set custom wallpaper :) We also let you select apps that may interrupt you during Tempo (Settings > Control notifications). We need to do a better job of making users aware of this. More customizations to come - feel free to send over any suggestions to feedback@siempo.co
- SuperPaintMan 8y ago
  You're the man, man! Keep up the great work :)

krupan 8y ago

You can do a lot of this yourself. Put your apps in folders, leave your home screen mostly empty, turn off notifications. Don't even install apps like twitter or facebook, you have to use the browser if you want to see those sites. The phone is still pretty tempting though when there is downtime.