3 ms·

I was never in the "heavy smartphone users" category, but one thing I found that nonetheless shrank my usage significantly was switching to the "Niagara" launch

by chias 3y ago

I was never in the "heavy smartphone users" category, but one thing I found that nonetheless shrank my usage significantly was switching to the "Niagara" launcher app (Android). If you are somebody that doesn't want to keep getting "sucked" into your phone, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

jskherman 3y ago
I also switched to Niagara Launcher, and it's great especially with the new icons update (everything looks so consistent)! It decreased my usage as well but I still find myself going back to old habits whenever stress mounts, despite having Niagara Pro, enabling Morning mode, and Notification summaries. Any tips you could share that have helped you further decrease your usage?
- johndhi 3y ago
  Why would you recommend Niagara?
  - jskherman 3y ago
    Niagara is very clean and a unique take on launchers. I don't need to fiddle with "home screens" anymore and just have my most used apps right there. And for the less frequently used ones, it's just one swipe with my thumb (see the demo) or with a more targeted search. The launcher was designed of having one hand (primarily thumb use) to use in mind. It prevents me from going down the rabbit hole of adjusting widgets and swiping a lot to find things. It also has a new update on icons. I finally now have consistent icons even for rare apps (e.g. specific to your country/locale) after a long long time. It honestly feels a lot better when specific apps (designed to catch your attention with the "notification dots") don't stand out.
- chias 3y ago
  Do not put the apps you want to reduce usage of in your favorites. The act of pulling them out of the alphabetized list or searching for them when you want to use them adds just enough (for me) friction that it becomes a necessarily deliberate action. Make your homescreen boring.

3 ms·

I was never in the "heavy smartphone users" category, but one thing I found that nonetheless shrank my usage significantly was switching to the "Niagara" launch

by chias 3y ago

jskherman 3y ago
I also switched to Niagara Launcher, and it's great especially with the new icons update (everything looks so consistent)! It decreased my usage as well but I still find myself going back to old habits whenever stress mounts, despite having Niagara Pro, enabling Morning mode, and Notification summaries. Any tips you could share that have helped you further decrease your usage?
- johndhi 3y ago
  Why would you recommend Niagara?
  - jskherman 3y ago
    Niagara is very clean and a unique take on launchers. I don't need to fiddle with "home screens" anymore and just have my most used apps right there. And for the less frequently used ones, it's just one swipe with my thumb (see the demo) or with a more targeted search. The launcher was designed of having one hand (primarily thumb use) to use in mind. It prevents me from going down the rabbit hole of adjusting widgets and swiping a lot to find things. It also has a new update on icons. I finally now have consistent icons even for rare apps (e.g. specific to your country/locale) after a long long time. It honestly feels a lot better when specific apps (designed to catch your attention with the "notification dots") don't stand out.
- chias 3y ago
  Do not put the apps you want to reduce usage of in your favorites. The act of pulling them out of the alphabetized list or searching for them when you want to use them adds just enough (for me) friction that it becomes a necessarily deliberate action. Make your homescreen boring.