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You can do a lot of this on an iPhone if you use focus modes and automations. I have a deep work mode that sets a blank Home Screen, turns off always on displa

You can do a lot of this on an iPhone if you use focus modes and automations. I have a deep work mode that sets a blank Home Screen, turns off always on display, sets the phone to greyscale and only allows notifications from my wife. It feels like something like this gets you most of the way there and you can then have different focus levels that ramp up potential distractions. All without carrying two devices or giving up the modcons.

pentaphobe 3y ago
This sounds pretty great, how do you achieve it?
- paulmd 3y ago
  Shortcuts, presumably
  - MBCook 3y ago
    Nope. All features of focus modes alone, I think.
    - bengale 3y ago
      Just the greyscale needs a shortcut automation.
      - MBCook 3y ago
        Oh I didn’t catch that part. It makes sense that wouldn’t be available by default as a focus option.
        bengale 3y ago
        There are a few system options in focus states but not this. I’d like to see them expand it for more of these low distraction techniques.
btbuildem 3y ago
Could you share how you set that up? Sounds effective.
- bengale 3y ago
  Most of it is just in focus modes settings: alerts, notifications and things like that. For greyscale you use shortcuts. There’s an automation tab, you set up on a focus mode being enabled then “set color filters on” and then the opposite for that focus mode being disabled.
  - btbuildem 3y ago
    Good to know! Thanks for sharing.
- romeoblade 3y ago
  For me I use the accessibility shortcut, three presses of the side button pops up a menu so I can select color filters (grey scale) and reduce white point (80% is my default). I enable both when I am reading. It's really helped eye strain when I'm reading.
dotancohen 3y ago
I've been experimenting with greyscale on my Android phone, it is nowhere near the comfort level of real E-Ink.
- lostmsu 3y ago
  How did you do that?
  - dotancohen 3y ago
    On Samsung devices, there's is an option under the Accessibility menu. Then go to something like "Improve Display" (mine is in Hebrew, so that is a rough translation that might not be exact) and then "Customize Colours" (again, rough translation). Additionally, I believe that there exists an additional method to enable greyscale in Developer Options if you have that enabled.
- bengale 3y ago
  Yeah I don’t disagree. But on the whole I think it gets you a long way towards it without the cons of having two devices for example.
  - dotancohen 3y ago
    Alright, I just spent the entire day on greyscale yesterday to check. I think that I suffered more eyestrain than usual, mostly because I could not tell icons and other UI elements apart. Yet I don't have this issue on the E-Ink device, interestingly, even though I use many of the same apps e.g. Telegram. I would say that the difference is due to the reflective vs radiative screen, not the greyscale palette.
    - bengale 3y ago
      Maybe it's a mismatch in requirements. For me, I move it into greyscale to give my monkey brain less reason to want to play with it. The intention when it's enabled is that if I need to set a timer or jot down a note that I don't get sucked into the device. When I'm done in a deep work mode, I switch it back to normal screen. So for me, the whole point is I won't be using it enough to notice eye strain or something like that. If I'm messaging or doing something the device is designed for, it's a benefit for me to be able to have it in full fidelity.

pentaphobe 3y ago

This sounds pretty great, how do you achieve it?

paulmd 3y ago
Shortcuts, presumably
- MBCook 3y ago
  Nope. All features of focus modes alone, I think.
  - bengale 3y ago
    Just the greyscale needs a shortcut automation.
    - MBCook 3y ago
      Oh I didn’t catch that part. It makes sense that wouldn’t be available by default as a focus option.
      - bengale 3y ago
        There are a few system options in focus states but not this. I’d like to see them expand it for more of these low distraction techniques.

btbuildem 3y ago

Could you share how you set that up? Sounds effective.

bengale 3y ago
Most of it is just in focus modes settings: alerts, notifications and things like that. For greyscale you use shortcuts. There’s an automation tab, you set up on a focus mode being enabled then “set color filters on” and then the opposite for that focus mode being disabled.
- btbuildem 3y ago
  Good to know! Thanks for sharing.
romeoblade 3y ago
For me I use the accessibility shortcut, three presses of the side button pops up a menu so I can select color filters (grey scale) and reduce white point (80% is my default). I enable both when I am reading. It's really helped eye strain when I'm reading.

dotancohen 3y ago

I've been experimenting with greyscale on my Android phone, it is nowhere near the comfort level of real E-Ink.

lostmsu 3y ago
How did you do that?
- dotancohen 3y ago
  On Samsung devices, there's is an option under the Accessibility menu. Then go to something like "Improve Display" (mine is in Hebrew, so that is a rough translation that might not be exact) and then "Customize Colours" (again, rough translation). Additionally, I believe that there exists an additional method to enable greyscale in Developer Options if you have that enabled.
bengale 3y ago
Yeah I don’t disagree. But on the whole I think it gets you a long way towards it without the cons of having two devices for example.
- dotancohen 3y ago
  Alright, I just spent the entire day on greyscale yesterday to check. I think that I suffered more eyestrain than usual, mostly because I could not tell icons and other UI elements apart. Yet I don't have this issue on the E-Ink device, interestingly, even though I use many of the same apps e.g. Telegram. I would say that the difference is due to the reflective vs radiative screen, not the greyscale palette.
  - bengale 3y ago
    Maybe it's a mismatch in requirements. For me, I move it into greyscale to give my monkey brain less reason to want to play with it. The intention when it's enabled is that if I need to set a timer or jot down a note that I don't get sucked into the device. When I'm done in a deep work mode, I switch it back to normal screen. So for me, the whole point is I won't be using it enough to notice eye strain or something like that. If I'm messaging or doing something the device is designed for, it's a benefit for me to be able to have it in full fidelity.