16 ms·

My year with a distraction-free iPhone

286 points by wallflower 12y ago

illicium 12y ago
Or just turn off mobile data and Wi-Fi. Re-enable when you have time to kill for social media.
rdl 12y ago
I'm usually at my desk at home or the office, or in bed, or some other place with a real computer, or doing something I actually want to be doing, or driving. In none of those situations do I want my phone. In the remaining cases of "waiting for something but not equipped with a full sized computer", I'm quite happy to use the phone. The greater problem is "spending time doing less-productive stuff on the Internet" -- I just prefer doing so with a real computer.
craigds 12y ago
I haven't gone as far as this guy, but I recently removed Facebook and Twitter from my Android phone and it's been a breath of fresh air. I still use both apps via their websites when I've got my laptop out, but not having them in my pocket all the time is really freeing. You don't realise how much of a slave you are to these things until you force yourself to let them go. I waste a lot less time on my phone now. Wouldn't go back.
- collyw 12y ago
  One of the reasons I refused to get a smartphone a few years back, was because all I saw people do was use them as a distraction. Facebook at the bus stop. Facebook in a seminar. I now own a smartphone. Refused to put Facebook on it. I also make a point when going on holiday not to use internet, unless I need to. I have been to some stunning places in the Hymalayas, with scenery like nowhere else, and you see the internet cafes full of westerners, updating their facebook status. Did you really need to pay for the flight to do that?
  - glogla 12y ago
    Maybe not. But having maps in unfamiliar territory (like Bangkok Chinatown) which also works as a camera and can replace sketchy internet cafes for booking tickets and contact people home ... As with fire, smartphone is a great servant but terrible master.
corv 12y ago
I think going so far as to disable Safari outright and deleting email accounts is too extreme but I definitely agree that most Apps are counterproductive. It's important to moderate use of addictive services that provide a stream of instant gratification like facebook, twitter, reddit, 9gag, pinterest, etc. The first step is being conscious of excessive use.
- blutoot 12y ago
  Instead of disabling the browser completely it would probably be more prudent to use a white-list of websites which the iPhone allows as well: Restriction -> Websites -> Specific Websites Only
  - corv 12y ago
    That's useful, didn't know about that. I would rather be able to change the hosts file tho and while I'm blacklisting sites I'd also get rid of ads.
  - hnriot 12y ago
    or just exercise some self control! I don't have to hide the kitchen knives in case I stab guests... It's not that's hard to ignore an icon.
    - lutusp 12y ago
      > It's not that's hard to ignore an icon. That depends on the icon: http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131127043932/marvelmovies/images/7/79/207_741.jpg http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131127043932/marvelmovi...
    - blutoot 12y ago
      It doesn't work for me - I've tried. Self-control works really well for me when the task at hand is really interesting and I want to give my everything to it. I don't know about you but so far those tasks haven't come to me at a regular pace. And I tend to seek out these online distractions as a diversion tactic when the task I'm supposed to be working on is really boring or uninteresting. So it's all about one's personality.
fjk 12y ago
In a similar vein, I almost always have my phone set to silent without vibrate. This small change has made a huge difference in my interaction with my phone. I reach for it less and just generally think about it less. The downside is people are sometimes annoyed at me not reacting to calls/messages immediately. I should probably experiment with the iOS Do Not Disturb feature, but it hasn't been too big of an issue so I've put it on the back burner.
- blutoot 12y ago
  I used Do Not Disturb a lot during the peak hours of my dissertation writing. It was pretty helpful. That of course means I would miss new emails and phone calls but those could be responded to later
- deleted 12y ago
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- ja27 12y ago
  Same here. I set my main ringtone to silence and only a few contacts can actually ring my phone. I disable almost all notifications and my phone's on do-not-disturb from 10-7 every night. Maybe my laptop needs a hosts file to block "infinite" sites. Of course, I'm on one right now...
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    The inability to selectively enable (rather than individually blacklist) contacts, and specify a do-not-disturb block, are two of the most significant disadvantages of going to a flip phone I've encountered. My compromise is to simply leave it off much of the time.
- baddox 12y ago
  Why turn the ringer completely off? Surely it's worth getting "distracted" by communication from friends and family. The only reason I can see this as a good idea is if you get a lot of bogus calls, or you know people who call/text you a ton.
blutoot 12y ago
You know what would make my life really distraction-free? Ban Hacker News on every device I have access to for a prolonged period :)
- corv 12y ago
  I haven't found HN to be a particularly bad offender. The front page doesn't change quickly enough to require excessive attention.
  - ljosa 12y ago
    That doesn't mean that you can't switch to it between every line of code and hit reload, just in case there is something new.
  - afro88 12y ago
    My issue lies with the content weight on hacker news - a lot of posts require 3 mins+ to read and grok, potentially explore related concepts/sites, and maybe even try out a product. I'd say about 50% of the posts on HN interest me enough to warrant this kind of attention. Then of course you have to read the comments ;) This can eat away a serious amount of time! It also doesn't help that this time can be labelled as "productive" in my mind (as opposed to Facebook etc), when in reality there are more productive things to be doing in these moments.
- Gracana 12y ago
  HN does have the cryptic 'noprocrast/minaway/maxaway' settings in your profile that can help with this. I haven't tried them yet, though maybe I should.
- lutusp 12y ago
  Your plan seems not to be working. :)
- gurkendoktor 12y ago
  Life is good with noprocrast=yes and minaway=1000 in your profile. I can read HN exactly once a day. :)
bushido 12y ago
I did something similar. All I had to do was use a Blackberry 9900 as my primary phone. I did not have to disable anything. I primarily use it for emails, calls and SMS. Those are also the only things that seem to work. When travelling out of town I usually carry my backup devices as well(iPhone/Nexus)to find directions etc.
Gracana 12y ago
As someone who owns a dumb flip phone, it's funny to read someone's enthusiastic account of their life-changing experience of... living exactly the way I do. But on the other hand, I get it. This sort of thing (facebook, hacker news, freaking imgur) sucks up so much of my time (albeit on the desktop), and for what? Occasional interesting tidbits, and frequent annoyance and frustration? Some of it is straight-up bad for me, no way around it, but the amusing little bits keep pulling me back. imgur is the worst one for me... the community is unmoderated and uncoordinated, it's a pile of least-common-denominator bs that's as bad as anything on reddit ever was, and yet the only way I've been able to break away from it is to block myself from viewing it.
- deleted 12y ago
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- ggreer 12y ago
  A stripped-down smartphone has quite a few advantages over a dumbphone. Notice which apps are installed: Google Maps, subway maps, Rdio, Uber, Instacart. As he says, these things are like living in the future.
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    It's still really hard to get around the privacy invasions of a smartphone, though. I'd like something without GPS and for which I can completely control the OS and environment. CyanogenMod seems to be as close as I'm likely to get to that at present.
    - kissickas 12y ago
      Any phone's location can still be tracked by cell tower. From whom are you trying to get privacy?
      - dredmorbius 12y ago
        If the phone's off, that's going to be less useful. And the tower-tracking location granularity's much lower than GPS Though I don't know what the reporting intervals are. Some smartphones (or their apps) were reporting location data every 10 seconds, with accuracy measured within a few feet. Can't find that article at the moment, though another reports that location information is logged "at least several times an hour": http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703983704576277101723453610 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405274870398370... Here: "In a six-month period — from Aug 31, 2009, to Feb. 28, 2010, Deutsche Telekom had recorded and saved his longitude and latitude coordinates more than 35,000 times." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/media/26privacy.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/media/26privacy.h... That's every 7.5 minutes. I only wish I knew who I was hiding from ;-)
Schwolop 12y ago
The original article from a year ago: https://medium.com/@jakek/the-distraction-free-iphone-or-why-im-happier-since-i-disabled-safari-80f8d525b0d8 https://medium.com/@jakek/the-distraction-free-iphone-or-why... (to be perfectly honest, there's not much there that isn't in the one-year-later recap)
deleted 12y ago
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deft 12y ago
Why doesn't this guy (or anyone else like him) get a non-smartphone. I have a BlackBerry10 device and rarely use apps. Partly because the platform was missing many big name apps, but mostly because I don't want or need such things. I really don't understand why this guy has an iPhone.
- lucaspiller 12y ago
  As another commenter said, look at the apps he has Google Maps, Uber, Rdio etc... The only thing I'd be completely lost without would be Google Maps, but I had that on S60.
  - collyw 12y ago
    Sometimes I end up completely lost because of Google Maps. Or like the other night, the phone decides to run so frustratingly slow its hardly worth using. Now there was a time in the distant past where we didn't have smartphones for directions. People used maps. Here in Barcelona, every bus stop has a big map of the whole city on it.
warriar 12y ago
I would have commented on this but I made my iPad distration free and now its only good for serving coffe anymore! So I am not really using it right now for reading this blogpost and I am not really commenting on this right now, sorry :(
pocketstar 12y ago
I have a now 4 year old iPhone 4. It is incredibly slow, crippled by ios 7.1, so slow that Facebook is useless and I only use safari when I really need to look up something. I call it my Comm, because that is what I use it for, communication. iMessages, Whatsapp, FB messenger, hangouts all work relatively well. My iPhone is essential distraction free because it is too slow to distract me, ill look up while waiting, talk to someone, even meditate while waiting for my iPhone to load.
- colmvp 12y ago
  How is your battery? I figure at four years it's got to be pretty bad. I have an old iPhone 5 and my biggest blocker is the fact that the battery can only last a few hours at most with minimal usage, which makes it an absolutely pain to travel as one is away from charger most of the time. In fact, the only reason why I'd upgrade to a new phone is because I can't stand having it die so easily.
  - jws 12y ago
    Many old iPhone 5 batteries are covered under a no cost replacement. Check your serial number here. https://ssl.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/ https://ssl.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/ Both mine and my daughter's were covered. Our run time had suffered and our battery gauges had become mostly insane.
    - colmvp 12y ago
      HOLY CRAP. Thank you! I am eligible and I suffered the exact frustration you've mentioned.
  - deleted 12y ago
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  - johnpowell 12y ago
    No clue about the iPhone 5. But I replaced the battery in my 4 and it was ten bucks for a new battery and about as many minutes. Pretty much two screws and my key to my apartment.
wmboy 12y ago
A tip I got from Perry Marshall was to put productive apps on your home screen, and throw apps like Facebook, Instagram etc at the back of your phone. For example, by only leaving apps like Kindle, Audible, or Bible on my home screen, I'm much more likely to do something productive when I'm looking to fill in a few minutes waiting somewhere, rather than checking Facebook which will be a waste of time.
simplexion 12y ago
I'm going to only allow the use of notepad on my PC. I will have all the productivity. Wait... typewriter.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  You'd be surprised. There's a reason full-screen / distraction-free editors are so popular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-screen_writing_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-screen_writing_program http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-peace-distractionfree-editors-si/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-peace-distractionfree-edi... I've found Readability and my own nearly 1200 local CSS hacks for more distraction-free Web browsing are also somewhat useful.
Bahamut 12y ago
I take a harder tract - I used to force myself stay away from my cellphone and put social interactions first. I also stay away from installing many apps intentionally. My phone is always on silent out of politeness - no call/email/etc. is important enough to mandate my attention if I am already preoccupied. I think it's a good way to live. Your friends/acquaintances/etc. that you are with should be the most important people in your life at that moment. When at work, your work is your most important point of focus (unless it's your wife/kids/etc. - family or friends of great significance). It also is generally good to try to control addictions. In a way, it's about controlling your life, and not letting the phone control you.
ashishbharthi 12y ago
I have some eye complications like dry eyes and due to this my doctor advised me cut down use of smartphone as much as I can. My first thought was to just get a feature phone and dump smartphone altogether. But there are few things about smartphone that I can not really give up now. 1. Maps - maps come in very handy at times when you are stuck in some unknown area and want to find way home. 2. Browser - to be able to check anything on the web is also very important to me. 3. Access to online storage and email. Basically I gave up all social media, all smartphone gaming and other unwanted apps and use smartphone for basic internet access device. I have cut down my smartphone usage from 3 hours a day to about half an hour a day.
hmottestad 12y ago
I have partially made my iphone more distraction free. I have a script that runs at 5:30 pm and then at 6 am that disables email and enables email again in the morning before work. The script uses phantomjs to log into my webmail and change my password, then changes it back again to enable email.
dlevine 12y ago
I removed Safari and Email from my iPhone a while ago. It's great - I find that I usually just use them as time wasters. I actually had a flip phone before that, but I prefer the iPhone with distractions disabled.
SCdF 12y ago
So I've gone the other way: everything that is distracting (fb, twitter, reddit, ideally HN but android apps suck for this) is on my phone. Then, my computer is for work, and my phone is for being bored. That way (in theory) there is no reason to be logged into timesinks on my computer, so I can use it without distraction.
- vog 12y ago
  You just have to be careful that this won't cause a boredom loop: https://xkcd.com/1411/ https://xkcd.com/1411/
- gurkendoktor 12y ago
  I think this also makes a great use case for an iPad. I have hosts-blocked all time sinks on my Mac, and unlike on my iPhone, I don't even have much time to use my iPad. I do miss the convenience of a physical keyboard in FB discussions, though...
  - matthew-wegner 12y ago
    There are a bunch of iPad cover/keyboard covers out there (they're Bluetooth): http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Ultrathin-Keyboard-Cover-White/dp/B00EZ9XG62/ http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Ultrathin-Keyboard-Cover-Whit...
  - tshaddox 12y ago
    That's exactly what I use my iPad for. It's the perfect device for frivolous web browsing, YouTube watching, Twitter/Facebook, etc.
    - swah 12y ago
      But every visit to the bathroom takes around 30 minutes!
  - vishnugupta 12y ago
    This is exactly how I use my tablet as well. Pocket + Tablet combination has worked wonders for me!
maximilianburke 12y ago
I was away at a friends cabin about a month ago. Sitting on a lawn chair on their dock I shifted and my Nexus 4 fell out of my pocket, bounced off the dock, and into the lake. When I got back home I popped the SIM card into my old iPhone 3GS and have been experiencing a similar smartphone underload. I updated the apps I needed to, mostly 2-factor software tokens for VPN and my Google account, and realized that I wasn't missing much of my Nexus 4. I did try to save the phone with a couple handfuls of dessicant packets but it never successfully got past the bootloader screen. But that's fine with me, I am in no hurry to replace it.
- rcush 12y ago
  I acquired a Nexus 4 from a friend after it had fallen into a (clean) toilet. She sent it to me to attempt to fix, and I too started with silica gel, moved onto placing it near the boiler, and eventually set it beside a dehumidifier. After a couple of weeks the phone appeared bone dry, but I couldn't get past the boot screen. Fast forward six months of the Nexus 4 sitting in a drawer forgotten about. I took it out and charged it. Amazingly, the phone now works 100%.
khitchdee 12y ago
The gold standard for smartphones for battery life is all day use -- people use them for that long. For something that you carry that's way too much.
kareemm 12y ago
Tried this, and one of the big difficulties is that I send email to my todo list manager to create todos ("pick up milk", "Email person about important_thing"). I don't want to give this up, but can't find an app that only sends email. So when I opened Mail to send a todo email, I'd see all the new emails that were begging to be read. I could create a new email account that I use for sending only, but that seems like a pain. Anybody seen an iOS app that sends email, but doesn't check it?
- sgibat 12y ago
  Is it really that much of a pain? It only takes a few minutes.
- tboerstad 12y ago
  Maybe you could set up a google number, and send text messages instead of email. Apparently google can forward the text message to your email. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/160203?hl=en https://support.google.com/voice/answer/160203?hl=en
- vindia 12y ago
  You could use something like Captio or Squarespace Note (see http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/open-write-and-send-5-alternative-note-apps-for-ios-devices/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/open-write-and-send-5-alternati...)
- BrandonM 12y ago
  Couldn't you use a dedicated todo app like Remember the Milk?
  - kareemm 12y ago
    I use Goodtodo but emailing in todos is faster than using the native app. Couldn't find any apps that worked so ended up creating a receive-only account that gets no email and using that as my incoming account. My outgoing account is my normal Gmail account. Will be interesting to see how things go without email on my phone.
quadrangle 12y ago
Just go with OmniROM (Android community build) and don't install the Google Apps. BAM. Useful phone, as free as reasonable doable, useful stuff from F-Droid, but no ginormous bunch of every latest gizmo and you get more freedom and privacy.
gnu8 12y ago
Bloggings like these come up semi-regularly, and I sometimes wonder if they're just designed to troll people into deleting all the apps from their phone.
- stinos 12y ago
  I rather think they are from people who finally realized living for your phone is a worse living experience than just living and using it when needed - or in other words, don't stretch the meaning of 'needed'
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  Taking an electronics break really does change your view on things. Amazing how much isn't necessary. This comment included ;-)
vpj 12y ago
I dropped and broke my nexus 4. Now with a small dumb phone, a notebook and a mechanical pencil. Feels kind of good that the phone broke.
gurkendoktor 12y ago
I wonder if people keep a gazillion time sinks on their home screens is that they've paid $500 to be part of the smartphone club, and reducing its "use" would cause buyer's regret. I think I am somewhat guilty of that on my iPad.
- mrweasel 12y ago
  Maybe, it would explain why people spend $500 - $1000 on an phone and use it almost solely as camera, gaming, Facebook platform. Honestly, as useful as smartphones are, you'll have a hard time justifing the price, unless you have so special use case. Luckily my iPad was a gift, otherwise I would feel cheated. I often try to browse the web, but after a few minutes I get frustrated and switch to a laptop. In my mind the iPad is a useability nightmare, it's only good for a few well designed casual games (and may reading, if you don't have a Kindle). For anything else, including browsing and email, it's quicker and more comfortable to just get out the laptop.
superasn 12y ago
I think the biggest problem with the smartphone are the PUSH notifications. Disable them and your life becomes instantly better. If deleting apps is a big leap for you then I think disabling all push notifications is the second best thing you can do.
- pelario 12y ago
  The "Infinity" problem is more general. I have no notifications, but a browser is equally troublesome...
- relate 12y ago
  I couldn't agree more, it makes a huge difference - especially for e-mail.
- burtonmiller 12y ago
  Push is great for messages that are both timely and relevant. A lot of app-makers don't seem to get this.
iuguy 12y ago
Does anyone find it odd that the author talks about distraction free, removing things and then uses an iOS app to meditate on the bus?
- geden 12y ago
  No. Meditation is also about controlling distraction.
  - nicky0 12y ago
    But surely you can meditate on the bus without needing an app.
    - nicholassmith 12y ago
      I think the point is it helps make it easier to achieve the desired state, which makes it worthwhile having on his phone in his 'select' pick of apps.
iLoch 12y ago
I wanted to try a similar experiment, but more extreme in that I'd get rid of my iPhone in favour of a pager. I decided this was probably too much of a hassle and would cause me more problems than it solved. (I use my phone to gain access to accounts on my computer, etc. using two factor authentication so quitting smart phones cold turkey isn't really an option for me after all.)
jackbauer 12y ago
after my samsung galaxy S3 died (DOA) I reverted to an old sony ericsson W810i. Back to when a phone was just a phone. I am absolutely loving it. My next phone will probably be an iPhone 5s, but seriously, having a phone that is just a phone is so great.
deleted 12y ago
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nicholassmith 12y ago
I had my iPad replaced recently, had some issues restoring it as my backup state was inconsistent and ended up going for a full 'clean' device. It was interesting, for the first 4 weeks I had barely any apps on there outside of Kindle, Instapaper and Tweetbot. I used it about the same amount of time, but generally I'd focus on one thing for longer periods of time. I'm tempted to go down that route when I get a new iPhone this month, sounds like it's worked well for other people.
konole 12y ago
I know it's a bit off-topic but has anyone got a link to this wallpaper? It's just beautiful.
- lutusp 12y ago
  If I could locate the wallpaper you're describing, chances are I could find a link. What wallpaper?
  - bx_ 12y ago
    @konole probably means the wallpaper in the screenshots in the original article: https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*8cXiIn88RzqO0CTHy6T3uA.png https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*8cXiIn88Rzq...
    - lutusp 12y ago
      Thanks! Getting a clean image of that might be more difficult than I thought.
      - bx_ 12y ago
        yeah, GIS comes back with nothing...
Nib 12y ago
I'm doing this thing... So, this was the last post I made on HN using my iPhone...
thomasfoster96 12y ago
I probably should do this. I keep on coming up with strategies for deciding which apps to keep on my phone and which I should delete, but I can't ever stick to one.
pqs 12y ago
My strategy is to disable notifications. Thus, I only open the apps when I choose to (WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.). Apps that are specially addictive belong to the second screen, in a folder (Twitter, etc.). This way I have much more control over my phone habits.
BasDirks 12y ago
"Over the last 12 months I’ve learned to enjoy (or at least, be OK with) moments of boredom. I reach for my phone a lot less often. It’s probably just my imagination, but it feels like it’s easier to concentrate when I need to get things done or tackle a big project. Times on the bus when I would’ve checked email, I listen to music or just look around. I even started meditating on the bus (yes, really! And, uh… please don’t mug me) using an app called Calm." Is this satire? Meditating using an app, the conquest of boredom, the gain in productivity/focus.
- collyw 12y ago
  I had a similar thought, but for begging meditation it is helpful to be "guided".
throwawayMGWC 12y ago
(Posting using a throwaway as I changed my noprocrast settings in HN as mentioned in these comments and ironically blocked my account for the day!) Somewhat related, I've come to a similar conclusion myself recently but via app fatigue instead. I've been running a Windows Phone for over a year now, and although I loved the OS, constant remarks regarding the app gap made me wonder if I was missing out on the full smartphone experience. Thus I obtained a Samsung Galaxy and logged into my old Android account, eagerly anticipating all those exciting apps I'd soon have access to at my fingertips. Going thought the Play Store was a great experience - Instagram, SnapChat, Yo, etc. - I installed every hyped app like I was on a crazed shopping spree. This included apps that simply replicated a web experience, e.g. Amazon Shopping, Quora, and even Go Daddy (in case I ever wanted to check my domain renewal status while out and about!) The first week or so was exciting, I was in thrall of all the things I could potentially do with my phone and how (by some unknown means) these apps would help me live my life. However as the weeks went on I found that even though I had all these apps, I simply didn't use them. I realised that just having the technology available isn't enough, you have to have a want and need for it. From this experience I've recognised what I personally need from a smartphone. For me it's about a good camera, music player, calendar, and a way to directly and privately communicate with my friends and family. Add to this a few key apps, covering transport/maps, gym, ebooks, podcasts, etc., and I'm good to go. I now have a Nokia Lumia on its way to me in the post. I won't have the latest hot apps, but that's okay. And when the next big app does come around, hopefully at some point it will come to my platform, and if not I'll happily just get on with my work.
- losvedir 12y ago
  That's an interesting idea. I'd never considered Windows Mobile before, but since I, too, don't really need much in the way of apps (just the ones you mention), maybe I should look into it. Any idea how well a Windows mobile phone can integrate with a household that's predominantly Mac?
  - throwawayMGWC 12y ago
    Works well for me! I guess most integration would be fine - email, calendar and so on. There are WP alternatives for most services, i.e. OneDrive for cloud syncing, etc. - however iTunes, iCloud and so on could be an issue. It could be MS's new marketing angle - "come to Windows Phone, we don't have any apps, and that's a good thing" :)
yason 12y ago
I have a feature phone that comes with a crappy enough Java ME based Google Maps that is just enough to save me from trouble when I really do need directions yet none of the things on the phone is something I could just play with. Thus, I just use it for calls and texting, and for Google Maps if really needed. I need to charge it once a week and for all I care it just works. My employer provides me with a smartphone as a work benefit but I mostly use it as a small tablet for reading stuff in bed. The battery is often out of juice, too.
bx_ 12y ago
I've done the same thing with my Android but I didn't consider it all that revolutionary. I just like a clean looking phone. Using Atom Launcher I can adjust the 'dock' (around the launcher icon) to slide left and right rather than the home pages. It's a much less distracting experience. Screenshot: http://jmp.sh/JZIZ12q http://jmp.sh/JZIZ12q
pseudonym 12y ago
Seems oddly backwards to me, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. If I've bought and am paying for a phone that costs a significant fraction of my computer, it seems like a waste not to use it for that purpose. You can make the argument that disconnecting to a point, or for a period of time, is a good thing, but intentionally crippling your hardware because you can't resist the temptation of having it there seems like it would be better solved by forming better habits in the first place. It just seems like it would be on par with buying a brand new computer to get your writing done, then installing DOS because the web browser was just too alluring. All that said, I ended up taking this to the opposite extreme: I've set up my phone to be cross-linked into as many work-related systems as possible, so that I can take better advantage of those little "in-between" moments during my work days. Build's compiling? Get an alert when it's done. Waiting for a coworker to get out of a meeting? Get an alert when they ping your name in IRC/Skype/GChat. Not having to sit in front of my computer waiting for asynchronous blockers to resolve means I can retreat to the porch, or the living room, or the park up the street, without having to worry about coming back to find something's on fire. Additional apps allow for limited on-the-go debugging, interfacing with systems and the like, so that I can continue being away from my computer if the situation isn't severe enough to require my actual physical presence at a keyboard and larger screen.
digitalsurgeon 12y ago
I used to work for a mobile company, I used to get new phone every other week, it drove me crazy... Now I carry no phone with me at all. But I don't go around telling people that I am better than them, because I have no phone or that I have a "distraction" free iPhone, an iPhone is still a hell of a distracting gadget.
- bryanlarsen 12y ago
  Funnily enough, your comment comes off as more self-righteous and more of a humble brag than the original article.
  - digitalsurgeon 12y ago
    Yes, I realised it myself as I was typing my remarks. But this is third time I have come across this guy and his experiment.
eyeareque 12y ago
This world of having a computer in your pocket with an always on Internet connection is still new to us, even 5 years in. I wonder what our culture will choose as an acceptable and healthy way to deal with this new world. As it stands now people are way too hooked to theirs phones, and cannot even concentrate without them. I don't Facebook, Instagram, twitter, or any of that nonsense, but I'm still hooked to my phone and need a break. I might give this a shot.
eyeareque 12y ago
Today I went to lunch by myself and forgot my phone at home. It was very boring and I really didn't know what to do with myself. It made me realize how terribly addicted to my phone that I am. I need a break for this always connected world.
truebosko 12y ago
This is cute. Anyways, I've adjusted my phone so it's less of a pest as well. Mostly in two ways: 1) Downloaded Silence for Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.epsilonlabs.silence.ads&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.epsilonlab...). This let's me adjust triggers for putting the phone in silent mode. For the weekdays, I set it to be silent from 10pm until 6:30am. 2) At work, I silent my phone as well. No need to get Facebook notifications during thinking time. This leaves my phone with a few hours each day to yell at me. The mornings, and the early evening (but I put my phone away for dinner anyways). It gives me a few moments each day to check notifications from services like Facebook, see Google Now reminders, and that's about it. When friends need to contact me, they text, call, or chat me. If my phone is silent when they do, such is life.
uokyas 12y ago
What? this is forth in hacker news, that is the most over rated accomplishment i ever heard. So you bought an iPhone instead of the old ones, to have the additional features that it provides, and then you don't use it, and call it an accomplishment. That is non sense.
aneeskA 12y ago
I have a brilliant (!) suggestion - don't bother uninstalling anything. Just don't enable data or wifi in the phone!
- zobzu 12y ago
  I actually have mail, firefox, etc on my android phone. and data. but i turn off notifications for almost everything. i rarely ever check mail on my phone unless i really need it (which is like 10 times a year). Same for the rest. What I use most of the time: - texting (specially for meeting/bar/etc) - maps (directions, traffic...) - booking (plane/train/etc while on the go) - making pictures - listening to music (sometimes) yeah.. thats it. I use the other apps less than once a month... I do use email, web, etc on the laptop tho (which i do not carry with me unless its work hours) I find it a lot better this way, and in fact, past the initial experience of having a smartphone some years ago, i never really used it any other way. i dont get the addiction ppl get with the phone games (they're fucking terrible) and non-stop checking notifications (its horrible)
ommunist 12y ago
The guy just bought the wrong phone. Nokia 1100 could save him a lot of money and bring a life changing experience - the monochrome screen! I kid you not. And it has superior battery life.
- wyclif 12y ago
  If you want an elegant feature phone, I'd recommend the Nokia 515. It's sleek, has 1 month standby time, 5 MP camera, decent antenna/speakerphone, send/receive texts, basic email functionality and ultra-basic web access. It's the perfect "sensible" phone and was designed to fill that need: http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/515/ http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/515/
- fractalsea 12y ago
  It wasn't his aim to have no apps, just apps that are distracting and time-wasting. For example, he says that he likes having useful apps like Google and Uber installed. This is the same view that I have towards my smartphone, although I still have FB installed because sometimes I really need it to communicate with friends on messenger.
computerjunkie 12y ago
During my visit to South Africa and Zimbabwe, I realised that we take internet for granted In Europe and America. All my colleagues who work there generally have 3 to 4 (maximum) applications on their smartphone and they never constantly look at their phone all the time. Data is ridiculously expensive there and watching Youtube videos regularly is a non starter. Unlimited internet is pricy because its still new so everybody purchases bundles. Just using you smartphone there teaches if you really want to spend x amount of data on a short video clip. It made me realise that I had to make a change. I depend on the internet/technology and I personally think that's scary. I'm gradually cutting out applications, I think the big shift from being connected to not being connected would just cause a relapse. Right now Twitter,Facebook, HN are not on my smartphone anymore and I feel much better already. I have a lot more time now and its quite shocking how people are still productive these days with the insert next trending application coming out every week.
lukethomas 12y ago
Up until 6 months ago, I used a flip-phone because I didn't want the distractions that I noticed with friends (constantly checking Facebook, Twitter, etc.) I finally gave in when I moved and would constantly get lost (I needed maps). I really like this article, but I see opportunity in short digital breaks. The truth is that the majority of people won't delete infinity apps. They don't have the self-control to do it. That's why I'm building an app (Android-only) to temporarily disable distracting apps. You can check it out, I'd love feedback -> http://www.digitaldetoxapp.com http://www.digitaldetoxapp.com
- mcjiggerlog 12y ago
  Looks great! Will we be able to choose which applications we are allowed to use? For example, everybody I know uses whatsapp exclusively for messaging so my phone would be pretty useless with SMS only.
  - lukethomas 12y ago
    For the first version, it only allows calling/texting - however, I'm going to have WhatsApp whitelisted because I know it's a popular messenger replacement :) In the future, I'd love to give people different "packages" (ie. - Uber, Lyft, Instacard, etc) as not all apps are distracting.
iffyuva 12y ago
i dont have an iphone, but have an andriod one. i generally turn off internet. so, i can't browse, and i can't install new apps. i mostly use it for attending calls.
mongemalo 12y ago
I love minimalism, but I see having self-control as a better option than spending 500$ in a device you are not going to allow yourself to use.
r_singh 12y ago
“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” -- by social scientist, Herbert A. Simon. Keeping our phone distraction free will definitely make us attention rich and free us from the information pollution that we're getting used to. If not a distraction free smartphone, we should probably make better decisions about what information we choose to spend our attention on.
EGreg 12y ago
We are doing our small part to help. I sometimes post about my company working on the next big "social platform". And we are trying to do things RIGHT - open source, fully distributed (while respecting CAP theorem), people own their own data, etc. So when it comes to notifications, like in every other area we want to encourage the apps to use "best practices" and only notify people of what they really WOULD want to know about. That means turning down the "slot machine" factor and handing over control over notifications to the people. To do this, we needed to design a standard, expressive interface and "language" that people could use in any app across the platform to quickly indicate what they want. And here's an overview of how it works withte rest of the system: Every piece of data in Q (http://platform.qbix.com http://platform.qbix.com) is typically stored in a Stream. Which means things like access control (privacy), real time updates (like chat), offline notifications (delivered to any endpoints), etc. are all implemented by the system and available to the app for free. The user can fine tune notifications settings for any stream or type of stream, and each app can provide Rules with configurable settings and thresholds. For example, a "Groups/activity" published by a user who is in my contacts under a "Friends" or "Family" label and matching my interests would accumulate enough weight to bust through my notification threshhold for sending me an in-app notification, or an email, or an sms. At certain hours of night, my notificaion threshold goes up. When I get into my car, and start moving fast, my notification threshhold goes up until I get out of the car, so only the most urgent things distract me. And that red badge on the icon? It should earn your trust, like all interface elements it represents a relationship and shouldn't cry wolf. It should NOT show the number of messages waiting for you, but rather show the number of streams with "important" messages posted since you last checked that stream on ANY device. In short - there are lots of things to solve but they only have to be solved once. That's what we have been working on for over 3 years.
lowglow 12y ago
I actually killed all data and voice on my phone. It's the cool thing to do if you're looking to create something drastically new in the world. https://www.techendo.com/posts/how-i-killed-my-cellphone-plan https://www.techendo.com/posts/how-i-killed-my-cellphone-pla...

286 points by wallflower 12y ago

Or just turn off mobile data and Wi-Fi. Re-enable when you have time to kill for social media.

rdl 12y ago

I'm usually at my desk at home or the office, or in bed, or some other place with a real computer, or doing something I actually want to be doing, or driving. In none of those situations do I want my phone. In the remaining cases of "waiting for something but not equipped with a full sized computer", I'm quite happy to use the phone. The greater problem is "spending time doing less-productive stuff on the Internet" -- I just prefer doing so with a real computer.

craigds 12y ago

I haven't gone as far as this guy, but I recently removed Facebook and Twitter from my Android phone and it's been a breath of fresh air. I still use both apps via their websites when I've got my laptop out, but not having them in my pocket all the time is really freeing. You don't realise how much of a slave you are to these things until you force yourself to let them go. I waste a lot less time on my phone now. Wouldn't go back.

collyw 12y ago
One of the reasons I refused to get a smartphone a few years back, was because all I saw people do was use them as a distraction. Facebook at the bus stop. Facebook in a seminar. I now own a smartphone. Refused to put Facebook on it. I also make a point when going on holiday not to use internet, unless I need to. I have been to some stunning places in the Hymalayas, with scenery like nowhere else, and you see the internet cafes full of westerners, updating their facebook status. Did you really need to pay for the flight to do that?
- glogla 12y ago
  Maybe not. But having maps in unfamiliar territory (like Bangkok Chinatown) which also works as a camera and can replace sketchy internet cafes for booking tickets and contact people home ... As with fire, smartphone is a great servant but terrible master.

corv 12y ago

I think going so far as to disable Safari outright and deleting email accounts is too extreme but I definitely agree that most Apps are counterproductive. It's important to moderate use of addictive services that provide a stream of instant gratification like facebook, twitter, reddit, 9gag, pinterest, etc. The first step is being conscious of excessive use.

blutoot 12y ago
Instead of disabling the browser completely it would probably be more prudent to use a white-list of websites which the iPhone allows as well: Restriction -> Websites -> Specific Websites Only
- corv 12y ago
  That's useful, didn't know about that. I would rather be able to change the hosts file tho and while I'm blacklisting sites I'd also get rid of ads.
- hnriot 12y ago
  or just exercise some self control! I don't have to hide the kitchen knives in case I stab guests... It's not that's hard to ignore an icon.
  - lutusp 12y ago
    > It's not that's hard to ignore an icon. That depends on the icon: http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131127043932/marvelmovies/images/7/79/207_741.jpg http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131127043932/marvelmovi...
  - blutoot 12y ago
    It doesn't work for me - I've tried. Self-control works really well for me when the task at hand is really interesting and I want to give my everything to it. I don't know about you but so far those tasks haven't come to me at a regular pace. And I tend to seek out these online distractions as a diversion tactic when the task I'm supposed to be working on is really boring or uninteresting. So it's all about one's personality.

fjk 12y ago

In a similar vein, I almost always have my phone set to silent without vibrate. This small change has made a huge difference in my interaction with my phone. I reach for it less and just generally think about it less. The downside is people are sometimes annoyed at me not reacting to calls/messages immediately. I should probably experiment with the iOS Do Not Disturb feature, but it hasn't been too big of an issue so I've put it on the back burner.

blutoot 12y ago
I used Do Not Disturb a lot during the peak hours of my dissertation writing. It was pretty helpful. That of course means I would miss new emails and phone calls but those could be responded to later
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ja27 12y ago
Same here. I set my main ringtone to silence and only a few contacts can actually ring my phone. I disable almost all notifications and my phone's on do-not-disturb from 10-7 every night. Maybe my laptop needs a hosts file to block "infinite" sites. Of course, I'm on one right now...
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  The inability to selectively enable (rather than individually blacklist) contacts, and specify a do-not-disturb block, are two of the most significant disadvantages of going to a flip phone I've encountered. My compromise is to simply leave it off much of the time.
baddox 12y ago
Why turn the ringer completely off? Surely it's worth getting "distracted" by communication from friends and family. The only reason I can see this as a good idea is if you get a lot of bogus calls, or you know people who call/text you a ton.

blutoot 12y ago

You know what would make my life really distraction-free? Ban Hacker News on every device I have access to for a prolonged period :)

corv 12y ago
I haven't found HN to be a particularly bad offender. The front page doesn't change quickly enough to require excessive attention.
- ljosa 12y ago
  That doesn't mean that you can't switch to it between every line of code and hit reload, just in case there is something new.
- afro88 12y ago
  My issue lies with the content weight on hacker news - a lot of posts require 3 mins+ to read and grok, potentially explore related concepts/sites, and maybe even try out a product. I'd say about 50% of the posts on HN interest me enough to warrant this kind of attention. Then of course you have to read the comments ;) This can eat away a serious amount of time! It also doesn't help that this time can be labelled as "productive" in my mind (as opposed to Facebook etc), when in reality there are more productive things to be doing in these moments.
Gracana 12y ago
HN does have the cryptic 'noprocrast/minaway/maxaway' settings in your profile that can help with this. I haven't tried them yet, though maybe I should.
lutusp 12y ago
Your plan seems not to be working. :)
gurkendoktor 12y ago
Life is good with noprocrast=yes and minaway=1000 in your profile. I can read HN exactly once a day. :)

bushido 12y ago

I did something similar. All I had to do was use a Blackberry 9900 as my primary phone. I did not have to disable anything. I primarily use it for emails, calls and SMS. Those are also the only things that seem to work. When travelling out of town I usually carry my backup devices as well(iPhone/Nexus)to find directions etc.

Gracana 12y ago

As someone who owns a dumb flip phone, it's funny to read someone's enthusiastic account of their life-changing experience of... living exactly the way I do. But on the other hand, I get it. This sort of thing (facebook, hacker news, freaking imgur) sucks up so much of my time (albeit on the desktop), and for what? Occasional interesting tidbits, and frequent annoyance and frustration? Some of it is straight-up bad for me, no way around it, but the amusing little bits keep pulling me back. imgur is the worst one for me... the community is unmoderated and uncoordinated, it's a pile of least-common-denominator bs that's as bad as anything on reddit ever was, and yet the only way I've been able to break away from it is to block myself from viewing it.

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ggreer 12y ago
A stripped-down smartphone has quite a few advantages over a dumbphone. Notice which apps are installed: Google Maps, subway maps, Rdio, Uber, Instacart. As he says, these things are like living in the future.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  It's still really hard to get around the privacy invasions of a smartphone, though. I'd like something without GPS and for which I can completely control the OS and environment. CyanogenMod seems to be as close as I'm likely to get to that at present.
  - kissickas 12y ago
    Any phone's location can still be tracked by cell tower. From whom are you trying to get privacy?
    - dredmorbius 12y ago
      If the phone's off, that's going to be less useful. And the tower-tracking location granularity's much lower than GPS Though I don't know what the reporting intervals are. Some smartphones (or their apps) were reporting location data every 10 seconds, with accuracy measured within a few feet. Can't find that article at the moment, though another reports that location information is logged "at least several times an hour": http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703983704576277101723453610 http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405274870398370... Here: "In a six-month period — from Aug 31, 2009, to Feb. 28, 2010, Deutsche Telekom had recorded and saved his longitude and latitude coordinates more than 35,000 times." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/media/26privacy.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/business/media/26privacy.h... That's every 7.5 minutes. I only wish I knew who I was hiding from ;-)

Schwolop 12y ago

The original article from a year ago: https://medium.com/@jakek/the-distraction-free-iphone-or-why-im-happier-since-i-disabled-safari-80f8d525b0d8 https://medium.com/@jakek/the-distraction-free-iphone-or-why... (to be perfectly honest, there's not much there that isn't in the one-year-later recap)

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deft 12y ago

Why doesn't this guy (or anyone else like him) get a non-smartphone. I have a BlackBerry10 device and rarely use apps. Partly because the platform was missing many big name apps, but mostly because I don't want or need such things. I really don't understand why this guy has an iPhone.

lucaspiller 12y ago
As another commenter said, look at the apps he has Google Maps, Uber, Rdio etc... The only thing I'd be completely lost without would be Google Maps, but I had that on S60.
- collyw 12y ago
  Sometimes I end up completely lost because of Google Maps. Or like the other night, the phone decides to run so frustratingly slow its hardly worth using. Now there was a time in the distant past where we didn't have smartphones for directions. People used maps. Here in Barcelona, every bus stop has a big map of the whole city on it.

warriar 12y ago

I would have commented on this but I made my iPad distration free and now its only good for serving coffe anymore! So I am not really using it right now for reading this blogpost and I am not really commenting on this right now, sorry :(

pocketstar 12y ago

I have a now 4 year old iPhone 4. It is incredibly slow, crippled by ios 7.1, so slow that Facebook is useless and I only use safari when I really need to look up something. I call it my Comm, because that is what I use it for, communication. iMessages, Whatsapp, FB messenger, hangouts all work relatively well. My iPhone is essential distraction free because it is too slow to distract me, ill look up while waiting, talk to someone, even meditate while waiting for my iPhone to load.

colmvp 12y ago
How is your battery? I figure at four years it's got to be pretty bad. I have an old iPhone 5 and my biggest blocker is the fact that the battery can only last a few hours at most with minimal usage, which makes it an absolutely pain to travel as one is away from charger most of the time. In fact, the only reason why I'd upgrade to a new phone is because I can't stand having it die so easily.
- jws 12y ago
  Many old iPhone 5 batteries are covered under a no cost replacement. Check your serial number here. https://ssl.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/ https://ssl.apple.com/support/iphone5-battery/ Both mine and my daughter's were covered. Our run time had suffered and our battery gauges had become mostly insane.
  - colmvp 12y ago
    HOLY CRAP. Thank you! I am eligible and I suffered the exact frustration you've mentioned.
- deleted 12y ago
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- johnpowell 12y ago
  No clue about the iPhone 5. But I replaced the battery in my 4 and it was ten bucks for a new battery and about as many minutes. Pretty much two screws and my key to my apartment.

wmboy 12y ago

A tip I got from Perry Marshall was to put productive apps on your home screen, and throw apps like Facebook, Instagram etc at the back of your phone. For example, by only leaving apps like Kindle, Audible, or Bible on my home screen, I'm much more likely to do something productive when I'm looking to fill in a few minutes waiting somewhere, rather than checking Facebook which will be a waste of time.

simplexion 12y ago

I'm going to only allow the use of notepad on my PC. I will have all the productivity. Wait... typewriter.

dredmorbius 12y ago
You'd be surprised. There's a reason full-screen / distraction-free editors are so popular: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-screen_writing_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-screen_writing_program http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-peace-distractionfree-editors-si/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-peace-distractionfree-edi... I've found Readability and my own nearly 1200 local CSS hacks for more distraction-free Web browsing are also somewhat useful.

Bahamut 12y ago

I take a harder tract - I used to force myself stay away from my cellphone and put social interactions first. I also stay away from installing many apps intentionally. My phone is always on silent out of politeness - no call/email/etc. is important enough to mandate my attention if I am already preoccupied. I think it's a good way to live. Your friends/acquaintances/etc. that you are with should be the most important people in your life at that moment. When at work, your work is your most important point of focus (unless it's your wife/kids/etc. - family or friends of great significance). It also is generally good to try to control addictions. In a way, it's about controlling your life, and not letting the phone control you.

ashishbharthi 12y ago

I have some eye complications like dry eyes and due to this my doctor advised me cut down use of smartphone as much as I can. My first thought was to just get a feature phone and dump smartphone altogether. But there are few things about smartphone that I can not really give up now. 1. Maps - maps come in very handy at times when you are stuck in some unknown area and want to find way home. 2. Browser - to be able to check anything on the web is also very important to me. 3. Access to online storage and email. Basically I gave up all social media, all smartphone gaming and other unwanted apps and use smartphone for basic internet access device. I have cut down my smartphone usage from 3 hours a day to about half an hour a day.

hmottestad 12y ago

I have partially made my iphone more distraction free. I have a script that runs at 5:30 pm and then at 6 am that disables email and enables email again in the morning before work. The script uses phantomjs to log into my webmail and change my password, then changes it back again to enable email.

dlevine 12y ago

I removed Safari and Email from my iPhone a while ago. It's great - I find that I usually just use them as time wasters. I actually had a flip phone before that, but I prefer the iPhone with distractions disabled.

SCdF 12y ago

So I've gone the other way: everything that is distracting (fb, twitter, reddit, ideally HN but android apps suck for this) is on my phone. Then, my computer is for work, and my phone is for being bored. That way (in theory) there is no reason to be logged into timesinks on my computer, so I can use it without distraction.

vog 12y ago
You just have to be careful that this won't cause a boredom loop: https://xkcd.com/1411/ https://xkcd.com/1411/
gurkendoktor 12y ago
I think this also makes a great use case for an iPad. I have hosts-blocked all time sinks on my Mac, and unlike on my iPhone, I don't even have much time to use my iPad. I do miss the convenience of a physical keyboard in FB discussions, though...
- matthew-wegner 12y ago
  There are a bunch of iPad cover/keyboard covers out there (they're Bluetooth): http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Ultrathin-Keyboard-Cover-White/dp/B00EZ9XG62/ http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Ultrathin-Keyboard-Cover-Whit...
- tshaddox 12y ago
  That's exactly what I use my iPad for. It's the perfect device for frivolous web browsing, YouTube watching, Twitter/Facebook, etc.
  - swah 12y ago
    But every visit to the bathroom takes around 30 minutes!
- vishnugupta 12y ago
  This is exactly how I use my tablet as well. Pocket + Tablet combination has worked wonders for me!

maximilianburke 12y ago

I was away at a friends cabin about a month ago. Sitting on a lawn chair on their dock I shifted and my Nexus 4 fell out of my pocket, bounced off the dock, and into the lake. When I got back home I popped the SIM card into my old iPhone 3GS and have been experiencing a similar smartphone underload. I updated the apps I needed to, mostly 2-factor software tokens for VPN and my Google account, and realized that I wasn't missing much of my Nexus 4. I did try to save the phone with a couple handfuls of dessicant packets but it never successfully got past the bootloader screen. But that's fine with me, I am in no hurry to replace it.

rcush 12y ago
I acquired a Nexus 4 from a friend after it had fallen into a (clean) toilet. She sent it to me to attempt to fix, and I too started with silica gel, moved onto placing it near the boiler, and eventually set it beside a dehumidifier. After a couple of weeks the phone appeared bone dry, but I couldn't get past the boot screen. Fast forward six months of the Nexus 4 sitting in a drawer forgotten about. I took it out and charged it. Amazingly, the phone now works 100%.

khitchdee 12y ago

The gold standard for smartphones for battery life is all day use -- people use them for that long. For something that you carry that's way too much.

kareemm 12y ago

Tried this, and one of the big difficulties is that I send email to my todo list manager to create todos ("pick up milk", "Email person about important_thing"). I don't want to give this up, but can't find an app that only sends email. So when I opened Mail to send a todo email, I'd see all the new emails that were begging to be read. I could create a new email account that I use for sending only, but that seems like a pain. Anybody seen an iOS app that sends email, but doesn't check it?

sgibat 12y ago
Is it really that much of a pain? It only takes a few minutes.
tboerstad 12y ago
Maybe you could set up a google number, and send text messages instead of email. Apparently google can forward the text message to your email. https://support.google.com/voice/answer/160203?hl=en https://support.google.com/voice/answer/160203?hl=en
vindia 12y ago
You could use something like Captio or Squarespace Note (see http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/open-write-and-send-5-alternative-note-apps-for-ios-devices/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/open-write-and-send-5-alternati...)
BrandonM 12y ago
Couldn't you use a dedicated todo app like Remember the Milk?
- kareemm 12y ago
  I use Goodtodo but emailing in todos is faster than using the native app. Couldn't find any apps that worked so ended up creating a receive-only account that gets no email and using that as my incoming account. My outgoing account is my normal Gmail account. Will be interesting to see how things go without email on my phone.

quadrangle 12y ago

Just go with OmniROM (Android community build) and don't install the Google Apps. BAM. Useful phone, as free as reasonable doable, useful stuff from F-Droid, but no ginormous bunch of every latest gizmo and you get more freedom and privacy.

gnu8 12y ago

Bloggings like these come up semi-regularly, and I sometimes wonder if they're just designed to troll people into deleting all the apps from their phone.

stinos 12y ago
I rather think they are from people who finally realized living for your phone is a worse living experience than just living and using it when needed - or in other words, don't stretch the meaning of 'needed'
dredmorbius 12y ago
Taking an electronics break really does change your view on things. Amazing how much isn't necessary. This comment included ;-)

vpj 12y ago

I dropped and broke my nexus 4. Now with a small dumb phone, a notebook and a mechanical pencil. Feels kind of good that the phone broke.

gurkendoktor 12y ago

I wonder if people keep a gazillion time sinks on their home screens is that they've paid $500 to be part of the smartphone club, and reducing its "use" would cause buyer's regret. I think I am somewhat guilty of that on my iPad.

mrweasel 12y ago
Maybe, it would explain why people spend $500 - $1000 on an phone and use it almost solely as camera, gaming, Facebook platform. Honestly, as useful as smartphones are, you'll have a hard time justifing the price, unless you have so special use case. Luckily my iPad was a gift, otherwise I would feel cheated. I often try to browse the web, but after a few minutes I get frustrated and switch to a laptop. In my mind the iPad is a useability nightmare, it's only good for a few well designed casual games (and may reading, if you don't have a Kindle). For anything else, including browsing and email, it's quicker and more comfortable to just get out the laptop.

superasn 12y ago

I think the biggest problem with the smartphone are the PUSH notifications. Disable them and your life becomes instantly better. If deleting apps is a big leap for you then I think disabling all push notifications is the second best thing you can do.

pelario 12y ago
The "Infinity" problem is more general. I have no notifications, but a browser is equally troublesome...
relate 12y ago
I couldn't agree more, it makes a huge difference - especially for e-mail.
burtonmiller 12y ago
Push is great for messages that are both timely and relevant. A lot of app-makers don't seem to get this.

iuguy 12y ago

Does anyone find it odd that the author talks about distraction free, removing things and then uses an iOS app to meditate on the bus?

geden 12y ago
No. Meditation is also about controlling distraction.
- nicky0 12y ago
  But surely you can meditate on the bus without needing an app.
  - nicholassmith 12y ago
    I think the point is it helps make it easier to achieve the desired state, which makes it worthwhile having on his phone in his 'select' pick of apps.

iLoch 12y ago

I wanted to try a similar experiment, but more extreme in that I'd get rid of my iPhone in favour of a pager. I decided this was probably too much of a hassle and would cause me more problems than it solved. (I use my phone to gain access to accounts on my computer, etc. using two factor authentication so quitting smart phones cold turkey isn't really an option for me after all.)

jackbauer 12y ago

after my samsung galaxy S3 died (DOA) I reverted to an old sony ericsson W810i. Back to when a phone was just a phone. I am absolutely loving it. My next phone will probably be an iPhone 5s, but seriously, having a phone that is just a phone is so great.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

nicholassmith 12y ago

I had my iPad replaced recently, had some issues restoring it as my backup state was inconsistent and ended up going for a full 'clean' device. It was interesting, for the first 4 weeks I had barely any apps on there outside of Kindle, Instapaper and Tweetbot. I used it about the same amount of time, but generally I'd focus on one thing for longer periods of time. I'm tempted to go down that route when I get a new iPhone this month, sounds like it's worked well for other people.

konole 12y ago

I know it's a bit off-topic but has anyone got a link to this wallpaper? It's just beautiful.

lutusp 12y ago
If I could locate the wallpaper you're describing, chances are I could find a link. What wallpaper?
- bx_ 12y ago
  @konole probably means the wallpaper in the screenshots in the original article: https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*8cXiIn88RzqO0CTHy6T3uA.png https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*8cXiIn88Rzq...
  - lutusp 12y ago
    Thanks! Getting a clean image of that might be more difficult than I thought.
    - bx_ 12y ago
      yeah, GIS comes back with nothing...

Nib 12y ago

I'm doing this thing... So, this was the last post I made on HN using my iPhone...

thomasfoster96 12y ago

I probably should do this. I keep on coming up with strategies for deciding which apps to keep on my phone and which I should delete, but I can't ever stick to one.

pqs 12y ago

My strategy is to disable notifications. Thus, I only open the apps when I choose to (WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.). Apps that are specially addictive belong to the second screen, in a folder (Twitter, etc.). This way I have much more control over my phone habits.

BasDirks 12y ago

"Over the last 12 months I’ve learned to enjoy (or at least, be OK with) moments of boredom. I reach for my phone a lot less often. It’s probably just my imagination, but it feels like it’s easier to concentrate when I need to get things done or tackle a big project. Times on the bus when I would’ve checked email, I listen to music or just look around. I even started meditating on the bus (yes, really! And, uh… please don’t mug me) using an app called Calm." Is this satire? Meditating using an app, the conquest of boredom, the gain in productivity/focus.

collyw 12y ago
I had a similar thought, but for begging meditation it is helpful to be "guided".

throwawayMGWC 12y ago

(Posting using a throwaway as I changed my noprocrast settings in HN as mentioned in these comments and ironically blocked my account for the day!) Somewhat related, I've come to a similar conclusion myself recently but via app fatigue instead. I've been running a Windows Phone for over a year now, and although I loved the OS, constant remarks regarding the app gap made me wonder if I was missing out on the full smartphone experience. Thus I obtained a Samsung Galaxy and logged into my old Android account, eagerly anticipating all those exciting apps I'd soon have access to at my fingertips. Going thought the Play Store was a great experience - Instagram, SnapChat, Yo, etc. - I installed every hyped app like I was on a crazed shopping spree. This included apps that simply replicated a web experience, e.g. Amazon Shopping, Quora, and even Go Daddy (in case I ever wanted to check my domain renewal status while out and about!) The first week or so was exciting, I was in thrall of all the things I could potentially do with my phone and how (by some unknown means) these apps would help me live my life. However as the weeks went on I found that even though I had all these apps, I simply didn't use them. I realised that just having the technology available isn't enough, you have to have a want and need for it. From this experience I've recognised what I personally need from a smartphone. For me it's about a good camera, music player, calendar, and a way to directly and privately communicate with my friends and family. Add to this a few key apps, covering transport/maps, gym, ebooks, podcasts, etc., and I'm good to go. I now have a Nokia Lumia on its way to me in the post. I won't have the latest hot apps, but that's okay. And when the next big app does come around, hopefully at some point it will come to my platform, and if not I'll happily just get on with my work.

losvedir 12y ago
That's an interesting idea. I'd never considered Windows Mobile before, but since I, too, don't really need much in the way of apps (just the ones you mention), maybe I should look into it. Any idea how well a Windows mobile phone can integrate with a household that's predominantly Mac?
- throwawayMGWC 12y ago
  Works well for me! I guess most integration would be fine - email, calendar and so on. There are WP alternatives for most services, i.e. OneDrive for cloud syncing, etc. - however iTunes, iCloud and so on could be an issue. It could be MS's new marketing angle - "come to Windows Phone, we don't have any apps, and that's a good thing" :)

yason 12y ago

I have a feature phone that comes with a crappy enough Java ME based Google Maps that is just enough to save me from trouble when I really do need directions yet none of the things on the phone is something I could just play with. Thus, I just use it for calls and texting, and for Google Maps if really needed. I need to charge it once a week and for all I care it just works. My employer provides me with a smartphone as a work benefit but I mostly use it as a small tablet for reading stuff in bed. The battery is often out of juice, too.

bx_ 12y ago

I've done the same thing with my Android but I didn't consider it all that revolutionary. I just like a clean looking phone. Using Atom Launcher I can adjust the 'dock' (around the launcher icon) to slide left and right rather than the home pages. It's a much less distracting experience. Screenshot: http://jmp.sh/JZIZ12q http://jmp.sh/JZIZ12q

pseudonym 12y ago

Seems oddly backwards to me, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. If I've bought and am paying for a phone that costs a significant fraction of my computer, it seems like a waste not to use it for that purpose. You can make the argument that disconnecting to a point, or for a period of time, is a good thing, but intentionally crippling your hardware because you can't resist the temptation of having it there seems like it would be better solved by forming better habits in the first place. It just seems like it would be on par with buying a brand new computer to get your writing done, then installing DOS because the web browser was just too alluring. All that said, I ended up taking this to the opposite extreme: I've set up my phone to be cross-linked into as many work-related systems as possible, so that I can take better advantage of those little "in-between" moments during my work days. Build's compiling? Get an alert when it's done. Waiting for a coworker to get out of a meeting? Get an alert when they ping your name in IRC/Skype/GChat. Not having to sit in front of my computer waiting for asynchronous blockers to resolve means I can retreat to the porch, or the living room, or the park up the street, without having to worry about coming back to find something's on fire. Additional apps allow for limited on-the-go debugging, interfacing with systems and the like, so that I can continue being away from my computer if the situation isn't severe enough to require my actual physical presence at a keyboard and larger screen.

digitalsurgeon 12y ago

I used to work for a mobile company, I used to get new phone every other week, it drove me crazy... Now I carry no phone with me at all. But I don't go around telling people that I am better than them, because I have no phone or that I have a "distraction" free iPhone, an iPhone is still a hell of a distracting gadget.

bryanlarsen 12y ago
Funnily enough, your comment comes off as more self-righteous and more of a humble brag than the original article.
- digitalsurgeon 12y ago
  Yes, I realised it myself as I was typing my remarks. But this is third time I have come across this guy and his experiment.

eyeareque 12y ago

This world of having a computer in your pocket with an always on Internet connection is still new to us, even 5 years in. I wonder what our culture will choose as an acceptable and healthy way to deal with this new world. As it stands now people are way too hooked to theirs phones, and cannot even concentrate without them. I don't Facebook, Instagram, twitter, or any of that nonsense, but I'm still hooked to my phone and need a break. I might give this a shot.

eyeareque 12y ago

Today I went to lunch by myself and forgot my phone at home. It was very boring and I really didn't know what to do with myself. It made me realize how terribly addicted to my phone that I am. I need a break for this always connected world.

truebosko 12y ago

This is cute. Anyways, I've adjusted my phone so it's less of a pest as well. Mostly in two ways: 1) Downloaded Silence for Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.epsilonlabs.silence.ads&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.epsilonlab...). This let's me adjust triggers for putting the phone in silent mode. For the weekdays, I set it to be silent from 10pm until 6:30am. 2) At work, I silent my phone as well. No need to get Facebook notifications during thinking time. This leaves my phone with a few hours each day to yell at me. The mornings, and the early evening (but I put my phone away for dinner anyways). It gives me a few moments each day to check notifications from services like Facebook, see Google Now reminders, and that's about it. When friends need to contact me, they text, call, or chat me. If my phone is silent when they do, such is life.

uokyas 12y ago

What? this is forth in hacker news, that is the most over rated accomplishment i ever heard. So you bought an iPhone instead of the old ones, to have the additional features that it provides, and then you don't use it, and call it an accomplishment. That is non sense.

aneeskA 12y ago

I have a brilliant (!) suggestion - don't bother uninstalling anything. Just don't enable data or wifi in the phone!

zobzu 12y ago
I actually have mail, firefox, etc on my android phone. and data. but i turn off notifications for almost everything. i rarely ever check mail on my phone unless i really need it (which is like 10 times a year). Same for the rest. What I use most of the time: - texting (specially for meeting/bar/etc) - maps (directions, traffic...) - booking (plane/train/etc while on the go) - making pictures - listening to music (sometimes) yeah.. thats it. I use the other apps less than once a month... I do use email, web, etc on the laptop tho (which i do not carry with me unless its work hours) I find it a lot better this way, and in fact, past the initial experience of having a smartphone some years ago, i never really used it any other way. i dont get the addiction ppl get with the phone games (they're fucking terrible) and non-stop checking notifications (its horrible)

ommunist 12y ago

The guy just bought the wrong phone. Nokia 1100 could save him a lot of money and bring a life changing experience - the monochrome screen! I kid you not. And it has superior battery life.

wyclif 12y ago
If you want an elegant feature phone, I'd recommend the Nokia 515. It's sleek, has 1 month standby time, 5 MP camera, decent antenna/speakerphone, send/receive texts, basic email functionality and ultra-basic web access. It's the perfect "sensible" phone and was designed to fill that need: http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/515/ http://www.nokia.com/global/products/phone/515/
fractalsea 12y ago
It wasn't his aim to have no apps, just apps that are distracting and time-wasting. For example, he says that he likes having useful apps like Google and Uber installed. This is the same view that I have towards my smartphone, although I still have FB installed because sometimes I really need it to communicate with friends on messenger.

computerjunkie 12y ago

During my visit to South Africa and Zimbabwe, I realised that we take internet for granted In Europe and America. All my colleagues who work there generally have 3 to 4 (maximum) applications on their smartphone and they never constantly look at their phone all the time. Data is ridiculously expensive there and watching Youtube videos regularly is a non starter. Unlimited internet is pricy because its still new so everybody purchases bundles. Just using you smartphone there teaches if you really want to spend x amount of data on a short video clip. It made me realise that I had to make a change. I depend on the internet/technology and I personally think that's scary. I'm gradually cutting out applications, I think the big shift from being connected to not being connected would just cause a relapse. Right now Twitter,Facebook, HN are not on my smartphone anymore and I feel much better already. I have a lot more time now and its quite shocking how people are still productive these days with the insert next trending application coming out every week.

lukethomas 12y ago

Up until 6 months ago, I used a flip-phone because I didn't want the distractions that I noticed with friends (constantly checking Facebook, Twitter, etc.) I finally gave in when I moved and would constantly get lost (I needed maps). I really like this article, but I see opportunity in short digital breaks. The truth is that the majority of people won't delete infinity apps. They don't have the self-control to do it. That's why I'm building an app (Android-only) to temporarily disable distracting apps. You can check it out, I'd love feedback -> http://www.digitaldetoxapp.com http://www.digitaldetoxapp.com

mcjiggerlog 12y ago
Looks great! Will we be able to choose which applications we are allowed to use? For example, everybody I know uses whatsapp exclusively for messaging so my phone would be pretty useless with SMS only.
- lukethomas 12y ago
  For the first version, it only allows calling/texting - however, I'm going to have WhatsApp whitelisted because I know it's a popular messenger replacement :) In the future, I'd love to give people different "packages" (ie. - Uber, Lyft, Instacard, etc) as not all apps are distracting.

iffyuva 12y ago

i dont have an iphone, but have an andriod one. i generally turn off internet. so, i can't browse, and i can't install new apps. i mostly use it for attending calls.

mongemalo 12y ago

I love minimalism, but I see having self-control as a better option than spending 500$ in a device you are not going to allow yourself to use.

r_singh 12y ago

“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” -- by social scientist, Herbert A. Simon. Keeping our phone distraction free will definitely make us attention rich and free us from the information pollution that we're getting used to. If not a distraction free smartphone, we should probably make better decisions about what information we choose to spend our attention on.

EGreg 12y ago

We are doing our small part to help. I sometimes post about my company working on the next big "social platform". And we are trying to do things RIGHT - open source, fully distributed (while respecting CAP theorem), people own their own data, etc. So when it comes to notifications, like in every other area we want to encourage the apps to use "best practices" and only notify people of what they really WOULD want to know about. That means turning down the "slot machine" factor and handing over control over notifications to the people. To do this, we needed to design a standard, expressive interface and "language" that people could use in any app across the platform to quickly indicate what they want. And here's an overview of how it works withte rest of the system: Every piece of data in Q (http://platform.qbix.com http://platform.qbix.com) is typically stored in a Stream. Which means things like access control (privacy), real time updates (like chat), offline notifications (delivered to any endpoints), etc. are all implemented by the system and available to the app for free. The user can fine tune notifications settings for any stream or type of stream, and each app can provide Rules with configurable settings and thresholds. For example, a "Groups/activity" published by a user who is in my contacts under a "Friends" or "Family" label and matching my interests would accumulate enough weight to bust through my notification threshhold for sending me an in-app notification, or an email, or an sms. At certain hours of night, my notificaion threshold goes up. When I get into my car, and start moving fast, my notification threshhold goes up until I get out of the car, so only the most urgent things distract me. And that red badge on the icon? It should earn your trust, like all interface elements it represents a relationship and shouldn't cry wolf. It should NOT show the number of messages waiting for you, but rather show the number of streams with "important" messages posted since you last checked that stream on ANY device. In short - there are lots of things to solve but they only have to be solved once. That's what we have been working on for over 3 years.

lowglow 12y ago

I actually killed all data and voice on my phone. It's the cool thing to do if you're looking to create something drastically new in the world. https://www.techendo.com/posts/how-i-killed-my-cellphone-plan https://www.techendo.com/posts/how-i-killed-my-cellphone-pla...