[Rotdhizon]

RIP to anyone who clicked that link without ad block.

The app is a cool concept but I don't see it ever taking off. They broadly assume that people want to be distanced from their phones, which I'm sure most don't. There is nothing wrong with enjoying technology. Yes I check my phone at last once every few minutes when I'm at home, does that made me an "addict"? I'm not checking social media, I'm just browsing through the things I have installed to pass the time or have some laughs. Add on the fact that this is a paid app once it releases, who is actually going to pay for an app to inconvenience them? Some of the features are noble, such as forcefully blocking notifications until user specified times, and putting a more human catered UI for apps in. I applaud the effort, but I just can't see this taking off and becoming a best seller. Sure many people will pay for it, but it won't reach as many people as they are hoping.

EDIT: Adding on some more thoughts There are absolutely people who have unhealthy addictions to phones. I have a nephew who is staring at his phone screen nearly every waking moment. Every minute he doesn't have a phone in his hands he is whining. That is a new generation of smartphone addiction that I don't think most current adults have. Do you think these type of people want to forcefully have that addiction helped? Do you think they'd actually pay money to inconvenience themselves?

I agree with whoever said that app notifications need to be catered to. It might not work well with generic settings. Allow all and deny all for apps isn't doing much. I agree with the other fellow who also chimed in about smartphone addiction really not being a newsworthy topic. It's not something that can really be fixed at large. Even getting a small number of individuals to break their truly unhealthy smartphone addiction seems near impossible.

[JohnJamesRambo]

>Yes I check my phone at last once every few minutes when I'm at home, does that made me an "addict"?

I'd say undoubtedly so.

"Addiction is a brain disorder characterized by compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli despite adverse consequences."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

The adverse consequences is debatable but it is very likely we are all missing out on experiences and losing health by checking our phones every few minutes for those hits of neurotransmitters.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5076301/

"Cell-Phone Addiction: A Review"

[Rotdhizon]

What you described is precisely what's not happening though. In that there are no consequences to my frequent phone checking. If I'm playing a game and waiting for a match to start for example, it's not affecting me negatively in any way to just open youtube and watch a quick video. That's one of my points here; in that enjoying smartphones and being addicted to them gets muddled.

[jclos]

It's not affecting in ways that you notice right now, but we don't really know the true effects of never letting your brain be bored.

There is some evidence that boredom is good for you as explained in this post: http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170719-how-moments-of-bor...

[jdironman]

Not to mention the people who 'have' to check while say operating machinery. Also, tallied up the time spent checking / browsing the phone or devices which could be used either for rest or learning a new skill, or even just being bored as you suggest.

[majormajor]

If you're checking your phone when you're bored than it seems like you are getting bored still.

Maybe you'd be better off reading a book, or coming up with a creative solution to some big problem, but thinking back to pre-smartphone decades, that's not really what people were doing.

There's a significant difference between people who have replaced their previous time-waster go-tos with phones and people who are truly addicted, and the public discussion has done an absolutely shitty job of distinguishing these things.

The poster above said "when I'm at home," which doesn't exactly specify if it's diversion or addiction, but seems more like the former to me.

[rando444]

>In that there are no consequences to my frequent phone checking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_overuse#Health

There's a reason that the first step in addiction therapy is getting the subject to be able to admit that there's a problem.

[Karunamon]

I thought the defining definition of addiction is that the action causes an interference in your ability to function. I'm not sure this qualifies.

[Barrin92]

If you're looking at your phone every few minutes you are almost certainly interrupting social activities or whatever it is you're doing that requires more than a few minutes of continued focus.

If you're not convinced that any of this applies to you even if you're spending all your time on your phone.. well that too would be a typical reaction of someone who is addicted.

You might also be displacing other activities that require prolonged attention without even noticing it. How many books does the average person read that checks their smartphone every five minutes?

[Karunamon]

Humans aren't single-threaded, most can glance at their phones mid-conversation with no interruption.

Your second paragraph amounts to a kafkatrap (wherein denying the validity of the argument automatically means it applies to the denier).

[Barrin92]

Humans actually are kind of single-threaded, excessive multitasking has a measurable impact on mental performance. It's trivial to observe for yourself. Try to read and book and interrupt reading every few minutes. You will notice that you will both have to spend more time (by definition), and retain less information. Not to mention that interrupting actual conversations to stare at your phone seems kind of rude, asocial and inconsiderate.

>(wherein denying the validity of the argument automatically means it applies to the denier).

this isn't really a great point when it comes to addiction, because it's a genuine behaviour among addicts, not just a way to attack one personally. Addicts will downplay or deny the role their addiction plays in their lives categorically.

[Karunamon]

Unless you have a lot more knowledge about someone than can be gleaned from one or two comments on HN, you lack the context to determine whether someone's use of a thing amounts to addiction.

[solutionyogi]

I am not sure why you are so down on this app.

I would agree that majority of people don't realize how addictive smartphones can be and they don't care about fixing it.

At the same time, I think there are a decent number of people who realize that a smartphone is a GREAT tool they must have in their life but if they are not careful, it will take over their attention completely. The fact that apps like Moment (https://inthemoment.io/) exist and do well is a proof.

I welcome Siempo and I hope they offer a compelling app on the iOS platform. (See my other comment to know why I have my doubts regarding this)

[Rotdhizon]

I meet everything with criticism until it proves applicable. I hope this app succeeds as much as the next person, I just enjoy creating discussion on this type of forum. Instead of just blindly saying "Go app team", I want to point out all the concerns I have with the foundation of the app. That is what this site is about, intellectual discussion.

[solutionyogi]

I am all for constructive criticism and don't think your comment fell under that umbrella.

[ASalazarMX]

> Yes I check my phone at last once every few minutes when I'm at home, does that made me an "addict"?

Probably. Many applications (web, desktop or mobile) today are designed to maximize interaction. They try to tickle our reward loop as often as possible, and vie for our attention between themselves. They manipulate us into devoting them our attention while feeling good about it.

On the other hand, we tend to constantly crave for entertainment. If it wasn't apps, it would be TV, movies, newspapers, books, etc. I guess we can't be helped.

[Rotdhizon]

I should clarify in saying that I check my phone for texts and call every few minutes, since I always keep it on vibrate. If I'm waiting on something and I have a few minutes to kill, I'll open up a funny picture app or youtube and consume a few minutes of entertainment. I don't see anything wrong with that. It's not affecting my health, productivity, or social interactions.

[Nasrudith]

In my experience/observation phone addiction and similar has several causes in addition to the obvious positive feedback loop. I know that in college looping music was used to cover up depression lack of motivation. Not healthy but it took me longer to recognize what it was.

Anyway avoidance of stressors is one which ironically is potentially situationally healthy but not always. I don't know the age of you nephew other than younger than you - using it rather than melting down about say an uncomfortable medical procedure is actually the healthier alternative. Obviously unhelpful in procrastination contexts of course unless tightly self controlled like a literal five minute break between an hour or so of studying. Or ADD/ADHD style attention regulatory failure loops. Borderline cases (no pun intended) might be depression if it proves helpful. Seeing a mental health professional for help is of course the right thing to do period.

Phones like many things are tools. It is helpful to look at the why of how they are used.

[ben_jones]

If you do it every few minutes I feel like its more of a "tick" then a conscious choice. Furthermore it is a choice motivated by for-profit entities. Doesn't that make you feel uneasy?

[protonimitate]

Not Op - but for me, no.

When smartphone 'addiction' starts getting in the way of day-to-day responsibilities and personal health then we can talk about ways to curb smart phone addiction.

Maybe for others its different, but the only time I have the 'tick' is when I'm otherwise unoccupied - watching boring tv, riding on public transit, or otherwise killing time. Could you replace that with more beneficial ways to pass time? Sure. But to me the 'smart phone addiction' craze is the same thing as 'tv rots your brain'. Overstated and not really an issue imo.

And on the point of 'motivated by for-profit entities', how many aspects of your life are not in the same bucket?

[gcp123]

In the western world at least, we're surrounded by experiences provided by for-profit entities, but very few of them profit from maximizing our attention on their product like app-makers and social media do. They don't create products that are designed to monopolize our attention. Check out the book Attention Merchants or check out humanetech.com.

Filling every idle moment of your life with apps on a screen is actually keeping you from being with yourself. Tech has gone through three stages:

1. Tech that insulates us from the harshness of nature in order to promote our survival (clothing, heat, etc).

2. Tech that enhances/automates our abilities for productivity and convenience (telecom, industrial tech, etc).

3. Tech that distracts us from the human condition (social media, television, never-ending games, etc).

I used to be like you, thinking the tech in my life was only in service of my best interests, but I had a change of heart. Wrote about it here: https://medium.com/@gcpofnyc/seeking-a-healthier-relationshi...

[ben_jones]

What about staring at a bright screen 3 inches from your face before bed every night?