[arrakeen]

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

give it a try

[andrei_says_]

That’s where it’s at.

The constant stream of notifications does not distinguish well what’s important and too much of it ends up in the Important/Urgent quadrant.

                Important | Urgent
                ------------------
                          |
    Important             | 
                          |
                ------------------
                          |
    Urgent                | 
                          |

I hope we'll start seeing more app- and os-level tools to sort out notifications into the correct quadrant. This is where I'd welcome AI-based solutions. Gmail already offers me to unsubscribe from un-opened newsletters. Can't wait for a She-like AI-assistant who would take on the drudgery of my inbox.

Such changes of course would be counter productive to the business model of many social apps which use intermittent rewards to create easy to exploit addictive behaviors allowing them to monetize on the unregulated resource of human attention. This includes establishing addiction in children, as a business model.

Attention is one of the most valuable assets human beings have. Focused attention + time are two of the pillars of any achievement and becoming. Robbing humanity of its power to become and achieve is not a healthy or sustainable source of profit.

[on_and_off]

I suspect Android is pushing more and more in that direction. I have not seen it in the announcements but one of the features I sea on the P beta is that when I dismiss a notification, the OS might ask me : 'you often display these notification, should I continue displaying them ?'

The groundwork is here with the channel API anyway.

Apps can declare as many channels as they want in order to post notifications there.

For exemple a music app will have the music channel (duh) and maybe a push discovery one.

The developper sets whatever property they want for these channels, but the users can override them. You can for example change the priority, sound or even completely hide them.

[andrei_says_]

The thing is, not all content in a channel is created equal, so maybe one day we’ll see a more granular approach.

But a more granular approach means more complex configuration.

Instagram should notify me about my fiancee’s feed. FB messenger should notify me when I get a message from my company’s page or one containing a family emergency. When I leave the office priorities would swap.

I should be able to easily schedule office hours, and notify people when I’d be available, similar to some of the features related to driving right now.

And, a powerful AI will read my mind and tweak the settings for me ;)

[on_and_off]

the API is also there for that :)

A dev can dynamically create channels.

Communication apps is the best application indeed, some of them (for example TelegramX) already leverage this by creating one channel for each of your contacts.

So my gf has an 'interrupts do not disturb' rule while my noisy friend on a time zone can't make my phone ping.

Now it is up to devs to leverage this and implement this in all the apps.

If it starts to become common enough, it looks like an AI could classify these signals based on how you interact with them.

[ghostbrainalpha]

That's neat how you did a matrix in the comment!

But I think you want one of the sides to say "Important / Not Important", "Urgent / Not Urgent".

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix.

https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2013/10/Eisenhowe...

[andrei_says_]

Yes, that’s what I had in mind, thank you. Tried to simplify for mobile view.

[wilsonnb]

I also use do not disturb mode all the time, so that only texts and calls from my family get through.

The Android P beta has changed the way do not disturb works by default, though. Now it doesn't show the notifications at all. Previously, on Oreo, my phone wouldn't vibrate or ring but I could still swipe down from the top and see my notifications.

Now, on P, nothing shows up in the notification tray until you turn do not disturb off, and then you will get a million notifications all at once.

Personally, I like the old model better. I missed a few text messages because I didn't know they weren't being shown anymore. I like being able to glance at the notifications when I want without having to toggle do not disturb off.

Luckily, you can switch back to the old behavior by going to Sound -> DO Not Disturb -> Block Visual Disturbances -> Hide from notification list.

[shishy]

Second this... had the same problem; FB started giving me notifications for the most pointless things just so I'd put my eyes back on the phone.

Using that meant I gradually checked the phone on "my terms" and overtime reduced it rather significantly.

[reshie]

true to that and also most os's give pretty good individual app control these days. the only thing i can see is special group controls. to be honest i do not really see the addiction factor especially to the device itself, it's possible functions i suppose. i have seen people that can have very strange addictions though like gambling but there are some very unique ones specific to individuals all of these types are neurological as opposed to physical addiction though.

like you i find them annoying as well but keep important ones like appointments and such.

[RBerenguel]

That’s my setup too (also for smartwatch). Only allow notifications on call or IFTTT (have been playing with notify to watch at the end of compile/test/package)

[Foivos]

Also put the phone outside of your sight, like inside your backpack. That way you do not pick it up unconsciously.

[gopi]

my phone is always in do not disturb mode