How to dumbify your smartphone (or) How to mitigate your smartphone addiction

Preamble:

1. This will be Android focused. I have 0 experience with iPhones or the Apple ecosystem so I cannot comment. But the philosophy should still apply.
2. I am not an expert, nor do I always practice everything written below. I'm just some guy. I still struggle.
3. This guide is not exhaustive, it does not include every possible scenario and every possible edge-case. Obviously you must make modifications depending on your lifestyle. I am not saying you must follow everything I say exactly.

The basic idea is friction: Your phone should not be 'fun' to use. So you add as much friction as possible between you and the apps your phone, specifically the apps that let you scroll endlessly.

STEP ONE: Uninstall everything. Factory reset. You probably accumulated a lot of unnecessary apps over the years. A forced fresh start helps as you will now be more conscious of what apps you install. It is a lot easier to avoid buying chips at the grocery store than to avoid eating the chips once you've bought it. If you have a Pixel, I HIGHLY recommend installing GrapheneOS. If not, there are other options like LineageOS or CalyxOS. These options also let you de-Google/de-BigTech to some extent.

STEP TWO: When you are reinstalling apps, limit yourself to FOSS as much as possible (Obviously your banking app will not have a FOSS alternative). I recommend Obtainium as it fetches the apps straight from the GitHub repo, and you have to very intentionally search for specific apps, as opposed to scrolling the app store and downloading apps you may not really need. Think of your smartphone as a tool, not a toy or an entertainment device. Also think of the Unix philosophy - you need separate apps that do one thing and do it well. What tools do you need? You need the ability to make phone calls and send texts. And because we live in a digital age, a password manager, a 2FA app, and a navigation/transportation app. You can add on a few others depending on where you live and what you do of course (Your work may require you to have email/slack on your phone or something for eg) . In my profile I made a post on a list of free, privacy respecting, mostly offline FOSS apps that I use on a daily basis if you need a place to start. If you have GrapheneOS, make a separate profile specifically for apps that need Google Play services.

I would argue that you don't need a web browser most of the time. I would recommend you don't install one. If you absolutely must, install a minimalist browser like monocles. AND install it ONLY when you need it. Don't keep it on your phone. This is a deliberately shitty browsing experience. You want friction.

STEP 3: Turn off fingerprint/face unlock. Use a pin, preferably one that's >= 8 characters. You can also use an app like Unlock Master to track your unlocks. This will always display on your lockscreen and in your notification bar how many times you've unlocked your phone on that day. Simply seeing the number go up was enough to shame me into not picking up my phone. It also turned into a weird game I play with myself to go for the minimum no. of unlocks each day. These are additional barriers to unlocking your phone.

Turn on grayscale mode if you have it. Turn off all animations and turn on battery-saver and data-saver mode. This will make your phone less stimulating. Use a minimalist text-based launcher like OLauncher. And if you cannot get yourself to not install the infinite-scrolling apps, either put them in a separate user profile locked behind a long password, or hide them in your launcher. It is a multi-step process to access hidden apps in OLauncher or on another user profile. Again, friction.

STEP FOUR: Mute ALL notifications except the ones from actual real life human beings directly contacting you. The apps I've mentioned on my post don't send you random notifications. But if you happen to install apps that do, please for the love of god turn them off. You don't need the app to tell you that some random person you follow posted something. It's just a trick to get you doomscrolling again. Unless a real human is trying to contact you specifically, you don't need to be alerted. Turn off all other notifications.

STEP FIVE: Possibly the hardest step - maintain this. Resist the urge to install that one app. Resist the urge to pick up your phone. Obviously this is easier said than done. But if you managed to create a lot of friction between you and doom scrolling, there will be several opportunities to catch yourself. This may not completely prevent it but I am sure it will reduce it by a lot. DONT TAKE YOUR PHONE WITH YOU TO BED. That's how you stay up late doomscrolling. Don't keep your phone in your pocket. Put it in a bag if you carry one, or if you are at work/at home, always leave it in a drawer somewhere out of arms reach. The extra seconds you spend reaching for and unlocking your phone gives you the time to ask yourself 'Why am I reaching for my phone right now?' and I promise you most of the time it's probably for a BS reason that's neither important nor urgent. This gives you an opportunity to catch yourself. This will train you out of impulsively picking up your phone even though absolutely nothing required you to. I was filling every single gap in my day by picking up my phone, now I just allow myself to experience the gaps (eg: waiting for the bus and/or the ride itself, waiting in elevators, eating lunch, waiting for code to run etc).

I have been following these steps (NOT perfectly, not even close) for the past year and my screen time went down by a LOT. From 4-8 hours a day to 4-8 hours a week. I charge my phone once every 3 days or so. A few days ago I actually forgot to take my phone when I went out. Literally the first time in years. I spent almost the whole day outside and got back home. You know what I missed? Absolutely nothing. It was fine. Didn't even matter. Turns out I don't really need my phone most of the time.

I highly encourage you to try this out, at least some if not all the steps. It really helped me out. I replaced a lot of my smartphone time with reading time. I started reading for the first time in my life this year. My goal was to read 1 book a month. I started in January and today I am currently on book 20. Maybe I will make a separate post on the books I've read.

I'll be happy if this post even helps one person out. Smartphone addiction is real, serious, and it fucking sucks. I am still struggling with it but I am happy with the progress I have made. If you have thoughts, similar experiences and other ideas please let me know I'd love to hear it.

Also, join the Goober guild.

Thanks bye