
My year with a distraction-free iPhone - wallflower
https://medium.com/@jakek/my-year-with-a-distraction-free-iphone-and-how-to-start-your-own-experiment-6ff74a0e7a50
======
Gracana
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.

~~~
ggreer
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.

~~~
collyw
Dumbphone plus a GPS device, mp3 player could so the same. I still prefer my
Sansa clip to my phone for music (I never even set the phone up for music).
Small, battery lasts a while, and I basically don't need to worry about it. I
even put one through the washing machine and it worked after a couple of
weeks.

As a side note, I find my Android phone a serious step back in usability. I
would say I hang up rather than answer close to 50% of the calls. Can't I just
get a physical green answer button back, rather than stupid swipe gestures.

~~~
maccard
That's terribly awkward to carry around. Also, a GPS device doesn't tell me
when my next bus is due (there's about 45 minutes between my buses). I also
now only require one charger for my GPS and MP3 player. I can also look at cat
pictures on the bus.

~~~
jarek
> I also now only require one charger for my GPS and MP3 player.

microUSB?

~~~
maccard
Well, my MP3 player is my phone. No, it's a 30piin (iPhone 4S)

------
SCdF
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.

~~~
gurkendoktor
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...

~~~
baddox
That's exactly what I use my iPad for. It's the perfect device for frivolous
web browsing, YouTube watching, Twitter/Facebook, etc.

~~~
swah
But every visit to the bathroom takes around 30 minutes!

------
Bahamut
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.

------
pocketstar
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
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
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
HOLY CRAP. Thank you! I am eligible and I suffered the exact frustration
you've mentioned.

------
throwawayMGWC
(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
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
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" :)

------
fjk
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.

~~~
ja27
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
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.

------
wmboy
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.

------
pqs
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.

------
superasn
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.

~~~
burtonmiller
Push is great for messages that are both timely and relevant. A lot of app-
makers don't seem to get this.

------
craigds
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
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
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.

------
ashishbharthi
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.

------
blutoot
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
I haven't found HN to be a particularly bad offender. The front page doesn't
change quickly enough to require excessive attention.

~~~
ljosa
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.

------
lukethomas
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
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
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.

------
eyeareque
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.

------
BasDirks
"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
I had a similar thought, but for begging meditation it is helpful to be
"guided".

------
kareemm
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?

~~~
BrandonM
Couldn't you use a dedicated todo app like Remember the Milk?

~~~
kareemm
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.

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

------
computerjunkie
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.

------
corv
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
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

~~~
hnriot
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.

~~~
blutoot
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.

~~~
hnriot
It sounds like even if you removed these distractions, you'd simply seek out
others. As in replace one addiction with another, a very common behavioural
characteristic.

The only way to deal with this is to better understand your own personality
and try to learn how to get self control. There are lots of cognitive therapy
based behavioural modification techniques. Self control only when it's
interesting isn't really self control.

------
truebosko
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.epsilonlab...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.epsilonlabs.silence.ads&hl=en)).
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.

------
digitalsurgeon
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
Funnily enough, your comment comes off as more self-righteous and more of a
humble brag than the original article.

~~~
digitalsurgeon
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.

------
bushido
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.

------
hmottestad
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.

------
maximilianburke
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
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%.

------
EGreg
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.

------
nicholassmith
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.

------
yason
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.

------
rdl
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.

------
eyeareque
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.

------
r_singh
_“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.

------
gnu8
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
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'

------
bx_
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)

------
iLoch
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.)

------
pseudonym
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.

------
iuguy
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
No. Meditation is also about controlling distraction.

~~~
nicky0
But surely you can meditate on the bus without needing an app.

~~~
nicholassmith
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.

------
lowglow
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-
pla...](https://www.techendo.com/posts/how-i-killed-my-cellphone-plan)

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

~~~
dredmorbius
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-
edi...](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/write-peace-distractionfree-editors-si/)

I've found Readability and my own nearly 1200 local CSS hacks for more
distraction-free Web browsing are also somewhat useful.

------
quadrangle
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.

------
gurkendoktor
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
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.

------
dlevine
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.

------
ommunist
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
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/)

------
Nib
I'm doing this thing...

So, this was the last post I made on HN using my iPhone...

------
thomasfoster96
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.

------
mongemalo
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.

------
vpj
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.

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

~~~
zobzu
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)

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

~~~
lutusp
If I could locate the wallpaper you're describing, chances are I could find a
link. What wallpaper?

~~~
bx_
@konole probably means the wallpaper in the screenshots in the original
article:

[https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*8cXiIn88Rzq...](https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*8cXiIn88RzqO0CTHy6T3uA.png)

~~~
lutusp
Thanks! Getting a clean image of that might be more difficult than I thought.

~~~
bx_
yeah, GIS comes back with nothing...

------
jackbauer
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.

------
deft
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
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
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.

------
iffyuva
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.

------
khitchdee
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.

------
warriar
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
:(

------
uokyas
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.

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

