
Show HN: Generate a fake app to replace any addictive app - sandoche
https://www.detoxify.app/
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arcturus17
How does this help with addiction as opposed to uninstalling said apps?

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scotty79
I was addicted to TV when I was in high school. After school I alwys lied down
in front of a tv for few hours. Switching channels, getting a little bit
entertained but more and more tired.

When I wanted to break that routine I asked my mom to put a parental lock on
the TV.

Even though TV showed jo channel for me I still lied down in front of it,
twiddled with remote. Sometimes for many minutes. My dumb brain gradually
learned that TV is not fun anymore (not that it was much fun in the first
place).

I think similar mechanism might help you shake off your app addiction.

Not sure if this tool does this but maybe you could even have you fake
facebook app show you static screenshot of facebook and let you scroll up and
down a bit. You might have additional twists like scrolling locking up after
few minutes forcing you to abandon or restart. Or maybe screenshot might be
blurred a bit.

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nscalf
This is the exact feeling that I have had recently when trying to cut the
phone addiction. I deleted all games and social networks from my phone, then
turned it to black and white. It's still tough since I can just go to reddit
or hacker news on the browser, not much I can do about that since even flip
phones have internet. The interesting thing was that my phone pick ups
remained the same for a week or so, but the time on my phone when dramatically
down.

The disturbing part is that even weeks later, if I am really bored I will
reach for my phone and pick it up. There just isn't much to do on there
anymore, so I put it down. I think I'm going to start leaving it places
altogether so I lose the habit of having it on my at all times.

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tictoc
Just chuck it off a cliffside... Wait till you see what happens next!

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illys
Pollution?

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kuu
How does it work? There is no clear message about how it works or how it's
supposed to help.

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farbodsaraf
@faeyanpiraat described it very well: "It can put an icon on your homescreen
looking like an app that you want to stop using. Then when you try to
instinctively open for example twitter, a simple page comes up that counts how
many times you tried opening it. To make it work open the page, click a
popular app click the install button then follow the instructions."

We're far from having a good UX, so please feel free to provide your
suggestions, or contribute directly to the repo (it's open source).

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kuu
That should be written in the website (even on about page or similar, just an
opinion/idea)

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throwaway13000
I asked a related question 2 days ago. This is a great idea. But how does one
make money selling such ideas/apps? Do we make partnerships? Do we list the
app on appstore for a small amount? Any other ideas?

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namanyayg
Is it inspired by this [0] xkcd by any chance?

[0] [https://xkcd.com/2183](https://xkcd.com/2183)

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amelius
Has this study been replicated?

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pixelbath
This isn't a study; it's a web comic.

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masthead
What's the privacy policy around this?

Will the count be used later?

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farbodsaraf
We don't store anything, everything is in the localstorage. We only use Google
Analytics without any custom code, we don't use it to track specific metrics.

The app is open-source, you can have a look at the code.

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xwdv
Missed opportunity IMO, I would pay good money to get access to that kind of
data, especially as it acquired more users.

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ShamelessC
So it's a missed opportunity to make money without regard to the ethics of
user privacy?

Thanks for being part of the problem I guess?

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xwdv
It’s anonymous data. I don’t see how getting data on which applications are
getting hits and around what times they occur is violating anyone’s privacy.

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Tepix
Doesn't work for me, the counter remains at 1 on iOS 12.4

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farbodsaraf
We would like to hear you feedback so keep them coming:)

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skrebbel
I don't understand what this does.

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faeyanpiraat
It can put an icon on your homescreen looking like an app that you want to
stop using. Then when you try to instinctively open for example twitter, a
simple page comes up that counts how many times you tried opening it. To make
it work open the page, click a popular app click the install button then
follow the instructions.

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playpause
That's a technical description of what it does. But what is the benefit,
compared to just uninstalling the real app?

Edit: I can kind of see how it might work for some people: just uninstalling a
'toxic' app like Twitter doesn't always work for long, as you can usually
still go on the website, or even reinstall it absent-mindedly (e.g. when drunk
or low on willpower). Having a fake app on your homescreen might help as a
sort of reinforcement tool in those situations. For example, when you want to
go on Twitter, you open the fake app, and because it's missing the usual toxic
notification dopamine hit, you can gradually unlearn the association. Maybe.

Edit 2: I made the above edit before seeing the replies :)

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farbodsaraf
I used to remove apps but I'd end up re-installing them after a while.
Unlearning a habit (aka forming a new habits to replace the old one) is about
having a proper cue (referring to the habit loop from the "The Power of Habit"
book). The fake app acts as a cue/signal to remind you about your goal and
boost learning the new habit of not visiting the app randomly based on the
habit.

By installing the fake app, you'll be surprised how many times you
unconsciously you open them, although you are aware that they are fake apps.
It feels like our brain is on auto-pilot, once we're hooked/addicted to
instinctively open addictive apps.

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givinguflac
Somebody reads xkcd

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ImJasonH
I made something similar as a weekend hack:
[https://quit.social](https://quit.social)

It helped me quit my Instagram habit, so it's already more than paid for
itself. Next is Twitter. :(

Detoxify looks a lot better though, and definitely has clearer instructions!

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maxwellito
It has clearer instructions for sure, but you got the icons right (at least
for Instagram, the borders are rounded). It's enough to make me use it!
Because the ones from detoxyfy are pure square on my home screen, and just
because of that I know there's something wrong and I don't tap. Plus on yours
I still get stats after 2 openings ;-)

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SaturateDK
If you reload the page 3 times, it blurs out the counter and message. While I
see that this is to make people donate, it would be pretty nice to state, that
in order to see it again - you must donate. I was thinking it was a bug at
first.

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sandoche
Thanks I updated the message with "For us, in order to be able to cover our
server costs, we ask our users to contribute a tiny amount if they find the
app useful. Donate to see the detox counter again." I basically added "Donate
to see the detox counter again." what do you think ?

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namanyayg
What server costs are you talking about? How much does hosting this run you?
$5/mo?

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johnydepp
Dont be a jerk. There must be some other costs involved. It's a nice way for
asking the donation.

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namanyayg
They should say that then, I'm not sure how a simple app like this could cost
more than a few dollars per month on hosting.

PWAs are offline first and there's one database with the number of opens.

I'm not saying that they don't deserve money, but should they ask
disingenuously?

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stackola
> one database

You mean one field in local storage [1]

Using github pages or similar, this could be completely free to run.

[1] [https://imgur.com/JKSo6lP.png](https://imgur.com/JKSo6lP.png)

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epse
Domains aren't free and neither is time, so a simple ask for a donation is
never a big issue. You can always make it yourself if you don't want to pay

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namanyayg
Donations are never an issue, I had a donation link on my blog for years.

I didn't ever say that it was to "cover server costs" because even years ago I
barely paid pennies a day for hosting.

