iOS 12 introduces new features to reduce interruptions and manage Screen Time
apple.com
apple.com
This post reads like parody, considering that these features are copied from Samsung [1] and Google [2].
[1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/...
[2] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/go...
We should only be worried when Apple or Google are too arrogant to provide a feature that is a huge benefit to users just they didn't think of it first.
As a parent I welcome screen time locks, because any improvement over the previous non-existing support for such things is surely welcome.
On Android I could install a lot of tools to manage the same thing, but iOS wouldn't let the same apps work to a satisfactory level.
But of course since Apple finally does this, it becomes newsworthy.
Obviously Apple had been developing this for at least a year to be able to announce it now, and there had been rumors about it.
Yes, and what's more, he's saying that Apple did something that nobody else would do. Not only would Apple's competitors do it, they already did.
Yes, they said:
> Of course, they can do this since it does not go against their incentives like other companies that make money on the time spent of the platform
The implication of that sentence being that other companies haven't done it and that other companies wouldn't do it.
This obviously refers to Facebook and the like, not Samsung etc.
[2] Recent announcement, not out yet. No idea how it's going to operate.
In terms of actual features it's a step up from [1] and [2] is vaperware.
This partnership contradicts GGP's assertion that the other companies wouldn't do it because their incentives aren't aligned.
> [2] Recent announcement, not out yet. No idea how it's going to operate. [2] is vaperware.
In that respect, iOS 12 is also vaporware. Google gave exactly the same amount of detail that Apple did on how its "digital wellbeing" features work. https://blog.google/products/android/android-p/
Google's announcement is just that an announcement if it was working then you could downloaded it, until this it's meaningless.
iOS 12 is currently available only as a developer beta, for which you need to pay the yearly membership fee.
How can you argue that "app timer" is softer than "screen time" with a straight face?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/05/09/goo...
[1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/04/13/u-s-i...
I wonder why though, you do make a good point. Do they all know of upcoming regulations or something that will require these features?
As a parent I'm curious to see how effective the screen time features will be. Previous apps I've tried always had UI issues or were full of loopholes the kids could work around.
Low-hanging fruit seems to be to disable, or drastically reduce notification volume when the device is held in a hand and the screen is on. I get nervous ticks when someone is texting in a public space with loud notifications.
Another feature that might make sense is somehow detecting when the owner of the phone is out of earshot. Phones left behind in an open plan office, getting notifications, ringing etc is very annoying.
Make phones silent by default. If you need the notifications to be audible it has to be a choice.
If it notified the user a few seconds ago, it should have a delay until the next ring/vibration.
Multiple rapid notifications in a short window of time alert me to emergencies. Phones should be on vibrate in public, of course.
Your phone beeps and buzzes, you pick it up. The home screen shows "Email notification" because you're privacy conscious and don't show details on the lock screen, so you unlock it and enter your email app. It's marketing crap, so you close the app, but notice a Facebook notification, so you check that. And now you're on Facebook and off task.
Your watch buzzes, you look at it. It says "Gmail" because you're privacy conscious and you don't show the details on the notifications. You press the screen and see that it's spam. You dismiss the notification and the phone returns to showing you the time. You return to work.
Your watch buzzes, you look at it. It says "Gmail" because you're privacy conscious and you don't show the details on the notifications. You press the screen and see that it is from your solicitor saying some documents are ready to pick up. You hit Reply, press the microphone button, and dictate that you'll come over tomorrow after 4pm. You don't even notice there's a Facebook notification on your phone.
It also stops eavesdroppers and prying eyes who go over and press the home button to get a glance at who's texting the lonely phone sitting on the counter.
Leaving it ringing for hours in a crowded office is obnoxious; leaving it on a side table in your house while you do some chores is totally normal.
I may not be able to install new apps anymore, but at least I don't reddit on my phone anymore.
woohoo! Can I finally use google maps in my car then? I don't understand why the Apple Maps team has been so slow on features
Have they ? Every major iOS update has major updates to the Maps app.
It is slowly bridging the gap with Google Maps and the issues are still mainly with POIs which Apple arguably can never fix. Unless of course they do their own Street View and invent their own captcha system.
It tries to be too clever, resulting in often frustrating and silly route adjustments
Regardless there are plenty of third parties who are in this space that companies like Apple license their data from. There's no reason someone can't compete with apple on POI quality.
Apple already licenses its data from many providers e.g. Foursquare, Yelp but that only gets you so far. Google is much further ahead largely through their own technology.
(PS: Please don't buy my app or anything. It's not 'released' yet.)
But, just to guess, I suppose the layout is inconsistent. Is that right? I tried to get the vertical rhythm correct but I suppose the discrepancy in the "inter-section" layout is jarring. Yeah?
The contrast between the green headings and the white background is also a bit low. I understand that in this case it's your app's primary icon colour, but it's more difficult to read than it needs to be, especially combined with the light-weight font.
I'll play around with the color. Perhaps adding subtle shadows will help.
For another example, the graphic doesn't appear so clear and the main text doesn't feel very prominent. I feel like it lacks a sense of physicality that I'd want to feel from seeing a screen being shared to another device (a screenshot doesn't really hit the spot for me).
Sorry about that. I'll reconsider the placement of the buttons.
> I think it would be to flesh out the header above the fold
As in, alluding to the fact that ScreenTime imitates an external webcam and things like that?
> I feel like it lacks a sense of physicality that I'd want to feel from seeing a screen being shared
Would putting the screenshots inside a monitor help? What about animating the screenshot? Like a gif of the two users doing things on their own screens?
Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it :)
Truly, I don't know what exactly I'd prefer from you because I don't know you or your product in any intimate way, so while I might tell you what I would have liked to see it doesn't mean I know that it's overall better than what you have.
Also try and throw them in to an iMac, it looks much nicer.
Also, are you aware we can already do this from Messages? If you have someone’s Facetime contact you automatically have their Messages contact. So what’s the advantage of paying for a third-party app that does the same as a native free feature?
You can use this in the middle of a regular FaceTime video call. Plus, the other person can be on an iOS device.
Just start an iMessage conversation, then click "ask to share screen" or "invite to share screen" from the Buddies menu.
That it's also subtle and configurable means it remains a sensible nudge and not an imposition. I would love to see more developments towards building tech that gives you some space instead of constantly vying for your attention and engagement.
For a slightly tangential example, it would be nice to sign up to a service and not be inundated with daily onboarding emails, upsell emails, weekly newsletters, account management requests, and Intercom chat popups because the marketing team doesn't have any chill and has to inflict this bombardment of utter tripe onto every unsuspecting user. Like an implicit condition of trying out an otherwise decent app is to accept this torrent of bullshit that just creates busywork.
I think some apps offer the ability to suppress notifications for non-important things, which is a good start.
Apps, websites (everyone wants to send me notifications) are not going to do it as a group.
The more customization I'm allowed and options to be human with a device the better.
There is an old child psychology example where a kid asks "Can I have a red popsicle?" and the parent knows there are only blue ones in the fridge. If the parent responds "No, there aren't any red ones left, but you can have one of the blue ones" then you're instantly the villain and you only exist in this world to deny them of their right to popsicles. But if you respond "Yes, you can have a popsicle whatever color is left in the fridge" you're their hero and it's the fault of the fridge for not providing their desired color of popsicle.
Our system gives kids the ability to access more screen time based on them making measurable progress in studying and because of that parents are less villains and our app/system absorbs most of the hate. If a kid says their phone or tablet won't load a page a parent can essentially say "Looks like your phone says you need to do XYZ before you can access more Internet"
Are other HN parents struggling with these issues? If so, do you think setting rigid screen time limits will help?
My kids clearly know who put the restrictions in place and the reason why. They also know that on request with a reason, I will unlock the restrictions. I find that this gating question sufficient that they police themselves.
I think the only reason I would put blocks in place on my children would be as a testing mechanism.
My strategy with the kids is for them to learn that delaying gratifications can lead to greater rewards. If they ask for the locks to removed for the day, it's usually granted.
In any case, I would be happy if they figured out how to bypass. (I see them attempting but so far failing.)
I use my phone almost entirely for data and messaging though. Calls are rare.
* Always, no notification of calls or texts from people not in my contacts.
* Scheduled at night, when I'm asleep, no notification of calls or texts from anyone, unless they call twice in a row (emergency calls).
As far as I know, I can't set up Do Not Disturb to do this.
It’s twice. Under Settings → Do Not Disturb → Repeated Calls:
> A second call from the same person within three minutes will not be silenced.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/studycity/id1339396223?mt=8
website is studycity dot org
Your comment here explains it much better than the App Store description IMO.
Maybe some help from a UI designer and a little rebranding could help a lot!
I may be old (42) but the only notifications that exist on my phone are from SMS and WhatsApp (which I occassionally use). I intentionally don't enable notifications about emails, as this communication medium is by definition not realtime. Of course I'm not on Facebook either, but even if I were, I don't see the point of having to check all the time what fresh pics of cats are other people sharing.
I'll happily welcome any small step to improving this situation, whether or not Apple shares its responsibility in causing it. It's better than the alternative.
At least Apple (so far) isn't selling these features or limiting them to the newest phones.
Presumably they will work on all phones that can run iOS 12.
Regarding notifications, the real benefit to me of what apple is doing is being able shut off notifications in the heat of the moment instead of digging through the settings menu.
I've been using the do not disturb feature for a while now (2 years?), gets switched on an hour before I usually go to bed. As you mention, only calls, SMS and whatsapp is enabled for notifications, everything else is switched off. DnD stops these coming through late at night.
I've got nothing against adding extra functionality though. Perhaps being able to tell the phone do not disturb me for the 2 hours might be useful.
My phone and the apps on it exist to serve me, not the other way around.
Sincerely, someone who is sick of having their alarm not work unless all their other apps are binging like crazy all night.
This was so trivial in Android, it’s laughable I still need think about what I need need to do for the alarms to work properly. Also always paranoid I’ll forget a step and miss an exam or something.
So, I don’t really know what’s going on, then. But unless vibrate and DND is turned off and the volume is all the way up, sometimes the alarm just doesn’t work and I have missed stuff before.
Android was really clear about this: there was just “no notifications”, “alarm only” and “all notifications”. I wish Apple would make a three state toggle like this and bundle it all together ..
(I understand that you’re trying to tell me that alarm should be working, but it just isn’t).
They fix is to reboot the phone.
I cannot trust it for critical alarms, so a simple device by the bed is required again.
I’m morbidly curious how many years you’ve suffered from this problem without googling it or mentioning it to another iPhone user!
Grouped notifications are largely welcomed. I simply disabled those for Twitter/Telegram/Messenger because that's nearly one notif per message (kept Whatsapp because of too much miss otherwise). Hope it's customizable though (app dev or user) because I'd prefer my email notifications from Inbox/Gmail not grouped for different senders.
And the other thing I miss so much is the "auto-dismissal" of notifications. When I read an email in inbox web client on my laptop, the notification for it instantaneously disappeared on my Nexus 5 (just that one notif). Not anymore with my iPhone. If I remember correctly, notifications API only allows a remove all or nothing behavior for apps on iOS. Do you know if there is any progress on that front?
When I am king, I will declare that ALL devices must support an API so that I can control my kids total screen time across all devices.
However, the top shade went to Craig Federighi’s shot at Android: “It’s hard to say they have a software update model.”
Apparently they finally added an option for curated channels (known brands / everything is reviewed by a human moderator) about a month ago, but you have to enable that option.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/business/media/youtube-ki...
Why, Google?
In my mind, the only reason my phone should ever make noise on its own is when a phone call comes in from one of my contacts, or an alarm I set goes off.
Notice that neither of those things are “Notifications”.
Feel free to keep a list someplace of emails and texts that have come in. But I’ll check that on my time, so don’t ever interrupt me to tell me about it. Apps that want permission to appear on that list should have to explicitly ask for it, rather than getting it by default and forcing me to fish around in the notifications settings to turn them off for ever single app that I install.
It’s amazing that no phone (or computer anymore) has anything approaching this.
Plus, it is a great tool for self-management as well. Weird a couple of weeks ago we were having quite a debate among co-workers about the lack of such important feature in todays smartphones. Sure there is already a similar feature in current iOS to view battery usage by app but it is not intuitive and requires quite a drill-down in settings.
Maybe in a few years AR will be exciting or become useful like Touch ID did after awhile (for me at least). For now its just silliness as no killer utility or experience has been created yet. Measure ... there are tons of AR rulers out there now that are fun to use, but...
As for AR Wikipedia or AR Historcal View it would require a massive amount of crowd sourcing. Though Wikipedia did it.
Overall AR as of today is lame it needs killer utilities or experiences like AR Wikipedia or whatever it would be called.
[0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sherlocked
Also, iOS on Mac OS! I wonder what this means for the React Native devs... I have no experience on that platform but I'm curious about the potential impact of iOS + MacOS on that community
Social platforms already have so much on their end to manipulate users into giving them their attention. There's no good reason to trust any of them with such information.
I was already using dnscrypt-proxy to limit access to some websites during certain days/times, but restrictions at application level is even better, at least for iOS devices.
Go to Settings->Battery and tap the clock icon (next to "Last 7 Days"), or even easier, just tap on any of the app rows below to switch between percentage or percentage plus time view (the time is shown below each app).
I'm sorry touch does not cut it for a productivity working on large documents or any other program that requires repetitive precision.
Aside from that omission, what other things does iOS 12 offer that I'd be missing out on? - Analytics about notifications: I don't care
- Augmented reality: not compelling
- New proprietary animated emojis: not compelling
- Group Facetime: Facetime suffers from the Telephone Effect. I never use it because at least half of my friends are android people, and we all use Facebook because it's something everyone has. If you're talking about a group of people, it's extremely unlikely that everyone will use iOS, but it's extremely likely that everyone will be on Facebook.
- New features in Photos: I don't use any of the features that have been added to Photos since...iOS 7? New features are just going to continue to slow down my device.
- Various other features: nothing jumping out at me as something I'd risk an OS update over.
It's a nice effort and I'm sure Apple has made the OS update they want to make, but it's not offering anything I've heard anyone ask for.
While certainly a matter of opinion, but I think it’s the most important tech innovation in a long time. Just the Measure app alone has incredible implications. We are just scratching the surface of what this tech can do.
I agree, and I think that's a great way of putting it. I don't think that AR can't be compelling in the future, but right now it feels like we're between the Peak of Inflated Expectations and the Trough of Disillusionment in the Hype Cycle.
The onus is on Spotify to adopt the new APIs that Apple has provided.
A major difference between Apple and Google: Google does lots of fancy machine learning to make Google Now magically anticipate everything. Apple introduces a kind of low-key programming in graphical form to let the user shape Siri's abilities.
I find the latter very interesting, it's a bit like Tasker lite.
And more important, the first few times Google Now appeared on my phone I was creeped out. Just because I had googled an event weeks ago on another device doesn't mean I want you to tell me to leave now and present me with the map and traffic information!
The common point here are phone use management features which were unveiled on both OSes in the same year it seems.
Which happens to be the only time when they announce new OS features.
I'm not saying everything should be changing year-after-year, but it's hard to get excited for these WWDC keynotes when it feels like they are stretching app release notes to 15 minutes of a visual demo.
Because just about everything was maligned from some people or others:
The App Store? Obviously a stupid idea, nobody will program apps with such a limited feature set.
Copy&Paste? Yawn. Should have been there from the start.
AR? Who needs that?
Face ID? An expensive gimmick.
And so on.
Personally I found this WWDC announcements way more interesting and a reason to look forward to than last year's iPhone announcement.
Isn't part of the problem the endless parade of these "revolutionary...OS designs?" Precisely what makes them delightful appears to make them addictive.
Also great to see the focus on performance improvements on old models.
assuming Type to Siri works with Shortcuts.
[1]: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/30/apple-to-focus-on-ios-p...
Edit: You'll see downvoters, the beeper's gonna be making a comeback. Technology's cyclical.
Cannot wait to get back to horses.
There should be developer API’s for this. The lack of API’s and the fact Apple thinks three product changes alone can solve a complex social problem speaks to how simplistically they are treating the issue. It’s a positive step forward, and necessary, but we should be able to bring an ecosystem approach to solving what many of us consider the biggest socio-technical problem today.
This petition is a start: https://www.change.org/p/apple-allow-digital-wellness-develo...
Like there are APIs for notifications etc. that many developers abuse and Apple had to step in with this? As a user I am glad.