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Comment by tashoecraft | Hacker News Reader

I think an Apple Watch with cellular accomplishes a lot of what light phone does. Leave your phone behind and just keep all the social apps off the watch (they’re not really usable anyway).

You can still accomplish a lot of what you need from a phone, and pair some AirPods and you have music, podcasts, easy hands free calling

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I know this is crazy but one can also just not install social apps on one’s phone, and continue to use all the functions that still provide a great deal of utility without compromises.

The problem is that it’s an addiction — I was addicted, so I would still access those apps via the browser. Until I permanently deleted all of my accounts, I would still be looking at them for hours a day. Even now, I waste my time with Reddit or even HN. :)

The root problem is much deeper and I think it’s difficult to address without behavior change (which is hard). Making it very difficult to do is a good compromise while you’re also working on building self control. These phones take that difficulty to a new level so long as you’re away from your other devices.

I’m with you - I had to ask my wife to change my Twitter password and not tell me. Facebook was easier. When I have to access for local community things I use Firefox Focus. It’s still addictive, but my sessions are fewer. That said, I’m still on here and a few other places (craigslist for sale stream, anyone?) as placeholders. I wouldn’t say it is hours per day, but it was more time than I wanted.

I’ve found productive addictions include things like ear training, Duolingo, etc - they replace the tactile sensation and give you that quieter time to yourself but at least you’re learning.

Did you figure what the root cause of (your) addiction was?

You don't really have that choice. Many social apps (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) aren't possible to uninstall unless you use a custom ROM. You can only "disable" the apps.

It's still perfectly possible to just not open them/log in, obviously.

Are you sure about that? On an iPhone I can delete three of those apps (just verified). Android doesn’t allow the same?

Sadly, it depends. Many manufacturers have deals in place with Facebook, etc to prevent the un-installation of these apps. At best you can "disable" them completely, achieving the same effective result. Any downloaded updates to the app will be removed and it will be _supposedly_ incapable of running in the background. I suspect however that there are also other e.g. Facebook services running in the background that need to be explicitly disabled with Android running in developer mode.

This isn't a problem if you have a rooted device, but root is difficult/impossible to obtain on certain devices (like Samsung's Galaxy 8 onward) due to enterprise level tamper-proofing.

Having said all that, I just got an unlocked Pixel 4 and it has zero of that bloat. If you happen to consider the Google services themselves bloat/tracking (they often are), rooting is fully supported which allows you to install an Android distribution without any Google services.

Unfortunately it's complicated. There are many OEMs, and each configures things to their liking. Then there are carrier branding deals which (often) result in per-carrier customizations on top of that.

Typically, "uninstallable" apps can be disabled via adb commands if you don't want to (or can't) flash a custom ROM. Sometimes they can't however - for example, Amazon sells subsidized phones that display advertisements on the lock screen.

I think that going out with an Apple Watch instead of a phone will become popular as a way of (partially) unplugging. It will also signal that the wearer is not an ordinary worker bee (who need to keep a phone around to respond to emails) but instead a member of upper management (who can skim important messages that come in, but needs not respond at length).

> (who can skim important messages that come in, but needs not respond at length).

iWatch + Airpods + dictation, my friend. It is amazing.

If only the apple watch could play audiobooks (on Audible) and music (on Spotify) without a phone nearby, it would be the perfect minimalist phone. Alas until that happens I have to continue to lug my phone around when sportsing.

You can download books to the Audible watch app but I've never gotten it to work. The connection just isn't stable enough.

The new WatchOS supposedly enables the API that Apple Music has been using to stream via LTE (from what I've heard), but it smells like Spotify has decided it's no longer worth the bother.

Do you just deal with having typos in a long reply? You can’t edit watch dictation, so a lot of my replies including some form of “damned apple watch” so people I’m replying to know what’s up.

That said I quite like the combo in general. A big reason I went with apple music is the streaming. It is baffling to me that spotify hasn’t enabled lte streaming on the watch now that watchos 6 lets them.

I am a spelling perfectionist too but oddly enough I'm starting to notice I don't respect people who write perfect messages as much as those who let an occasional error through. Maybe it's because I know they waste time, or that they are not confident enough to skip the editing - and related, that they are probably low on the totem pole. It's a weird effect, and yet I still can't bring myself not to overedit.

You misunderstand: apple watch dictation doesn’t merely make typos. It mangles things. So you might have a message like:

“Can you get broccoli from the store? Oh also we need kill thompson’s party. I mean we need kale for the party. Damned apple watch”

You can either abandon the whole message, or repeat what you said to get it right. And include a disclaimer to show you didn’t mean the insane thing Siri wrote. On long messages it can get quite annoying to start over, as I find it hard to finish a long message without at least one oddly mangles phrase.

As someone who hasn't entered the world of big business, this is an interesting perspective I haven't thought about. Thanks

WatchOS 6 added streaming support using the same/similar APIs on iOS, one would hope Spotify could bother to use them too.

I've actually subscribed to Apple Music solely because Spotify (for which I have a subscription too) does not let me go running with only my watch...

https://www.producthunt.com/posts/apollo-for-watch

Looks good, but the battery is very small, even without using Airpods/Audible/Spotify.

I tried this when I noticed that I was overusing my phone, and it worked very well. I have kids so can’t completely unplug, but a watch+cellular meant I was contactable for short messages and emergencies but couldn’t sit there mindlessly scrolling.

It was amazing how easily I made friends in bars and cafes like this, simply by looking up and being alert to my environment.

I'd love to a have a small limited device, but I'd rather not wear an Apple Watch as I prefer analog watches for aesthetic reasons. I suppose I could keep it in my pocket, but that's a little weird.

Apple Watch + AirPods is more than the price of a new Apple phone.

Unless you’re buying second-hand, or on contract, this is categorically untrue.

Quick search on Apple store (Canada prices):

Watch series 540mm, sports band, gps + cellular: $659 AirPods and regular charging case: $219 Combo = $878

iPhone 11 = $979

You could pick different models to make either case true (eg. iPhone XR is $799, watch series 3 cellular is $429). But nonetheless watch + AirPods is pretty close to the price of a phone it seems!

The xr starts at $600. It’s a rich person fantasy that you’d go for two fallible devices which work poorly for basic things like texting, ride hailing, looking up menus rather than one device that does more.

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