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Comment by darth_avocado | Hacker News Reader

It is unfortunate that the phone hardware companies have an interest in you using their phone more, otherwise they'd make it easier to manage your phone usage better. The screentime app in iPhone for example is so easy to bypass as a user even when you were the one who limited certain apps usage. I want an app that strictly locks away my access to an app and also suppresses notifications. Is that so hard to build?

It also needs to be a default functionality of browsers. The ability to limit time on websites.

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My wife and I both have iPhones and MacBooks as our primary computing devices, and have setup blocks for each other’s phones.

So we voluntarily (I have to stress, this is something we both are 100% on board with, don’t be a creep) set a passcode, and from midnight to 8pm our browsers are locked down, we can only use a few apps, and we’re focused on the kids or work. The only problem with this is overriding it requires us to be together in person, but over a few weeks we’ve hammered it out pretty well. Each one can ask the other to unlock stuff, but just having that little extra hurdle goes a long way in helping reduce screen addiction.

The only criticism I have of it so far is my wife gets really weird when everything unlocks because she’s in sort of a mad rush to watch her shows, haha.

I've been doing the same thing with my wife for a few years now.

The only unexpected bit is that you two need to be together when replacing the phone (such as erasing it, transferring contents, or similar).

> It also needs to be a default functionality of browsers. The ability to limit time on websites.

There is LeechBlock for browsers.

https://www.proginosko.com/leechblock/

> There is LeechBlock for browsers.

Right, there’s plenty of extensions, paid and non paid for users. But what I said was:

> It also needs to be a default functionality of browsers.

I never found Screentime usable because something like turn-by-turn navigation would count against the global screen time, with no option to exclude it. worthless.

Apple Maps can display directions on the lock screen. It seems to also work with turn-by-turn navigation. Does this count toward the global screen time?

If you are using car play the work around is to have the screen off and use car play without nav full screen (using the view with tiles basically).

You can specify the apps and domains that screentime tracks. I have set a daily time limit for social media and certain domains like news sites and hn but don‘t include maps, mail or messengers

I had this exact problem and I found an app called ScreenZen, which is built on top of Screentime in iOS and you can use it to block specific sites and apps pretty effectively. It just minimizes the app and doesn't let you access it.

I am now using it to easy off some sites and I've set a couple of 7 minutes sessions per day and I've limited my time time considerably in the last month

I'm using "Freedom", which locks my Mac and iPhone and includes apps and websites and I think blocks notifications. I don't use it as much as I should, but I think it does the things you said? Not "default functionality" though.

Focus modes are meant to be exactly that, although it doesn’t prevent you from getting out of it. Do you really need something so strong? If so, why not consider just locking away your phone or getting rid of it?

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