Hacker News Reader

Comment by jarko27 | Hacker News Reader

Thanks for giving it a test drive!

I'm thinking also about adding an option to have like 50% chance of a popup or a 75% chance, so it's less predictable. I first made it as every 2nd, 3d and so on, but maybe adding a randomness to it will be better? WDYT?

View on HN

For my use case, randomness would make it even worse. For muscle memory, consistency is key. I don't know what the solution is - ideally, the app would not interrupt such quick actions like unlocking to take a photo or switch the song, but in practice, it can't exactly guess what I'm going to do before I do it. I was thinking about maybe "unlock and don't show the popup for the next 5 minutes", but then I already know that one of these days, I'll activate it for "one quick check of Instagram" (or HN), defeating the purpose of the application.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. I've been mulling this problem (selective blocking in dual-purpose apps/sites) in my mind for a long time now, but I haven't found any solution so far.

Here's maybe a solution: don't trigger the app if the phone is unlocked via a hardware shortcut.

At least in my last 2 phones, I got them configured such that a double press on the power button wakes the camera app immediately (great for quick photos), while the rest of the system is still locked (need the unlock pin when trying to navigate away from the camera app)

So in that situation the app could choose not to interrupt.

+1 I rely on this hardware shortcut heavily when trying to catch photos of the kids in fleeting moments.

Edit: just tested this and the nudge does not appear to interrupt the camera quick access

Fastest feature request implementation ever! :-)

On my phone (Pixel 5) I don't need to unlock to take a picture (double click on power button) or switch to the next song (slide menu down, click Next).

Not sure if it helps. Have not tried the app yet.

Edit: sorry, didn't see the almost identical answer

As mentioned elsewhere, I have double-click on power button bound to toggle the flashlight, as I find it way more useful day to day, plus quick launch of camera becomes redundant after you launch the app.

As for songs, I specifically mentioned picking a next song. As in, picking from a list, possibly navigating or doing a search first. Next/prev is both trivial and something I rarely use anyway.

You also can try setting nudge Cooldown. It will prevent nudge from popping up during Cooldown period. For now it's 3 minutes max, but I can easily add more options in next release.

How about a pause mode?

I use Android's Bedtime mode a lot, and it has a helpful feature that let's you quickly "Pause for 30 minutes" or "Turn off for now" from a notification [1].

I don't think the app needs notifications as such, but it could have quick access to a pause button.

[1] https://img.gadgethacks.com/img/original/21/75/6372310031848...

I actually saw that exact feature on the app in a notification, with "pause for 30 minutes" and "turn off for now".

Ah perhaps the app is using bedtime mode for its functionality? Didn't get a chance to try it myself yet, but great that pausing is already implemented.

So responding to you and the parent post both...

I have my own thought and also one in response to the "taking a photo" type tasks.

I'd like a drop down of some tasks I predefined, so I can answer with one of those.

Things like "answering a message" that I can choose instead of entering one. There is occasionally one message with 3 choices, I think, about how this aligns with my goals. So something like that but user defined.

Second thing, maybe a couple of those options could be tied to app launch so clicking it takes you to the common task. For example, "Taking a photo" could drop me right back into the camera app.

Great app, I've been using it all day and just doing so is insightful. And glad this comment chain led me to the "cooldown" function.

Just add a whitelist for apps that aren't for distraction so users can decide what they need.

Maybe make suggestions based on screentime if possible.

Can you track how long since the last unlock? I think adding a TTL of say 5 minutes to not be asked again after answering would probably eliminate the majority of annoyances.

Yes. App already has a setting call Cooldown. It allows to have time after phone lock during which the app won't pop-up again. Not sure if that's what you are suggesting, and it's max time right now is 3 minutes.

Yup that's what I meant. Great! I would set the default to 5 minutes and allow up to maybe 30m.

I wonder if being location based would be helpful? I'm not actually a heavy phone user, but I would guess that people are mainly using it as a distraction when they're at home or work, and less likely if they're out and about? (Though honestly, for me, the main thing I use my phone for at home / work is two-factor-authentication, and there it'd probably be annoying.)

I would have it set so you can either blacklist or whitelist wifi connections. EG if I'm at home, I might want to make it enable but otherwise let me use my phone. Or maybe have work WiFi blacklisted so it happens everywhere except when I'm at work.

So, NO, you need a clear business case, otherwise you wont get funding for global scale!

You should add this as a premium-feature for 9,99 USD monthly subscription :)

Whitelist for camera and phone calls?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com