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Comment by bcoates | Hacker News Reader

The idea of app timers seems like exactly the weird self-negotiation alcoholics do around booze where they think mimicking the habits of casual drinkers (on what is, to the casual, a bender) will make them not an alcoholic anymore.

Yes, normies might have three margaritas on a Tuesday. Like, once a quarter. Not every single day, and also not followed by a whole lot more once you’re loosened up.

Likewise, the reaction of a mentally stable person to TikTok is like the reaction of a normal person to a casino full of slot machines--discomfort and more than a little disgust. If you start wagging your tail to that shit, there is no safe level and you need to delete it all yesterday, app timers and clever little boxes are making you worse.

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I get what you are saying but it’s 2025 and a mobile device is basically required to operate in society today. Especially if you want an active social life or to excel at work.

Nobody needs a margarita or any other addictive substance to function in society (barring actual substances issues). So it’s a false equivalence to compare apps like this.

An example in my middle aged life is that my kids extra-curriculars are all organized on WhatsApp. If I choose not to have a Meta account then my kids suffer when I am out of the loop on their events. Then of course all of the invites and venues are on Facebook. And all the parents post their pics to IG.

Because these apps are purposely designed to addict you, it is a real sticky thing to have to dip your toes in without getting sucked into a scrolling nightmare.

Well he didn't say the phone, but the app. So instead of using app timers just delete the app. The point is that you find yourself having a problem with the app and regret it's usage later then an app timer is the same as an alcoholic having one drink, now if you are judicious with the app timer and really do it ok. Same for an alcoholic, if you can actually have one drink, then it's fine.

Some apps are addictive but have some reasonable informational value. Some are just straight key bumps of entertainment with an algorithmic comedown to keep you looking for the next baggie.

I have the same situation you do about Facebook, but still don't have the app on my phone. I just check the mobile site and I was forced to install messenger. I have no need or desire to install things like TikTok or Instagram, of the hundreds of times people have sent me links to things on those apps I've never come away with the feeling that it was a value add.

It's a good idea to just uninstall some of these apps or even accounts and see if you really miss them. I found that not to be the case with Twitter and Facebook.

I do agree with your point about phones being necessary and that complicating the addiction but A) people absolutely made the same argument about alcohol in the past, that it was necessary for a social life and B) they were critical of the TikTok app specifically rather than phones as a whole in general.

I find them really useful, I find youtube to be a good thing in moderation. But its very helpful to have a timer forcing me to thoughtfully use the time I've allocated.

The "UnTrap"-Add-On for Firefox can block the more detrimental aspects of youtube, like shorts or the recommendation of other videos. I have it configured so that it always brings me directly to the "watch later"-playlist and I never go to the main page.

FreeTube is also phenomenal for de-enshittifying (dis-enshittifying?) the YouTube experience

I wish Chrome had timers for specific websites on mobile. I hate the all-or-nothing Chrome timer, it's ridiculous and so counter intuitive.

I’d also like more control over chrome autocomplete.

Most of the time that I get sucked into a website, it’s because autocomplete and muscle memory got me there without thinking. Every once in a while I’ll clean out my history cache and for a week or so I’ll find myself on the page of google search results for “re” or “fa”

Agreed, and their setting to turn it off entirely doesn't work on Pixel at all.

You can hold-press over an autocompleted URL to delete it, which has much less friction than clearing your history.

> I wish Chrome had timers for specific websites on mobile.

Chrome does have this feature on mobile, but perhaps not on your mobile.

Pixel phones (at least) have this.

this is the sole reason i default to Firefox on mobile as it allows extensions. And install a website restriction ext like Leechblock [1].

[1] https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/blaaajhemilngeeffpb...

"Normal" people don't react that way to casinos.

Have you walked past one recently? Casinos used to have at least some veneer of sophistication - polished wood, baize, well-dressed croupiers - even if it was ultimately pretty thin. Now the whole room looks like a giant kiddie noisemaker toy.

Aside from general infantilization, another theory: The old status-signalling has moved on to something else, and past generations' signals of upper-class (or at least classier) gambling are now obsolete, so nobody bothers projecting them.

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