Hacker News Reader

Comment by chatmasta | Hacker News Reader

There is a great habit-breaking app called “One Sec.” You configure it with your addicting apps or websites and it uses iOS shortcuts to interrupt you when you open them, and make you wait for some time — optionally with the selfie camera open — and confirm you really want to open it. It’s extremely effective and I highly recommend it. I don’t have it anymore since it led me to eventually delete Instagram and I never looked back. Although I should reinstall it and apply it to YouTube shorts…

App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id15...

View on HN

Wow, that is a fantastic idea. Basically interrupting the instant gratification loop by just enough to let the more rational mind get a word in.

Another tool that I've found to be incredibly helpful for breaking app-addition is the colorblind accessibility tool. You can use it to make the entire phone greyscale, which entirely defeats a huge range of techniques that apps and feeds use to draw your attention. Tiktok in greyscale I would estimate is 1/10th as likely to pull me into a 5+ minute video binge vs the full color version. And 1/100th as likely to pull me into a 90+ minute video binge (which unfortunately does happen to me in full color).

> You can use it to make the entire phone greyscale, which entirely defeats a huge range of techniques that apps and feeds use to draw your attention

As a counter-anecdata: I've had my phone in greyscale for a few years now. At first it worked amazingly, made me hate my phone and pickups dropped significantly. But over time I realized "Oh wait, 90% of my phone use is text and this is actually super nice for reading".

Now I use my phone just as much as before, except in greyscale.

Do you still have problems with doomscrolling addiction?

> Do you still have problems with doomscrolling addiction?

The new twitter algorithm fixed that for me. They made the feed so fundamentally uninteresting and full of slop* that the issue resolved itself.

I now doomscroll slack and discord

* by slop I mean content written for the sake of being content.

I only doomscroll HN to 90 n times/day

Is it doomscrolling though?

There are several different definitions of that word, some of which would reasonably apply to hn. I am glad it doesn't have infinite scroll but it also (front page) changes fairly slowly so I do not develop an urge to check it every few minutes.

It is for me. I come here to read how fucked we are in the age of AI. It's compulsive.

This is something I use on Android that has similiar functionality. It's helped me a lot and, along with a monochrome screen, is quite effective in reducing doomscrolling. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dino.simpl...

+1 for One Sec, a fantastic app, if one has the patience to wire it up using Apple’s first-party Shortcuts app (which is probably the main reason most normies aren’t going to use it). Really helped curb my Instagram usage down from about ~15 minutes per day to around ~5 minutes/day at most, and often now a few days go by without me checking the app at all. It is remarkable how much a 4, 6, or 10 second wait will just cause me to say “nah, forget it, I don’t care anymore”. Like, how much of a dumb ape am I?

> Like, how much of a dumb ape am I?

Don't be so hard on yourself. You are human.

There is a nice book by Jonathan Haidt about this called The Happiness Hypothesis.

He uses a "Elephant and Rider" psychological metaphor to describe the internal battle between our rational mind (the rider) and our emotional, intuitive drives (the elephant).

We think the rider is in control. But he isn’t!

I also love it. Made me realize how unimportant Instagram was for me.

I personally prefer ScreenZen. It is a lot less restrictive on the free version and you can just tip once to get full access instead of a subscription. It also has a system where you can “earn back” app unlocks if you don’t use the app for the full allotted time, which encourages using your apps even less rather than feeling like having to make the most of your unlock.

App Store Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/screenzen-screen-time-control/...

I used it a bit but it’s buggy: failing to unlock, or just tapping the button once for unlimited use. Eventually it completely stopped working.

It only does this if you have the apps in multiple groups. Dump them all in one group. Yeah it sucks that you can't configure each of them separately, but it works really reliably now.

I haven’t had any of the other bugs you had except for it failing to unlock sometimes.

Ironically that bug has become a feature for me, sometimes after the first failed unlock I just don’t bother opening the app at all anymore, which is a win for me!

If I recall, if it fails to unlock, I mash the button a few more times, probably triggering some race condition, and the app is unlocked for the rest of the day.

ScreenZen is great, my first choice for phones as well. Very flexible settings.

For desktop, I recently built a free browser extension called MooBlock - it's similar to ScreenZen in that it adds a forced pause before you reach a distracting site. Bu once you reach the site, a herd of cows start walking all over your screen to make the website less appealing.

It's available in both the Chrome and Firefox extension stores. Hoping to make an Android version later this year too.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/mooblock/eanbagjehd...

> Bu once you reach the site, a herd of cows start walking all over your screen to make the website less appealing.

Did you base this idea off of prior research? It sounds reasonable but I'm wondering about its practical efficacy given that I've seen people use an objectively broken screen indefinitely with rationalization.

The idea is that the number of cows grows the longer you stay on the site, so it becomes progressively harder to use.

And yes it is based off my research on Internet and porn addiction (I am a psych researcher). So far I've received very positive feedback suggesting that it does work for people.

I think it's a neat idea and will give it a try!

I use https://steplimit.com/ to both cure my Reddit addiction and to walk more. You earn minutes on your tracked app(s) by walking. If you run out of minutes, either stop scrolling or go for a walk. It's so simple and so effective.

Whenever I see something like this, I think wow this is gonna be so effective and change my life and then two weeks later it’s uninstalled and I’m slack jaw standing over the sink browsing Instagram

These are tools for people interested in making a change.

You’re not, yet.

I’ve been interested for a decade+, but appreciate the condescension

I’ve found the most effective tool to be uninstalling the apps, being logged out in the browser, then building up a deep resentment for the manipulative practices these apps/sites employ.

Friends send me links on Instagram all the time and it’s always a multi-step process to see it in the browser without being logged in. It’s half-broken and super annoying. If a search query sends me to Instagram, it just breaks 80% of the time and locks me out. If I click on any of the bait designed to lure people into view more content, it will throw up a wall and require downloading the app or logging in. This all serves to fuel the hate I have for these platforms. If they’re going to make it that hard to use, I don’t want to use it, and there must be very powerful and financially motivated reasons why they are pushing me toward a certain engagement model.

I once took screenshots of all the BS I had to go through when he sent me one of those links, so he could see how bad it was and stop spamming me with every other video in his algorithm. At the time it was a 3-4 step process of dismissing modal windows for every link he sent.

You are an average of the 5 people you spend the most time around.

Do those people send you any blog links?

or solely vapid social media shite?

Note that. There’s overlap in other parts of life.

Glad you’re not one of them ;)

Likewise; you seem pretty resistant to positive change, and that’s dangerous to me.

Stay safe.

One person who texts me most often primarily sends vapid social media content. I disabled notifications on his texts and check them on my time, skipping most of them. I don't feel the need to cut someone out of my life who I've known for 20+ years over their instagram addiction (which seems to be what you're implying if I read between the lines).

The big AI push has made him more interested in what is happening with all these tech companies and he doesn't like it. I'm trying to use it nudge him off these platforms run by companies he claims to despise.

> I don't feel the need to cut someone out of my life who I've known for 20+ years over their instagram addiction

Then, bluntly, good luck fixing your own problem with the same.

How many decades will you nudge before realizing you’re yelling down a well?

These aren’t new concepts or tricks people are falling for.

I don’t have a problem with it. The only social media adjacent sites I use are YouTube and this one. Any other accounts I had in the past have either been deleted or deactivated for years now.

You’re theory, that my friend using Instagram translates into an addiction for me, doesn’t hold water. I spent 6 years where the 5 people I spent the most time with all smoked, and I’ve never had a cigarette in my life. Values are stronger than peer pressure, especially as an adult. By the end of those 6 years there was only one smoker left.

I’m not sure why you assume I should trend toward an unhealthy habit, instead of him trending toward a healthier habit, especially as his hate for the tech industry grows. I also don’t really care if he quits himself, I just want him to not send so many reels my way. He is already good about not being on his phone when hanging out in person. It’s not that big of a deal.

> I don’t have a problem with it

Then your reply is minorly off-topic, and unexpected, in the context your sibling commenter established.

> You’re theory, that my friend using Instagram translates into an addiction for me

Didn’t say it would cause anything for you. Just that if you had the same issue, it’ll cause you undue friction trying to fix it.

> You are an average of the 5 people you spend the most time around.

Interesting claim, definitely not something valid for me, for better or worse. But I can see why it could be valid in general.

You can’t fix human problems with technology.

You can only accelerate the human behavior,

unless you involve another person in taking your freedom away.

No condescension - and if you’ve been trying for ten years, there’s clearly a misunderstanding.

> You can’t fix human problems with technology.

Yes you can.

Screen time limiters, nicotine patches, putting the cookies out of sight, all of these things empirically work better than willpower alone.

> No condescension - and if you’ve been trying for ten years, there’s clearly a misunderstanding.

Oh please. “Why are you depressed? Just be happy or you must not be ready for a change. No condescension btw.”

Interesting comparison, because the behavior in question (doomscrolling, inability to manage compulsion, time mismanagement) is definitely linked to ADHD/depression.

Yes, please state your point if you have one.

Treating your health, or having someone close to you tell you it could probably be better, shouldn’t be taboo.

Also, hold the snark, I’m engaging in good faith, here.

Good faith? All you’ve done in this thread is vaguepost and talk down to people who opened up about something they’re struggling with.

You said tech can’t fix human problems. I gave you examples. You dodged with something cryptic about mental health. al_borland said they’re helping a friend off these platforms and you told them “good luck fixing your own problem.” gf263 said they’ve been trying for ten years, and you said they’re “resistant to positive change, and that’s dangerous to me.” Here’s what you’re actually doing: reframing an ordinary struggle as a pathology someone’s in denial about, which puts you above them and turns their disagreement into “resistance.” It’s unfalsifiable. Any tool that works didn’t fix the real problem; anyone who pushes back isn’t ready yet. You’ve built a position where you can’t be wrong and everyone else needs help.

Do you actually want people to solve their problems, or do you just want to talk down to them and feel bigger? Ask yourself who really has the problem here.

> Here’s what you’re actually doing: reframing an ordinary struggle as a pathology someone’s in denial about

Is being wildly overweight also an insurmountable problem that I should not talk about?

Ordinary struggles are often unnecessary, and fixable - yes.

> Ask yourself who really has the problem here.

I’m gonna say - with 100% certainty: the people complaining they can’t stop bringing social media with them to the bathroom.

If what I’ve said is upsetting, put your phone down and look into the mirror.

(Vouched your comment to reply.)

> Yes you can.

I mean, go ahead and tell the user how to fix their problem with software.

They’re the perfect way to prove your point.

Scrolling is a bad habit. It's hard to kill habits outright, so you need to replacement.

Step one is figuring out what triggers the habit. Step two is finding a replacement.

Something that worked for me is keeping certain websites to the "big screen" (aka my computer). If I want to browse Reddit I have to get up and go to my PC. I've blocked it on my phone. For me, scrolling on my PC is a little more managable because hey while I'm there and looking at Reddit, I can open up a terminal and update my packages, or check my todos, or put on music...

I live alone, so it’s really hard to fully kick it because it feels like socializing a little bit…

I've struggled at times with various app blockers and limits. Most of them are just a little too easy to disable — or they prevent usage altogether.

AppBlock on Android has a feature that allows you to continue using an app after your time limit is up — if you're willing to wait 3 minutes without swiping to another app. And then, by default, it'll kick back in 15 minutes later.

Works really well for me.

This hits close to home. I really need to stop bringing my phone to brush my teeth…

Yikes.

I am the developer of an app in similar genre called Run for Fun which lets you block addictive apps of your choosing until you exercise (run, walk, bike, climb stairs, exercise to burn calories etc). It's very customizable depending upon how aggressive you need it to be:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/run-for-fun-screen-time-focus/...

I use Unhook on firefox and disabled the YouTube app.

https://unhook.app/

> uses iOS shortcuts

A friend showed this to me yesterday and I was impressed that Shortcuts are able to intervene like this. The whole premise of a third party app introducing these 'launch pauses' seemed very unlikely on iOS.

Based on this I'm now using Shortcuts to mute the phone before opening any offending auto-play-videos-with-sound apps (such as Instagram).

One sec broke my habit for a month or so but then it got back to “normal”. A friend of mine developed Amba - with that you need a physical nfc chip to unlock your apps. Ofc im biased but for me it works way better.

https://openamba.app/

There is a similar app called ScreenZen that can be set up with a timer like this, or small math problems. It's exceedingly effective at breaking the loop by forcing you to do a tiny task first - you're not impeded from doing anything important, but the mindless loops get broken up.

For me, 2 kids and 2 jobs has done wonders for curbing my social media habits.

There is a great habit-breaking app called “One Sec.” You configure it with your addicting apps or websites and it uses iOS shortcuts to interrupt you when you open them

Also effective (in my experience) is to use the Accessibility settings to turn down the screen saturation 90%.

A black-and-white phone is far less tempting to use, and quickly becomes tiresome.

I use the Minimalist launcher on Android and it's working pretty well. I have a rule that I don't use Facebook on Brave, and I have Chrome behind a wait, as is Reddit. I uninstalled other addictive apps, (e.g. Instagram, Facebook App) because I just don't use them anymore. Working better than I expected.

YouTube also added a shorts timer that does a more in-app version of this that you can set to 0 minutes to have it always on. It's under "time management" in the app settings. Can't do it on the website from what I'm aware.

I use YouTube in browser, partially because that already makes it worse… but still doesn’t stop the doom scrolling :)

Only thing that worked for me long term. My problem is mostly with shorts, so I didn’t want to have a global timer for the whole app.

For me it’s shorts and opening new tabs from the recommended videos on the one I’m currently watching… I usually never get to them though. Luckily I don’t have tab hoarding addiction and aggressively close all tabs whenever I realize I’ve got 20+ of them open.

I use browser only, then it is fairly easy to vibcode a userscript blocker, which does more or less the same as this app. It syncs between all devices as well. Of course, one can always turn userscripts off, but the pause to think helps already.

The selfie camera should take a picture of you, and after e.g. a year it can show how you aged while spending your time trying to consume Instagram/YouTube/etc...

Huge fan of One Sec - I think I've tried every screen time reducing app out there and it is my favorite. ScreenZen is another good one

logging out of apps after you finish using them is a simpler approach

I deleted Instagram a few years ago. Unfortunately too many restaurants and friends want to connect there so I recently re-installed.

I was lucky to never get addicted but, not making excuses, the moment I open the app, I click the logo at the top and pick "Following" and then I see only my friends. Of course it's not sticky (roll-eyes) but at least there's a way to mostly avoid the algo

I definitely miss some aspects of instagram. It was the reels that killed me. Not worth the mental cost. But I have no idea what my friends from college are up to these days because I don’t have that background knowledge informed from the 1% of posts in my feed that were actually personally relevant.

Overall I definitely feel mentally healthier without that app though.

What do restaurants have to do with instagram?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com