Looking for an effective self-block application for Android
My phone is a Samsung A55. Fully updated.
I have ADHD and autism, which is to say that I have a very obsessive personality. I have used various blockers over the years to prevent me from wasting time on apps and websites.
Lock me Out has helped me for many years to curb my smartphone usage. Unfortunately, it stopped working, as it became easy to circumvent by either forcing the program to stop or uninstalling it. I have been in contact with the developer, but they weren't able to find a solution and eventually stopped responding to my emails.
So I need an app that prevents me from disabling blocks at all.
While I can pay for an app even if it is a little expensive, I cannot justify an expensive subscription priced in US dollars (although I might do so if there's no other alternative).
Any suggestions that could help me out? I'm using my phone 24/7, I can't stand it anymore. And I cannot simply turn it off because I have a toddler, and I must be accessible to my wife for emergencies when she leaves the home with him.
There are also many ways to use a smartphone that are actually useful, positive, and non-addictive. And I'd rather be able to access these functionalities.
Thanks!
Have you tried using parental controls to lock out apps? I believe those will be much harder to circumvent as the assumption is that the user is at least somewhat hostile to their operation.
You could also look into controls provided by MDM - Mobile Device Management - the suite of tools used by corporations to enforce policies on devices. But I genuinely have no idea how accessible that is to an individual.
I have not. If I understand correctly, someone would have to act as the "parent" in those cases? Perhaps my wife? It's definitely a possibility. I'll look into it. Thanks!
Possibly, I'm really not sure on the details. But I could imagine unlocking or acting as the parent could require a password that you could keep written down somewhere irritating to access, or something in that vein.
I understand that you're looking for a denial app to halt unwanted behavior, but have you considered the inverse? Like an app that incentivizes a desired behavior pattern?
I assume there are others, but a lot of people seem to like Focus Friend for this. It's a little game that only gives "progress" (make the number go up!) when you aren't using distracting apps. I didn't find it particularly compelling for my brain, but a lot of people do. I've had success with similar methods in other realms, i.e. games that give progress in exchange for steps have gotten me out of bed many mornings for a walk that I otherwise would have skipped.
I only mention this because I personally find that being told "no" and having someone (including myself) try to stop me just makes beating the restriction the new game - one that I usually win eventually. But when I'm instead told "I bet you can't (do the desired behavior)" and I get rewarded if I manage to do it, the game becomes beating their expectations - which I also can accomplish. It aligns what I know I want to have as a result (call it intellect or superego if you wish) with what I want to do out of stubbornness/competitiveness (call it emotion or id if you wish).
Just an idea if you hadn't tried it from this angle. Certainly not for everyone. Good luck, I know this struggle!
I have a crappy phone and nothing makes me not want to use it as slow response time, random lags, etc. It's just unpleasant to use so I don't use it as much.
Maybe you can try to put the phone on power saving mode, and increase effects/transitions time in the settings, you could also try to limit the bandwidth so it's slow to load stuff. Another idea would be to make it unpleasant to hold physically, maybe a super heavy, bulky, ugly case ?
Buy the cheapest phone you can find next time :)
Unfortunately anything that is not a hard block will work for me. I could buy a much crappier phone, that is certainly a possibility. But the reality is that I'll just keep using regardless of inconvenience, the impulse is way too strong.
Thanks!
Maybe at this stage you should get a dumb phone for your wife and relegate the useful stuff to a desktop computer.
Setting timers for apps and adding the widget as prominet as possible when you open the phone might help you.
https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/how-to-enable-the-digital-wellbeing-widget-on-android-12
I really struggle with this as well, especially as someone with bad ADHD and also working from home. In fact, I am literally blowing off work right now while browsing Tildes and to type this.
I put a screen use time widget on my home screen. That way every time I pick up my phone I am faced directly with how much time I've wasted on it that day. The problem with this is, if I am "good" and don't use it much, I think to myself: "oh I've got X minutes left in my phone budget today, so I'm going to spend the rest of the night scrolling." Not good.
The only thing I've found that really helps is physically putting my phone somewhere else. It is downstairs on the kitchen table right now. If I "accidentally" go get it again, I might make it more difficult to get to by bringing it outside and locking it in my car. I have such a bad memory that sometimes putting it in a random drawer will make me forget where it is the next time I go to pick it up, so I can effectively "hide" it from myself (until I use the find my phone feature from my watch).
I have also received advertisements for this "brick" product, although I have no personal experience with it: https://getbrick.com/
Unfortunately, I do have to be at a computer for work. Before I went WFH, I asked a friend who worked in IT to block certain websites from my machine for me, which helped. But I have found nothing to remain focused with a computer monitor in front of me.
Sometimes I just say to myself, "be bored". Like if I'm about to pick it up I just have to think to myself, "no... it's OK to just be bored for a minute. Stare at the wall if you have to but don't pick up the phone." Sorry you're dealing with this, I know what it's like. I have not found many good strategies but these are the best ones I've come up with.