Smartphones and being present

Managing notifications and attention

• Many describe aggressively taming notifications: batching them a few times per day, permanent Do Not Disturb with a tiny whitelist, or using Focus Modes to hide almost all alerts on both Android and iOS.
• Some physically separate themselves from the phone (phone box, leaving it in another room, using a wristwatch instead of checking the lock screen for time).
• Tools like Screen Time, app timers, focus modes, “flip-to-shh,” and third‑party blockers (Lock Me Out, Bloom+Freedom, Clearspace) are used to add friction or hard lockouts; people differ on whether these are enough if motivation is low.
• One camp insists you must address the underlying “escape” need behind doomscrolling; others report dramatic improvements from strict technical limits, even with ADHD.

Social media, short-form video, and addiction mechanics

• Short-form video with infinite scroll is repeatedly likened to slot machines, cigarettes, and hard drugs: fast dopamine loops, suspense, and constant novelty make it hard to stop, and kids are seen as especially vulnerable.
• Several people recount immediate gains in sleep and mood after removing phones from bedrooms or quitting Reels/TikTok; others notice involuntary relapse once the phone returns.
• Some feel “immune” to TikTok-style content but admit similar compulsions toward text-based forums, drama threads, or news comments, arguing it’s the variable‑reward loop, not the medium.

Apps, hostile mobile web, and recommendation engines

• There’s strong resentment toward being forced into apps (QR-only townhalls, school/sports platforms, social links that are unusable without installing the app). Workarounds include desktop-mode browsing, uBlock/annoyance lists, custom CSS, and Telegram download bots.
• YouTube is a major battleground: some see its recommendation engine as uniquely valuable—like a knowledgeable librarian—while others say recommendations inevitably hijack attention, so they delete history, disable recs, or use extensions (Unhook, Untrap, SocialFocus, alternative clients).
• Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok mobile experiences are widely criticized as intentionally broken or manipulative, pushing users toward apps and deeper engagement loops.

Alternative devices and “dumbification”

• Strategies include tiny phones, e‑ink Androids, old iPhones, de-Googled devices, disabling browsers/App Store, or even abandoning smartphones entirely and relying on cash and offline tablets.
• Critics argue smartphones can also be powerful creative tools (camera, audio, notes, field work), and that blanket claims like “phones are pure consumption” ignore younger generations who do real work on them.

Presence, boredom, and context

• Many try to reclaim “being present” by reading paper books, taking walks, traveling, or just letting the mind wander instead of reflexive phone use.
• Others push back: in lonely, unsafe, or hyper-digital societies, the phone is described as a necessary escape or social lifeline, and not everyone wants to be more present in their immediate environment.