Apple prefers to sell as many iPhones as possible, but is now also asked to make the product less addictive. However, do not wait for this, and get started with these tips yourself.
This way you make an iPhone less addictive
It seems like an almost impossible contradiction: a commercial company like Apple being asked to make its products less attractive. Yet shareholders recently raised the alarm, because the iPhone would certainly have become too addictive for young people.
Apple then promised to add more options for parents to limit use, although of course the addiction factor is just as great for adults. Do you want to do something about this? Then you can go to our tips.
1. Set Black and White Tints
It might go a bit far, but to make your iPhone look less attractive, more and more people are turning off the colors of their screen. By changing the iPhone into a phone with a black and white display, a red notification number is suddenly a lot less compelling, and notifications in dull gray colors invite less to unlock your device. You can easily set this option yourself by following the steps below.
- Open the Settings app;
- Choose ‘General’;
- Tap on ‘Accessibility’;
- Choose ‘Custom View’;
- Tap on ‘Color Filters’;
- Set the switch to green;
- Tap Grayscale.
2. Map your iPhone usage
If you think your iPhone addiction is not that bad, then it is smart to map out the use of the device. This is possible from iOS 12 with the handy Screen Time function from Apple. This registers how often you use an iPhone every day and divides all your apps into categories to keep it organized.
Based on this data, you will receive a weekly report with the time that you have spent with your iPhone or iPad. Screen time also takes into account the number of times you have picked up the device, which shows how often you unnoticed check for new messages. In the guide below we have explained all the possibilities of screen time.
Also read: Everything about screen time
3. Be strict with notifications
Almost every iOS app wants to send notifications, but in practice there are few apps that really need this. We can therefore advise everyone to take a strict look at the notification preferences on your iPhone. You can view this by following the steps below.
- Open the Settings app;
- Tap Notifications.
Here you can see for each app which powers they have to disturb you. Per app you can set exactly which types of notifications may be sent, and whether or not sound may be played. The fewer apps you give this access, the more often your iPhone screen stays black and you don’t have to worry about it.
4. Use a wearable
This may sound counterproductive, but since we’ve been wearing an Apple Watch, our iPhone usage has drastically decreased. Instead of taking your iPhone out of your pocket with every vibration and then checking Twitter again, a glance at your wrist is all it takes to see whether a message is worthwhile or not. This makes for a lot less distraction, especially if you use the above tip to allow only the most important apps to access notifications on the Apple Watch.
5. Clean up your home screen and apps
Just as you cannot focus in a cluttered room, it is more difficult to reduce your iPhone usage if your home screen is full of apps and notifications. Sit down to make your homescreen more practical. By making smart use of folders and removing unused apps, it becomes a lot less tempting to open app after app when you hold your iPhone for a moment.
Do you have any tips for limiting your iPhone use? Share them with us and other readers in a comment below this article.