An iPhone is also very handy on holiday, but the device should not provide unnecessary distraction. With these tips, you only use your iPhone for the essentials.
No iPhone distractions on vacation with these tips
An iPhone is indispensable on vacation. With the right apps, you can discover the area, so you don’t miss any sights, only eat the best and find great events. An iPhone is also useful for translating, converting currency and of course for emergency situations. Still, it is a shame if you are unnecessarily distracted by this smartphone during the holiday.
You probably only have limited time at your holiday location. There you can enjoy your surroundings and each other, so we recommend that you switch off the distractions from your iPhone and enjoy the holiday to the fullest. You do this in the following ways.
1. Use airplane mode or do not disturb
On iOS, you have two convenient and quick-to-reach modes to make your phone quieter. In addition to the silence button on the side of your device, iOS offers an airplane mode and ‘Do not disturb’ mode. You can find these both in the Control Panel by swiping up on the screen from the bottom.
By tapping the plane, your iPhone will go into airplane mode. That means that you will no longer receive messages because the iPhone is not connected to your mobile internet connection or Wi-Fi. You can also no longer be disturbed by phone calls. You can still use apps, such as travel apps where you have made the information available offline in advance. Think for example of Google Maps or HERE WeGo.
Read more: I’m going on a trip and I’m taking with me: The 10 Best Vacation Apps for Your iPhone
Do you still want to have internet and receive telephone calls and text messages? Then choose ‘Do not disturb’ by tapping the moon in the control panel. Then your phone remains lifeless when you receive messages and other notifications. As soon as you pick up the device, you will see what came in during this quiet time.
2. Turn off your notifications or badges
Of course it is also possible to disable notifications for individual apps. To do this, go to the settings menu and select ‘Notifications’. There you will find a list of apps that send messages.
Choose an application and turn off the switch at ‘Allow notifications’ to disable the notifications. It is also possible to disable badge app symbols in the same menu. For example, it is useful to do this with messaging apps such as WhatsApp or social media. Without a badge, you will not be reminded every time how many unread messages you have left.
3. Make your apps inaccessible
There are those apps that you unknowingly open every time, but you really don’t need them on vacation. Think of your email app, which you mainly use for replying to work emails. Or apps that keep you scrolling forever, such as Twitter and Reddit. Place these apps in a place where you cannot easily reach them. For example, put them temporarily on a new page or in a folder. Do you not trust yourself at all? Then you can also remove them and reinstall them at home.
4. Set limits for apps
Don’t want to delete your apps, but want to make sure you don’t accidentally spend too many hours of the day on them? Then it is also possible to set limits for yourself. You can never have had the app open for more hours than you set yourself. That works via Screen Time of iOS:
- Open the Settings app and tap ‘Screen Time’;
- You will now see the dashboard. Tap on ‘App Limits’;
- Then tap on ‘Add limit’;
- Tap the correct category or tap ‘All apps and categories’ if you want to have a limit on everything;
- By tapping on the arrow behind a category you can see which apps belong to it. Tap the desired app;
- Set a time limit for how long you can use the app, per day or in a week.
Also read: This is how you set a TikTok limit
5. Set the screen to gray
In addition to the above tips, you can also take a more rigorous approach. It is possible to remove all color from your iPhone screen. This ensures that the screen is less attractive to look at, so that you also have less need to grab the device. To do that, follow the steps below.
- Go to the iOS settings menu;
- Choose ‘General> Accessibility’;
- Under the heading ‘See’ you choose ‘Custom view’;
- Choose ‘Color filters’;
- Turn on color filters by flipping the switch;
- Choose ‘Grayscale’.
6. Use apps
There are also several apps in the App Store that help you use your phone less often. Consider the Forest app. The idea is simple: as soon as you start the app, you indicate how many minutes you want to focus, choose a plant species that you want to grow and start the session.
The tree continues to grow as long as you do not touch your iPad or iPhone. If you do this, you are back to square one and your tree is no more than a plant.
You can of course choose to give up, but then you will be told that an innocent tree dies because of you, another example of nudging. The overview tab keeps track of how many trees you have already planted.
That’s how iOS makes your iPhone less addictive
Since iOS 12, Apple has focused more on fighting smartphone addiction. That’s why Apple is constantly introducing new features that help you become more aware of your iPhone usage. Apple has already made great strides with the introduction of Screen Time, Downtime and App Limits. Is Facebook or Instagram often the problem for you? On iPhone find out how to set a time limit for these apps.