Phone Setup

2021-11-07

I've had a really good relationship with my smartphone recently, through just like — disconnecting the thing from the internet. Things like:

• got into the habit of turning off wifi and mobile data (the big one)
• browsing gemlogs and personal websites rather than endless scrolling apps
• changed from the stock launcher to OLauncher and hid all the endless scrolling apps
  • OLauncher's hide feature is great, really makes it a hassle to open without cutting you off completely
• downloaded lots of music on Spotify and set my podcatcher to download new episodes
• tried switching to grayscale mode

These have all helped, to various extents. I'm checking my phone a lot less. Part of the urge to check it so much was the fear of missing out, an unchecked notification. I used to just sit with Whatsapp open in case I got a message. I have a trained response to get rid of notifications — I mean, I really hate seeing unread message notifications. It's 100% a compulsion. It kind of worries me how strong the impulse to clear them is. I suppose it makes sense: they're literally designed to draw your attention.

Going offline has helped with it, though. I know that there isn't an unread message waiting for me. I can choose to go online and go through the loop of clearing notifications and replying to messages — then go back offline! I don't see a message notification unless I actively choose to.

I'd like to go further with this. It'd be neat to not have to connect every time I want to browse Gemini, for example. Offline-first distribution seems to be the current hotness in gemspace at the moment, and it's something that would fill that gap. A mobile RSS reader that can redirect gemini links to my client would work. Mostly I need to add more good blogs to my RSS feed.

(Gemini) Low budget P2P content distribution with git

Something I wanted to try out was insired by Ploum's offline-only computer, where my wifi and mobile network would only turn on if I was plugged into a power source. When I'm out of the house, my phone is a camera/iPod/emergency contact device. That definitely appeals to me.

(Gemini) Ploum's Offline Typewriter

Unfortunately it looks like Google disabled the ability to automate wifi settings in Android 10: I'd either have to root my phone or move to an open source OS, neither of which I particularly want to do right now. I may look into this in the future.