Thanks for writing this, Austin. I'm currently working on a piece about my experience with the Light Phone. Long story short, I don't use it anymore and am back to iphone but I learned a ton. I've been on quite the journey of trying to find the right limitations for my phone to help me be present with others and even more, with God! I so relate to finding all the built in settings too easy to circumvent. If it's a simple setting switch, it's too easy! I might need to try the brick next.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with something that has been helpful for you in finding some semblance of digital consumption balance 🥳
I left all social media last year (that’s when I found Substack which brought back memories of all my old blogging days and a reminder of my love of long form content!) as I just haven’t been able to find a good balance at all. It’s always been all or nothing for me 😅 aren’t all addictions are like this?!
But, when your work depends on being immersed in social media, it’s great when you find something that helps make that balance possible. I’m still hoping I can get there through sheer force of will and habit training (it’s become an actual challenge for me that I’m determined to conquer 💪).
This sounds like it might be a more elegant system than my current workaround, Google parental control administered by a sock puppet account with a hard to remember password.
I wanted to use the Brick so bad, but have since discovered that my phone’s NFC antenna (or whatever recognises the Brick and other nfc devices) is broken, so despite getting two devices (one from their very agreeable customer service team) neither have worked and I’ve had to work on my own self control rather torturously!
'Focus filters and password-restricted screen time controls are easy to set up and easy to circumvent'
For me the killer circumvention method when deleting / restricting apps is just going in through the browser, which this brick wouldn't address. I do understand the need for this kind of thing though so fair enough for the recommendation if it's working for you.
I haven’t tested this, but I’m fairly certain you can block mobile URL’s as well. Whenever I set my profiles up, it gave me the option to block specific websites directly.
Hi Austin, thanks for sharing. I fail to see why I must have yet another gadget whereas I can achieve exactly the same by how I setup my smart phone, irrespective of brand or OS. In other words with a focus on notifications, alerts, etc all can be customised to achieve exactly the same? Plus I can can strengthen it, to my specific goals, as I grow on this journey to the gate?
I hope you're getting a commission off this post; I ordered one this AM after reading this.
Nope, not affiliated with them in any way. I just want people to use it!
I have BlockSite on my phone (VPN) but just bought this from this post and can’t wait to try it out! Thanks so much for putting on my radar
Thanks for writing this, Austin. I'm currently working on a piece about my experience with the Light Phone. Long story short, I don't use it anymore and am back to iphone but I learned a ton. I've been on quite the journey of trying to find the right limitations for my phone to help me be present with others and even more, with God! I so relate to finding all the built in settings too easy to circumvent. If it's a simple setting switch, it's too easy! I might need to try the brick next.
For me, the Brick killed any interest I had in a Light Phone. I think a Brick will be exactly what you’re looking for!
Thanks for the rec! You convinced me. Ordered.
Hope it’s just as helpful to you as it’s been to me!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with something that has been helpful for you in finding some semblance of digital consumption balance 🥳
I left all social media last year (that’s when I found Substack which brought back memories of all my old blogging days and a reminder of my love of long form content!) as I just haven’t been able to find a good balance at all. It’s always been all or nothing for me 😅 aren’t all addictions are like this?!
But, when your work depends on being immersed in social media, it’s great when you find something that helps make that balance possible. I’m still hoping I can get there through sheer force of will and habit training (it’s become an actual challenge for me that I’m determined to conquer 💪).
I commend you for trying to find that balance. Throw everything you can at it - every little tactic and trick helps!
Been considering one of these for a while. Embarrassed to think of how much difference it might make.
I got ads from them for probably a year before deciding to pull the trigger. Only wish I had done it sooner!
OK OK
This sounds like it might be a more elegant system than my current workaround, Google parental control administered by a sock puppet account with a hard to remember password.
uuhh, couldn't you just change notification settings?
Tried that. Many times, in numerous ways. Didn’t matter.
Does it prevent you from deleting an app and then using a fresh copy from app store?
Interesting question. I’ve not tested that. I imagine it would still block it, but I could be wrong!
I wanted to use the Brick so bad, but have since discovered that my phone’s NFC antenna (or whatever recognises the Brick and other nfc devices) is broken, so despite getting two devices (one from their very agreeable customer service team) neither have worked and I’ve had to work on my own self control rather torturously!
That’s unfortunate. Good on you for investing in your self control in spite of technical difficulties!
'Focus filters and password-restricted screen time controls are easy to set up and easy to circumvent'
For me the killer circumvention method when deleting / restricting apps is just going in through the browser, which this brick wouldn't address. I do understand the need for this kind of thing though so fair enough for the recommendation if it's working for you.
I haven’t tested this, but I’m fairly certain you can block mobile URL’s as well. Whenever I set my profiles up, it gave me the option to block specific websites directly.
Well that's interesting, thanks
Hi Austin, thanks for sharing. I fail to see why I must have yet another gadget whereas I can achieve exactly the same by how I setup my smart phone, irrespective of brand or OS. In other words with a focus on notifications, alerts, etc all can be customised to achieve exactly the same? Plus I can can strengthen it, to my specific goals, as I grow on this journey to the gate?