• Quitting the smartphone

    From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sat Aug 15 14:35:01 2026

    Anyone else currently trying to reduce their screen use?

    I gave up on social apps keeping only Youtube for now. Because I enjoy listening to stuff while working. Helps me fall asleep at night too. The
    only social app I have left is probably github, if that's considered a
    social app. But I do follow people and checks it pretty compulsively
    during the day. So I guess it counts. It's not exactly work related 100%
    of the time.

    Not being on any social platforms has helped me regain control over my
    time, and better at "living in the present".

    But I still use my stupid phone too much. Now mainly the web browser.
    I check forums and e-mails way too many times than strictly necessary.
    It's a bad habit, built over a loong long time. Over 15 years I think.

    I have an android. I've heard of minimalist launchers and other
    techniques to "dumb it down". Still need banking apps, and digital ID.
    Yes, in Sweden you REALLY need those things. But I can easily strip the
    rest. At least in theory.

    Main goal are - being in the present together with family, less brain rot,
    less stress overall, you know, the usual downsides of the current era.

    Any thoughts or experience on this?

    Cheers

    Peter

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Yegor Gluhov@21:3/228 to Peter London on Sat Aug 15 15:17:04 2026
    Hello Peter!

    15 Aug 26 14:35, you wrote to you:

    Anyone else currently trying to reduce their screen use?
    I gave up on social apps keeping only Youtube for now. Because I enjoy listening to stuff while working. Helps me fall asleep at night too. The only social app I have left is probably github, if that's considered a social app. But I do follow people and checks it pretty compulsively during the day. So I guess it counts. It's not exactly work related 100% of the time.

    Does the FTN reader count as social apps? It's the only thing I check pretty compulsively throughout the day.

    Checking the awkward stuff like FB or IG just isn't interesting - they seem to be built for bots and algorithms, not humans.

    Yegor
    --- AmberEdit/linux 0.1
    * Origin: Somewhere in the world (21:3/228)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Peter London on Sat Aug 15 09:16:59 2026
    Peter London wrote to All <=-


    Anyone else currently trying to reduce their screen use?

    Yes.

    I gave up on social apps keeping only Youtube for now. Because I enjoy listening to stuff while working. Helps me fall asleep at night too.
    The only social app I have left is probably github, if that's
    considered a social app. But I do follow people and checks it pretty compulsively during the day. So I guess it counts. It's not exactly
    work related 100% of the time.

    I'm a visual person, love architecture and cityscapes. I've kept
    Instagram on my phone but try to spend most of my unconscious "pick up
    my phone time" reading books on Kindle. Between those free offers on
    Amazon and buying books on Amazon and Kobo, I've got close to 1,000
    books in my Calibre library.

    (Before Amazon removed the ability to easily download books, I
    downloaded all of mine into Calibre. I also import PDFs into it and
    then onto my Kindle, but they're not as easy to read on a phone
    screen...)





    Not being on any social platforms has helped me regain control over my time, and better at "living in the present".

    But I still use my stupid phone too much. Now mainly the web browser.
    I check forums and e-mails way too many times than strictly necessary. It's a bad habit, built over a loong long time. Over 15 years I think.

    I have an android. I've heard of minimalist launchers and other
    techniques to "dumb it down". Still need banking apps, and digital ID. Yes, in Sweden you REALLY need those things. But I can easily strip the rest. At least in theory.

    Main goal are - being in the present together with family, less brain
    rot, less stress overall, you know, the usual downsides of the current era.

    Any thoughts or experience on this?

    Cheers

    Peter

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)

    ... SURELY NOT EVERYONE WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sat Aug 15 20:45:01 2026

    Hello Peter!

    Hi back Yegor :).

    Does the FTN reader count as social apps? It's the only thing I check
    pretty compulsively throughout the day.

    It probably does, but just of out curiosity, which app is that?

    I use JuiceSSH to check my bbs 500 times a day. But it's not optimal.
    Been wanting to vibe code somerhing better, but it conflicts with my idea
    of reducing screen time, that's a problem... :).

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Yegor Gluhov@21:3/228 to Peter London on Sat Aug 15 21:58:18 2026
    Hello Peter!

    15 Aug 26 20:45, you wrote to All:

    Does the FTN reader count as social apps? It's the only thing I check
    pretty compulsively throughout the day.
    It probably does, but just of out curiosity, which app is that?
    I use JuiceSSH to check my bbs 500 times a day. But it's not optimal.

    I used to use GoldED+ for many years, but it's not very convenient on a smartphone over SSH. So now I'm vibe-coding my own AmberEdit, but it's pretty far from production-ready.

    Been wanting to vibe code somerhing better, but it conflicts with my
    idea of reducing screen time, that's a problem... :).

    In particular, the vibe-coding process itself will take a lot of screen time. :-) AI keeps messing up constantly, so it's just endless checking and double-checking.

    Yegor
    --- AmberEdit/linux 0.1
    * Origin: Somewhere in the world (21:3/228)
  • From Atreyu@21:1/176 to Peter London on Sat Aug 15 16:47:54 2026
    On 15 Aug 26 14:35:01, Peter London said the following to All:

    Anyone else currently trying to reduce their screen use?

    A long time ago I did the following to my Iphone...

    - No more noise or vibrating on texts.
    - No more noise or vibrating on emails.
    - Unknown callers not in my contacts are shitcanned to voicemail.
    - The "focus time" of absolute silence between 10pm and 7am.

    .... And its been nicely quiet since.

    I don't use any social apps whatsoever.

    Atreyu

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (21:1/176)
  • From deon@21:2/116 to Peter London on Sun Aug 16 11:25:52 2026
    Re: Quitting the smartphone
    By: Peter London to All on Sat Aug 15 2026 02:35 pm

    Howdy,

    Anyone else currently trying to reduce their screen use?

    Main goal are - being in the present together with family, less brain rot, less stress overall, you know, the usual downsides of the current era.

    Any thoughts or experience on this?

    So you are probably fighting a loosing battle, unless everybody is on board.

    I dont have any social media apps on my phone, nor have I used them much over the last few years. I drop in to Facebook when I'm selling something, I've had pretty good success getting rid of stuff. I've probably lost some buyers though because I forget to check it to see if anybody has responded to an item being sold.

    I travel to work everyday by train, and in a train carriage it is hard to find somebody else who is not gawking at their phone 100% of the time. I listen to music and my phone stays in my pocket for the journey, and look out the window to see what's going on ...

    I do the same when I travel for work, and I'm in a restaurant for dinner - all the other table for one's are glued to their phone, I'm busy watching what's going on around me... It's pretty sad when their is a couple having dinner and they are both glued to their phones and not each other...


    ...лоеп
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)
  • From Nightfox@21:1/137 to Yegor Gluhov on Sat Aug 15 21:53:10 2026
    Re: Quitting the smartphone
    By: Yegor Gluhov to Peter London on Sat Aug 15 2026 09:58 pm

    In particular, the vibe-coding process itself will take a lot of screen time. :-) AI keeps messing up constantly, so it's just endless checking and double-checking.

    I've found that if you try to vibe-code an entire project, it often doesn't save you much time because you have to spend time checking and correcting it. But AI coding tools can save you time if you at least use it for smaller tasks (or perhaps simpler tasks).

    Nightfox
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (21:1/137)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sun Aug 16 07:30:02 2026

    I used to use GoldED+ for many years, but it's not very convenient on a smartphone over SSH. So now I'm vibe-coding my own AmberEdit, but it's
    pretty far from production-ready.

    Yeah, I know, I've tried that as well :). Congratz on getting your own
    project going :).

    In particular, the vibe-coding process itself will take a lot of screen
    time. :-) AI keeps messing up constantly, so it's just endless checking
    and double-checking.

    Haha :). Yes you're absolutely right. Yeah, I'm ignoring the temptation to revolutionize smartphone FTN-capabilities for now. The format fits better
    in a terminal anyways. Preferably on a crt.

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sun Aug 16 07:35:01 2026

    Hi Nightfox!

    I've found that if you try to vibe-code an entire project, it often
    doesn't save you much time because you have to spend time checking and correcting it. But AI coding tools can save you time if you at least
    use it for smaller tasks (or perhaps simpler tasks).

    I agree. I think AI can be truly helpful with the syntax in languages you
    may not be 100% comfortable with. For small fixes it's great. And a time
    saver, it can analyze large code trees on a fraction of the time human
    eyes would do it.

    The engineering part though, not so great. Human brains still have an
    advantage there.

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sun Aug 16 07:40:01 2026

    Hi Atreyu,

    A long time ago I did the following to my Iphone...

    - No more noise or vibrating on texts. - No more noise or vibrating on emails. - Unknown callers not in my contacts are shitcanned to
    voicemail. - The "focus time" of absolute silence between 10pm and 7am.

    .... And its been nicely quiet since.

    Good idea. In fact, I don't have sound on any notifications except texts
    and calls from my wife. If she asks me to buy groceries on way home from
    work I don't want to miss it (in that case I definitely will have to go
    out again, once home and when she asks "did you see my texts" haha).

    I don't use any social apps whatsoever.

    Wise choice :).

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sun Aug 16 07:55:01 2026

    Hi deon!

    So you are probably fighting a loosing battle, unless everybody is
    on board.

    I have made the same observations as you. It's dystopic, especially
    seeing couples and especially with kids, like 5 people glued to their
    phones, not saying a word during dinner. What happened? Years ago I
    stopped bringing my phone to the table. At least that.

    2 of my family members are the most screen addicted individuals I've ever observed. They both get physically ill when the network is down. And of
    course, I am tech support, so their stress affects me too. I've learned to build pretty solid network solutions for them, though. Because it makes my
    life easier too, haha.

    Two members of my family are the most screen addicted individuals I've
    ever observed. One of them is 84, and the other is 12, so this is not
    exaclty a generational problem either ;). They both get physically ill
    when the network is down. And of course, I am their tech support, so
    their stress affects me too. I've learned to build pretty solid network solutions for them, though. Because it makes my life easier too, haha.

    My wife fortunately has a healthy relationship with her screen, so we're
    able to hang out, still. My kid is three and I can still influence him
    to the better. But again, all his future friends are gonna be glued to
    their screens most likely, so there's only so much you can do. It's a
    worry for me. One amongst many worries. :).

    Cheers

    Peter

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From deon@21:2/116 to Peter London on Sun Aug 16 17:01:53 2026
    Re: Quitting the smartphone
    By: Peter London to All on Sun Aug 16 2026 07:55 am

    Howdy,

    My kid is three and I can still influence him
    to the better. But again, all his future friends are gonna be glued to
    their screens most likely, so there's only so much you can do. It's a
    worry for me. One amongst many worries. :).

    You can do a lot, and you'll have to if you want to win this war...

    So I have two teenage kids, and they can complain all they like (they dont so much anymore), but the phone is for my benefit not theirs. Because of busy extra curricular activites, I have two low cost phone services, that they take with them to so I know where they are, and they can call home if they need to.

    One service doesnt have data, its PAYG, and I've told them if it runs out of credit (because of data usage or text messages), they are on house duties for the month, and that will be used to fund the credit top up. (Kids dont like house duties.)

    I've been through the "its not fair johnny has a phone", but they've heard my point of view on phones so many times that they are probably sick of hearing it. They also dont like it when I tell them to go ask Johnny's parents to buy them a phone service...

    They only reason my kids have got laptops, is because its required for school (and I resisted on that one too), and even then they are locked down, can only be online between specific hours, to do specific school work and *never* in their room. Unless parents hold back on devices, especially for school, it'll be an ongoing war. Your energy will decide if you win it.


    ...лоеп
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: I'm playing with ANSI+videotex - wanna play too? (21:2/116)
  • From Atreyu@21:1/176 to Peter London on Sun Aug 16 10:04:25 2026
    On 16 Aug 26 07:40:01, Peter London said the following to All:

    Good idea. In fact, I don't have sound on any notifications except texts and calls from my wife. If she asks me to buy groceries on way home from work I don't want to miss it (in that case I definitely will have to go
    out again, once home and when she asks "did you see my texts" haha).

    I've been on the receiving end of "Did you see my email" or "Did you see my texts"... both questions are nonsense.

    If someone wants your attention, have them call you.

    Atreyu

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (21:1/176)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Sun Aug 16 23:20:02 2026

    Hi deon,

    You can do a lot, and you'll have to if you want to win this war...

    That I have understood :).

    And, seriously. Hats off. It sounds like you're a great parent, deon. I
    really mean it. You got this.

    Your energy will decide if you win it.

    Yes, I'm aware. It's so easy to give in. Because we parents have our own
    shit to worry about also. We can't control everything but for the things
    we actually can control, we better try to be consistent.

    I think it also helps to choose our battles carefully. Screen addiction is definitely one of the battles worth fighting against.

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@21:4/122 to Peter London on Mon Aug 17 07:35:44 2026
    Peter London wrote to All <=-

    I think it also helps to choose our battles carefully. Screen addiction
    is definitely one of the battles worth fighting against.

    When my daughter was younger, we had more options. She didn't have a
    phone, so I could turn the wifi off for her at a specific time each
    night.

    She's got an iPhone now, and between cellular service and Apple
    changing MAC addresses it's harder to block the wifi.

    We did turn on screen time and let her see how much time she spent on
    her phone. Impress on her that time spent on the phone was time not
    spent doing other things.

    Tried to impress on her the difference between consuming and creating.

    She's turned out with a pretty healthy use of social networks, but
    she's addicted to group chats and texting and will drop everything for
    them.



    ... Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance
    --- MultiMail/Win v0.52
    * Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Mon Aug 17 22:15:01 2026

    Hi poindtexter!

    Tried to impress on her the difference between consuming and creating.

    Good. But how do you explain to a teenager that creating has more value
    than consuming? :D

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Mortar M.@21:2/101 to Peter London on Tue Aug 18 14:01:11 2026
    Re: Quitting the smartphone
    By: Peter London to All on Sun Aug 16 2026 07:55:01

    2 of my family members are the most screen addicted individuals I've ever observed. They both get physically ill when the network is down. And of course, I am tech support, so their stress affects me too. I've learned to build pretty solid network solutions for them, though. Because it makes my life easier too, haha.

    Two members of my family are the most screen addicted individuals I've
    ever observed. One of them is 84, and the other is 12, so this is not exaclty a generational problem either ;). They both get physically ill
    when the network is down. And of course, I am their tech support, so
    their stress affects me too. I've learned to build pretty solid network solutions for them, though. Because it makes my life easier too, haha.

    You know these two paragraphs say the same thing, right?
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)
  • From Mortar M.@21:2/101 to Atreyu on Tue Aug 18 14:05:12 2026
    Re: Re: Quitting the smartphone
    By: Atreyu to Peter London on Sun Aug 16 2026 10:04:25

    If someone wants your attention, have them call you.

    I'm just the opposite. I hate voice calls. Texting gets my attention a lot quicker.
    --- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
    * Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (21:2/101)
  • From Peter London@21:3/242 to All on Tue Aug 18 22:15:01 2026

    You know these two paragraphs say the same thing, right?

    It was obviously a mistake made either when copying / pasting from
    somewhere else, or while editing the whole thing.

    ... The problem is usually between the keyboard and the chair ...

    --- SklaffKOM v1.33rc2
    * Origin: Twilight Node, Solvesborg, Sweden (21:3/242)
  • From Atreyu@21:1/176 to Mortar M. on Wed Aug 19 19:03:06 2026
    On 18 Aug 26 14:05:12, Mortar M. said the following to Atreyu:

    If someone wants your attention, have them call you.

    I'm just the opposite. I hate voice calls. Texting gets my attention a lo quicker.

    To each his own... Some people I know enjoy spending time typing paragraphs of text nonsense that I ignore as it could have been articulated verbally in less time and got my limited attention span better.

    Yes, I'm aware of the irony of my words.

    Atreyu

    --- Renegade vY2Ka2
    * Origin: Joey, do you like movies about gladiators? (21:1/176)