HMD delivers Android Digital Detox feature to stop you scrolling your life away

A couple of months after launch, an OS update has delivered one of the Nokia HMD Skyline's headline features. We took a look at HMD's Skyline repairable smartphone in August. This month, a software update has enabled one of the more interesting features of this user-repairable mid-range Android fondleslab – selective social …

[Brave Coward]

T(h)or old recipe

Another problem easily solved with a good hammer.

[Tron]

Grown adults riding a bike with stabilisers on.

FFS, just manage your time sensibly.

[keithpeter]

Mr Moto Thinks Fast

My cheapie Moto g14 has a nice pie chart in settings under the Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls heading that tells me that I have had 22 minutes of screen time today, with 11 notifications (dialogue with SO about who buys what from where for dinner).

There is a Parental Control section to this heading. Seems like it might be useful for some children. Restrictions can be per app or global. In my case, alas, the Ouija Board application would need to be installed and functioning.

(I just leave mobile data switched off along with wifi and location services. Battery lasts ages. Makes good phone calls)

[Mentat74]

Digital Detox ?

How about disabling all smartphone functionality except for the ability to make and recieve phone calls ?

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: Digital Detox ?

The first thing that gets binned when I setup any device are the weather and news apps - followed by social media apps, games. Then it's a fight to control the browsers - they seem to get more intrusive and bloated on every release. My (android) phone is used for... making calls, either mobile or a couple of apps, text, email and browsing when not at home. Few other apps - 2FA, and a couple of parking apps are frequently used

[Liam Proven]

Re: Digital Detox ?

> How about disabling all smartphone functionality except for the ability to make and recieve phone calls ?

No thanks. I almost never ever call anyone, or receive calls. It's the least useful function of the device to the extent that I had a rooted-and-reflashed Chinese smartphone (a PPTV King 7) on which the microphone didn't work, and it barely impacted my use of the device. I just carried headphones in my pocket.

I would like a phone that can do calls, texts, messages across all my protocols and services, emails, and nothing much else. Play music would be good. Maybe open links I was sent, but not let me go to new URLs.

This feature is a step in the right direction, but only a small step.

[080]

HMD also makes very cheap 4G Dumb Phones

[Lars]

HMD Global

I would call them just phones. On my Android I can choose the "do not disturb" which is fine but perhaps we would also need a "phone only" choice,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMD_Global

[Liam Proven]

> HMD also makes very cheap 4G Dumb Phones

I said right there in the article:

«

HMD is the company that makes modern Nokia-branded handsets, and it markets some of them – essentially its 21st century feature devices – as "detox phones."

»

With a link. What more can I do?