Up until six months ago, Luke Thomas owned a flip phone. And had he not been new to Boston and regularly getting lost, he probably wouldn't have made the switch.
"I finally upgraded to a smartphone," Thomas said, "but I started noticing I started checking it more."
All around him, others were heads down texting, tweeting and "Liking," as well; fellow passengers never looked up during their morning commute. "They can't even make it up the stairs without checking out their phone," he added.
Thomas, a growth marketer at Safari Books Online, already felt the need for a digital intervention.
If you're being honest with yourself, you know you need one, too.
Thomas created Digital Detach. The Android-only app allows users to select the amount of time they want to detox for, whether 15 minutes or three hours. After making their selection, users are locked out of their phone's apps for that period, and are only able to make calls or send text messages — in case of an emergency, of course.
Now, this idea of a "digital detox" isn't a new one. Bloggers have been known to go Internet silent for a year or give up their phone for two weeks. But Thomas doesn't find those methods effective.
"The purpose of the app is to make taking a detox easy, and a habit," he said.
"Digital Detach, because your smartphone is making you dumb."
Thomas is paying for Digital Detach out of his own pocket, and worked with a dev shop to build it. The app went live Wednesday morning, and is available to download for 99 cents. He is currently looking for feedback, although already has some of his own ideas on the features he would like to see incorporated in the future.
"I want the app to be more 'smart,'" Thomas acknowledged, saying he thinks apps like on-demand car services Uber and Lyft are "perfectly fine" and shouldn't be limited. The issue comes in "when you're at the dinner table, and you're constantly checking," he explained.
Thomas would also like to build reminders in that could tell users, "You've been on your phone for a while, it's time to take a break." Given the average smartphone user checks his or her phone 150 times a day, a reminder couldn't hurt.
Unfortunately for iPhone users, Thomas said he couldn't get the permissions he needed to build a similar app for iOS. But as for Thomas? He owns a Motorola Moto X.
And as for you, here are some suggestions Thomas has for what you could do once you start spending less time on your phone:
- Playing with puppies;
- Reading a book; or
- Actually hanging out with friends in person (assuming you have friends).
The tagline says it all: "Digital Detach, because your smartphone is making you dumb."
Image via Luke Thomas
