Remember when Facebook had a chronological timeline? Around 2006, the platform launched with a simple chronological display of your friends' activities. By 2011, this was replaced with the algorithmic "News Feed" that prioritized content based not on recency, but on what would keep you engaged longer.
This shift marked a fundamental change in how social media platforms operate. The goal was no longer to show you what you selected and wanted to see, but rather what would hold your attention the longest. Engagement became the primary metric, and the algorithms were optimized accordingly.
The Attention Economy
This transformation wasn't limited to Facebook. Nearly every major social media platform followed suit, creating systems designed to maximize the time you spend scrolling through their apps. Modern smartphones evolved in parallel, becoming attention-capturing devices designed to keep us constantly engaged.
The problem is clear: these apps and devices aren't designed to be the most useful to us, but the most addictive. They're engineered to hijack our attention, creating habits that keep us coming back even when we don't intend to.
The Dumbphone Solution
Enter the concept of a "dumbphone" approach. This doesn't necessarily mean reverting to a flip phone from 2005, but rather intentionally limiting the functionality of our smartphones to serve us rather than the other way around.
The core principle is simple: minimize the number of attention-stealing apps on your device, and modify the remaining ones to be less addictive. This means:
- Removing apps with algorithmic feeds (social media, but also shopping lists and calorie trackers that have scrollable feeds).
- Making your phone visually boring to reduce the attractiveness of using it
- Disabling notifications for most apps, re-adding them only on demand
For those of you who still want to use social media apps on the phone, I recommend using Firefox with the extension SocialFocus to clean up the experience. But if you can avoid it, remove the apps completely from your phones. Your real-world contacts will recognize it ;).
My Minimalist Phone Setup
Cleaned up Home Screen
Here's a screenshot of my current home screen:
I'm using "O Launcher," a minimalist Android launcher that strips away colorful icons and replaces them with simple text (Dumbify is a great iOS alternative). The black and white interface intentionally makes the phone less visually stimulating and removes the instant gratification that comes with colorful app icons.
With O Launcher, I can:
- Search for apps by typing on the keyboard
- See only text representations of apps
- Avoid the visual clutter and attention-grabbing design of standard launchers
App blocking
There are numerous apps to block apps on specific conditions. The App I found best fitting my needs was ScreenZen, it can be configured to show a delay before opening certain apps, and limit the number of "unlocks" you can have per app.
This helps to remove the habit of constantly opening Messanger apps, or whatever apps you have trouble with.
Beyond my Smartphone
While the smartphone was the most disruptive device for my attention, my browsing behavior could be improved as well. The same extension that I mentioned for Firefox on your phone can be installed on any Chromium desktop browser and optimize your websites to be less cluttered with suggestions and more focused on what you intend to do.
For example, this is what my YouTube home screen looks like:
Results
Since implementing these changes, I've seen my screen time drop dramatically. More importantly, I've regained control over my phone. It's become a tool again, rather than something that demands my attention throughout the day.
The irony isn't lost on me that I'm writing this on a website that you're reading on a screen. Technology itself isn't the problem – it's how it's designed and how we interact with it. By being intentional about our digital tools, we can ensure they enhance our lives rather than consume them.