Make Your Smartphone Minimalist
[The founder writes this one-line introduction: keep one phone, make it calmer.]
Fig. 1 — one phone, made quieter
Three kinds of tools
01 · Built in · free
Settings
Black and white, a quiet Home Screen, limits on when apps open.
02 · A little friction
Locks
An app that pauses you, or a key that has to be somewhere else.
03 · No tools at all
Habits
Rules for places and times: the bedroom, the table, the walk.
Start here
About 5 minutes · iPhone · freePut black and white on a triple-click
Settings › Accessibility › Display & Text Size › Color Filters › Grayscale. Then Settings › Accessibility › Accessibility Shortcut › Color Filters.
Make a quiet Focus
Settings › Focus › + . Choose who can reach you, and link a Home Screen page with only the apps you need.
Give someone else the key
Set a Screen Time Schedule, then let a partner or friend type the Screen Time passcode. A code you set yourself is easy to reset.
Put black and white on a shortcut
Settings › Accessibility › Color and motion › Color correction, and choose grayscale. Then turn on its shortcut. On Samsung, add Grayscale to Sleep in Modes and Routines.
Make a quiet Mode
Settings › Modes › Create your own mode. Choose who can reach you under Notification filters, and give it a schedule.
Give someone else the key
Set App timers in Digital Wellbeing, then let a partner or friend set the App limits PIN. With it on, a zero-minute limit blocks an app.
The tools
How firm is it?
[One line from the founder: most people start soft and move along when they need to.]
Softest
A pause you can tap past
A limit with no passcode
A passcode you set
A passcode someone else holds
An app's strict mode
A key kept somewhere else
Firmest
A locked box, or leaving it at home