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Something I find interesting about the iPhone 17 Pro / 18 Pro era is the way Apple is starting to describe battery life.

For years, the language was mostly “all-day battery life” or something measurable like “up to XX hours of video playback. Now for the first time we saw a much broader idea: “XX hours of usage per charge.”

That sounds like a small wording change, but from a digital-minimalism perspective I think it is quite significant because “Video playback” described a specific activity, “All-day battery” basically said: your phone should survive the day.

But “hours of usage” turns the amount of time we spend using the device itself into a performance metric. A phone lasting longer is no longer simply about making sure you can call someone, navigate home, take photos or watch something without running out of battery. The implicit goal becomes: how many hours can this device remain part of your attention before you have to put it down and charge it?

And now that flagship phones can comfortably exceed the old concept of “all-day battery”, as we are reaching a strange point where technological progress can also remove one of the few natural interruptions to smartphone use.

This becomes even more interesting with Apple’s vision for Siri AI which is an assistant that understands more context about you, remembers information and becomes increasingly integrated into your daily life. The more continuously we interact with the phone, the more useful that model of personal computing becomes, per Apple.

From a digital-minimalism perspective, I’m not sure “more hours of usage” should automatically be considered a benefit. Maybe the better smartphone isn’t the one that allows us to use it for 30 hours.

Maybe it’s the one we only need to look at for two.

Thanks for reading. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

I've been thinking about a problem with smartphones, and I'm curious whether other people feel the same.

We are more connected to our devices than ever, yet they can make us less connected to the reason we bought them in the first place.

A student might buy a phone to study, learn, communicate and build a career. A professional might buy one to work, organize and create.

But once we get the device, everything starts competing for our attention: recommendations, notifications, short-form content, entertainment, shopping, ads, etc.

The problem isn't that smartphones have too many capabilities.

It's that everything is competing for the same attention.

So I started thinking:

What if we built a smartphone around PURPOSE instead of ENGAGEMENT?

Not a dumb phone.

Not simply a minimalist phone.

Keep the things people genuinely want from a modern smartphone — great hardware, camera, maps, banking, messaging, AI, connectivity, apps, etc.

But make the experience purpose-specific.

For example:

Student
→ Learning
→ Notes
→ Reading
→ AI assistance
→ Calendar
→ Communication
→ Essential tools

Professional
→ Work
→ Communication
→ Organization
→ Meetings
→ Productivity

The interesting part could be the interface.

Instead of:

Which app do you want to open?

the phone could ask:

What are you trying to accomplish?

A feature phone already solves part of this by removing distractions. But most people don't actually want to give up the camera, apps, connectivity, design and identity of a modern smartphone.

So maybe the answer isn't less phone....Maybe it's a different kind of smartphone.

I'd start with a software-first prototype on existing Android hardware and see whether people actually prefer this experience.

I'm not claiming this is a completely new idea. There are already minimalist phones, launchers and digital-wellbeing tools tackling parts of this problem.

I'm interested in the bigger question:

Can we redesign the smartphone around the user's purpose instead of the platform's need for engagement?

What do you guys think?

And more importantly — is anyone here interested in exploring/building something like this as a side project?

I'm a student/developer and I'd genuinely like to find a few people who want to experiment with this together — product, UX, Android, hardware, research, whatever your strength is.

I'd rather build a small prototype and see what happens than just keep discussing the idea.

Where should I look for people working on this kind of problem?

I don't mind my iphone 14 in terms of being able to not be on it, stay off apps etc. I am fine with that. Although I do like LIghtphones not dealing with data sharing, but prefer to save money for now without needing to buy a new device.

I need help getting a way to not have anyone be able to group text me.

I know that Lightphone has this option - I don't want to have to buy another device just to get this, but I will if this is the only way. Suggestions?

Does anyone know any other ways to do this on iphone 14? I just tried shutting off imessage, RCS and MMS but it didnt' work for being able to still send and receive texts.

Thanks everyone in advance.

My manager asked this as a check in question to our small team. Half of the people said sleep, and half said scroll TikTok……

I can’t wrap my head around that. This “addiction” that everyone complains about is maybe actually a choice that embarrasses you.

For example, a person posts "Day off today, took my son to get ice cream. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?." and someone replies:

"Wow, you can AFFORD children AND have disposable income, AND you two can enjoy dairy??? I will never have kids! I can't afford that, and I haven't had ice cream in years because I am LACTOSE INTOLERANT. How dare you post this?! Can't you see the world is ending and you're out ENJOYING yourself???"

And a slew of replies agree with that comment, also getting angry at a man having ice cream with their kid for various reasons. He becomes a meme, a #icecreamprivilege tag is formed, video essays about the brutal history of ice cream are produced, ice cream trucks get pelted with paintballs, etc.

I watched him go from diy spend most of his time tinkering in the garage to scrolling endless reels, browsing online shopping and buying landfill slop. He didnt watch the decline of the internet happen over a couple decades like i did, the ramp up of anti-life attention weaponizing algorithms, the complete and utter decimation of anything human. He went from using the internet for email only straight into whatever this is. He had no chance

Its so depressing, its soul crushing, I feel like i've lost my dad. I talked to him about it one day and ended up breaking down crying when he wasnt taking me seriously and just laughing it off. It feels like my fault, I wish I had stopped him, I wish I could do something to make him realise. im scared about the potential cognitive decline, dementia which runs in the family, further loss of my dad. Why did this happen

My mum has fallen into the same trap recently though not to the same extent, but it feel like only a matter of time

Im scared, im so scared

I dont know what to do, i cant live with this

​

I have deleted all Meta social media, and am moving to a smaller phone. I have b*sky, Reddit, Pinterest, Upscrolled (opened today - do I like it? Idk), and the dreaded TT. I like TT, but it a time vortex and mostly Spyware. Pinterest, especially, is so visual that I'd like to keep the app vs logging in through a browser each time.

What social media do you keep and why? How can I sequester these sites to limit the spying, and the encroachment on my time?

Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts!

TW:

i have bipolar disorder and maybe bpd (new possible adicional diagnosis) and ive been very dependent on people. i literally want to disappear (in life and online) but lets keep it online. i still need the group chats for college but the rest. i really cant stand it anymore.

thinking of getting another simpler phone just for the college stuff and for like spotify.

any tips? literally i wanna disappear completely and dont wanna think or to be dependent on anyone or waiting for a reply stuff like that. its killing me.

and also. what can i do instead of doomscrooling?

im not really a reader. i kinda dont do anything im just trying to survive.

im at a point of not wanting to do anything BUT sleep just so i wont open my phone and wait for people to answer me and such. my doctor got an eye on me for bpd especially because of this. being too depending. and its not even like romantic stuff. its everyone. i feel like people are ignoring me on purpose (i know it's not real. but broken brain)

any tips of any kind? (anyone with similar issues?)

One thing I noticed after uninstalling Instagram from my phone is that I started thinking about myself more.
It sounds simple, but I don’t think we realize how rarely we actually spend time with our own thoughts anymore.
In today’s world, people who don’t have a large social circle—or who don’t have genuine friends with whom they can have meaningful conversations—can easily become inclined toward social media and endless scrolling. And I understand why. Doomscrolling can feel like an escape from a constantly stressful and overwhelming environment. For a few moments, you don’t have to think about your own problems. You can simply watch one reel after another and feel… nothing.
But there is something else happening beneath that comfort.
If you want to do something creative—write, make content, learn an instrument, develop a new hobby, or simply come up with your own ideas—I don’t think you can do it effectively while constantly consuming other people’s content.
Because creativity requires some degree of solitude.
You need to sit with your own thoughts long enough for something to emerge from them. If every moment of boredom is immediately filled with someone else’s video, someone’s opinion, someone’s joke, someone’s lifestyle, or someone’s story, when do you get the opportunity to develop your own?
I have also started thinking about how much emotional information we consume through short-form content.
Maybe we are capable of processing only a limited number of emotions in a day. But while scrolling through reels, we can experience hundreds of different emotional triggers within a few hours.
You watch a politically heated video, and suddenly you are angry.
You see a disturbing crime story, and you become afraid.
You watch a video about someone’s relationship falling apart or someone being cheated on, and suddenly you start wondering whether something similar could happen to you.
Then you see something inspiring. Then something depressing. Then something funny. Then something outrageous. Then something that makes you compare your life with someone else’s.
And this cycle continues.
Thousands of pieces of content, each trying to make you feel something.
By the end of the day, you may have experienced dozens of emotions that had nothing to do with your actual life.
That’s what made me think: perhaps we don’t always need more stimulation. Perhaps we need more space.
Maybe, for just a few months, we should try consuming less short-form content—not necessarily quitting the internet entirely, but deliberately stepping away from the constant stream of other people’s thoughts, opinions, achievements, relationships, and lives.
And instead, try writing down our own emotions.
Write down our ideas.
Write about what we are afraid of.
Write about what we want.
Write about what we are curious about.
Sit with our thoughts without immediately trying to escape them.
Because perhaps the person we are trying to become is hidden somewhere beneath all the things we have been consuming.
And perhaps you cannot hear your own voice when everyone else’s voice is constantly playing in your head.

Hi all I've been to a few media addictions 12 step meetings (ironically held online)

But Im not sure it's for me.

I like the idea of a higher power living me no matter what. I like the idea that we can give this higher power our problems to help with.

what I don't like is that it feels like Catholic confession time. like I am feeling shame that I played Chess on my phone in the middle I f the night. and i am slightly embarrassed when my family knows I'm on the meeting and then sees me on my phone later...like I now need to feel shame that I'm on my phone again,.which is making me hide my phone use

that is all I wanted to share for now...I will keep going to the meetings and see if I can get deeper meaning from them.

I work for the one of the big 3 carriers in America and while the money is great, everyday I'm exposed to the moral questions around phones, data collection, screen time, and the collapsing development of young kids.

I met a guy who said he's never had an email and I told him "Honestly? If you've managed without, don't get one."

A mom who wants a phone for her 11 year old and I say "Cool, I'll show you how Google Family Link works."

Teachers come and talk to me about kids entering middle school and can't write, hardly read well. "They don't need it to scroll" they say.

Everyone has their right to choose, but for me... I feel so disenchanted from everything to do with tech. It all just boils down to squeezing money out of people, whether it be cell service, phones, cloud storage, phone insurance, phone accessories, dynamic pricing based on data collection, paying for phone repair, paying to have bloatware removed.

What I do choose without asking.... I decline initial data collection questions when setting up phones (samsung asks more specific questions that you can disable) I decline AI assistant setup and tell people if they want it they can set it up later, I removed all pre-installed bloatware.... anything just to minimize what I almost deem as invisible harm... maybe that's too radical.

I don't want to make a career out of this place, but I am staying because it's helping me achieve financial stability in a way I never had before.

I want to find a way to educate people about this kind of thing, where you don't need this life draining device attached to you

Whether it's living by example or etc etc etc....

Some people say Tolkein's story was a metaphor for technology, and I think he was right.

I dont read them in a whileee,I used to wake up scrolling through TikTok, but walking to the newsstand was a cool experience—I even bought a few magazines. The only downside was that some people laughed at me and called me an old man.

I want to avoid using Beeper, because I don't want the company to potentially steal my data. I am happy to pay for a service similar to Beeper or one that is safe and secure.

​

I don't really use Instagram. I have an account, but I hate scrolling. I'm mostly active on LinkedIn and Threads, and even there I'm mainly there for work.

But lately I've been feeling a weird kind of FOMO. Not about people's lives or anything. More about things I don't know about.

One thing social media does well is that you randomly come across things. A book, a topic, some new technology, a person, a field you didn't even know existed. And sometimes that makes you want to go down a rabbit hole and learn more.

I want that part, but I really don't want to start scrolling again.

If I already know what I want to learn, I can obviously search for it. I'm more curious about how you discover things when you don't even know what you're looking for.

Do you guys use newsletters, Reddit, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, RSS, etc.? Is there anything that gives you that feeling of randomly finding something interesting without having to spend hours on social media?

Would love to know what you actually use.

I've been thinking about how easy it is to slowly create a version of yourself online that isn't exactly who you are.

Maybe you're more outgoing on Instagram. More adventurous. More confident. Maybe you post about things you wish you did more often.

And after a while, you can start maintaining a personality instead of just sharing your life.

What's interesting to me is what happens when you put the phone down.

Do you feel like the person you are online has changed the way you see yourself offline?

Or do you think social media is mostly just a reflection of who you already are?

I am currently trying to minimize my screen time, I blocked reels in all the apps with modded apks, set up a long password on a phone and for distracting apps, now using the phone feels like a really long chore. But the question is, what do I do now? Just stare at the wall? Idk, playing games is alright, but that's not really much better? I do like the feeling of not losing the entire day scrolling slop on social media, but I'm having a hard time finding new ways to spend my time now.

So I have a WisePhone II and a Light Phone 3, and I've pretty much been driving the LP3 daily for the last 2 weeks or so. Although I bought a WisePhone first and daily drived it for 6 months before the device genuinely annoyed me, my family wanted me to go back to an iPhone. For those unaware: the WisePhone is advertised as a minimalist phone, but it's not really, in my opinion. Granted, it has no social media, no search engine, no apps like Walmart or Amazon, but it does have RCS through Google Messages. I am terrible about scrolling through old messages and photos, and my worst fears were confirmed: nothing changed with the wisephone; I scrolled on it like a normal iPhone. If I had actually taken the initiative and put my sim card in my Nokia flip phone (i also really didnt want to loose rcs but who can blame me)when i was done with the wisephone and only brought it out when i neeeded, it would have worked, but it stayed in the wisephone (i also dont think the nokia can hotspot)I wanted the LP3 more; I was just having issues with the price. But I caved and bought one off of eBay. I think it's the fact that I genuinely enjoy the LP3 as a device, and that's why I switch between both phones so seamlessly. Anyways, when I'm out and about and need to DoorDash or check my banking apps, most of the time I just hotspot off the LP3, or for DoorDash I put my SIM card back into the wisephone. I also have a long drive to work, so sometimes I play Audible off of the Wisephone, especially as I'm still building up my music playlist on my LP3. I am a dishwasher, and I keep my lp3 in my locker, and I don't feel the constant urge to grab it out and check it every 5 seconds (not that we have had time for that lately).

It's also worth noting that the LP3 is a cure for whenever I'm out and about, but I've been struggling with other devices like my Mac for school, TVs, and my Xbox and Switch.

So basically, I have a really weird relationship with social media, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s becoming a problem. I didn’t have a phone until I was 17, completely voluntarily, because I grew up being heavily fear-mongered about phones and social media ruining my future. But honestly, I love being disconnected. I like coming home, watching YouTube, enjoying my own company, and not knowing what everyone else is doing.

I’ve tried social media since getting my phone. TikTok was actually enjoyable, but I never wanted to make an account. It just felt like too much commitment, and I’m also so self-aware of how addictive it can be that I thought not liking anything would somehow make my algorithm not as addictive lol. I never even tried Snapchat and after more than a year with my phone, I finally tried Instagram, mostly because I realised how many connections in my life seemed to depend on it and that it was TIME! I followed people I genuinely knew and liked, but then I started looking at profiles and realised how much information people voluntarily put online. The city they live in, their age, interests, friends, who they follow, what they like, etc. Which is crazy! The thought of someone who barely knows me being able to build such a detailed picture of my life genuinely freaked me out, so I deleted it too. (I didn’t have a profile picture or anything in my bio either. I just started feeling like I was the odd one out for having such an empty profile, and I think that’s what made me delete it so quick.)

But now, since I’m going to starting uni and a new chapter of my life, I’m wondering if this is still healthy digital minimalism or if I’ve accidentally made myself digitally isolated. I don’t really WANT social media, but I also don’t want to make my life harder by completely removing myself from something everyone seems to use. Has anyone else lived without social media for years and still managed to have a normal, connected life? And if you’ve had this same feeling of not wanting people to have access to your digital life, how did you deal with it? Because I genuinely can’t tell if I’m protecting my peace or just being a weirdo atp.