GADGET GURU
T3’s tech addict parlays lots of the stuff in his brain to assist readers
“Let me just check my screen time by looking at my phone”
ILLUSTRATIONS: STEPHEN KELLY
Q GREG H, HAMPSHIRE
How do I curb my phone addiction?
A Remember that bit from WALL•E, with the people that’d regressed horrendously owing to their over-reliance on technology? That’s you, that is. And Guru, and 75% of the world. We’re all joined at the hip to our black rectangles. GaGu wouldn’t suggest binning your phone, because its near total integration into society means you’ll now struggle to do much without it, but he would certainly argue that there’s little value in certain applications and websites.
Honestly, Guru was rather surprised to see quite how good iOS is at helping with this. Screen Time options allow you to put a time limit on certain apps and, GaGu Top Tip time, if you get a significant other to set the password you won’t be able to just switch it off for one more hour of malfeasant X scrolling. Downtime, too, gives you a good amount of pause before you rot your brain further: outside of your set hours of the day, all but core apps (and any you select) are greyed out until tomorrow.
Don’t bin your phone, because its near total integration into society means you’ll now struggle to do much without it
Android might do even better. Its digital wellbeing functionality (search it up in the settings) allows you to block apps and time restrict things plus, Android being Android, you’ve slightly more flexibility in the apps that you install. AppBlock is a solid choice: it can cut out apps, block websites, and even features geoblocking. GaGu isn’t sure if it’ll go as granular as the Guru Towers water closet, but here’s hoping it’ll curtail those evening-long Instagram sessions and subsequently stop his legs from going to sleep on the toilet.