Earlier this year I decided to get a cellular Apple watch because, while I want to stay in touch with my partner while walking our dog or running short errands, I don't like having my pockets stuffed. I felt a similar sense of relief and freedom as the article author - it really feels great to not be tethered to the attention economy, but still be in touch with your loved ones using just a tiny device on your wrist. Nowadays I opt for leaving my phone at home as much as I can, and I very rarely face any sort of inconvenience because of it. I think with smartwatches getting more capable now, and reaching dumbphone + navigation + weather info functionality, this is becoming a really solid alternative to carrying a phone with you all the time.
You can't browse, play interesting games, you can't doomscroll, you literally can't do any of the addictive or distracting things that phones are notorious for.
I'd say it is alleviated quite a bit actually because it solves a corollary issue. To me personally, the majority of the issue is in the magic box that promises me instant dopamine any time I pick it up and turn on its screen. I don't mind getting a message and choosing to respond. I do mind, however, being tempted to open any of the attention seeking apps or websites after I'm done with my message or call. The watch has virtually none of that temptation. YMMV depending on whether the notifications or the decision fatigue are more of an issue for you
In my experience, no. I keep getting calls from my elderly dad, but the notification level can be dialed up or down - in my case, I get very few spam notifications. Put it on DND and it's almost zero.
If you happen to have full notifications on for slack/Facebook/etc yeah it can get annoying - but you can't really immerse yourself in it.
I think of the watch as a pure comms/notification device whereas the "phone" has become a full-on handheld computer.
the cellular version of the watch has its own dedicated cell service independent of the phone.
The other option is where the watch is paired with the phone which can send call data wirelessly over to the watch via bluetooth or wifi or something peer to peer like.
I also went the smart watch route for the same reason, but with the new Pixel Watch 2. I was pleased that on Google Fi there was no additional charge and it pretty much activated automatically.
I do now feel comfortable leaving my phone behind, but I also get so many notifications I'm constantly lifting my wrist to check them. So I'm not sure if it helped or made things worse!
The main issue is email and slack notifications during the workday. I guess I never realized how many dang emails I get. I'm not yet sure if I should turn off email notifications completely or just try to unsubscribe from as much stuff as possible. During the workday, my email inbox is spammed by Jira notifications. It would be nice if I could selectively decide which emails to be notified on.
That's my main gripe as far as the Apple watch is concerned. I'm fortunate enough to have a corporate cell plan so I don't pay anything for it, but I'm not looking forward to having to be on an expensive plan + $5/month if I ever change jobs.
I’ve been waiting on Cricket since the Apple Watch came out with cellular. They don’t have a plan on when/if it will be available, which seems silly since Cricket is owned by AT&T.
But I’ll never go back to AT&T’s prices, so I guess I’m just out.
My partner bought the Apple Watch Ultra last year when she smashed her phone and we didn't get around to repairing it for a few days - after a few days she realised she was happier, but still needed to be contactable via call/SMS.
Since then she's never gone back. Her old phone lives permanently plugged in under my desk, and every so often we need to unlock it and do _something_ (which is difficult). It's about 90% an independent device though, and she's happier than I've ever seen her.
We looked initially at getting her a pocket sized camera (e.g Sony RX100) and setting up some form of remote screen viewing/touch to the phone (which seems like a hard problem to solve!), but honestly neither ended up necessary. Once I have the option professionally, I plan to follow suit, or ditch my phone completely ideally.
I have almost all notifications disabled on my watch (well, on my phone and computer too, be even more sparse on my watch). I'm used to screening calls via my watch anyway, so it's automatic to reject them. I could answer (or make) an emergency call, or even send a text, but it's so inconvenient, unpleasant, and public to do so via my watch that there is little desire to. I don't carry my airpods so it's just the tiny watch speaker and microphone vs the sounds of outdoors. No podcasts, music, audio books or anything.
As the author and other commenters here said as well, the mere presence of the phone, even with ALL notifications off, still creates a constant urge to check it.
I came here to suggest the same thing. I really like leaving my iPhone at home, but I can still get messages or calls from my family on my Apple Watch.
I actually canceled my cell watch. I love my watch, but I felt anxious if I got a notification I couldn’t act on, like replying to people effectively. Then again I almost never use my phone while I’m out so I don’t really feel any negative association with my phone.
About 2 years ago I found myself once more checking my phone while on the toilet. I decided that was enough, I don't want to be an addict.
Since then, all my devices (phones, laptop) now stay in a specific room of the house: the office and they never leave
If I badly need GPS to get somewhere I take the dumbphone with me, the phone with the apps simply never leaves the office. But I'll look up the road before instead unless absolutely needed.
If I need to meet someone I tell them be on time where we agreed to meet, I won't have a phone with me
It's scary to notice how as soon as there's a phone in my pocket the old addiction kicks up
I had a tangible feel for this "addiction" one time when I let my phone run out of battery and I had it next to my laptop. Whenever there was a lull at work or something got hard and I needed a mental break I'd reach for my phone only to pick it up and find an unresponsive black screen. I must have picked it up some six times before it finally hit me how frequently I go to pick up that thing. Somehow the shock of rediscovering the off-state repeatedly and forgetting it really sunk the frequency of the formed habit into my mind. The habit was tangible in that moment.
"It’s a chain you carry 24/7 connected to the rest of the world, and anyone can pull from the other side."
People seem to forget the era of landlines when our peace and quiet at home could be shattered at any moment by anybody. Cell phones are gentle nudge waiting for us on the table or in our pockets, instead of a literal screaming alarm permeating our entire living space.
As a 1970s teenager, I've been trying to communicate for years the sense of liberation that I felt as a teenager, when i would walk out of my parents house, and down the street.
No one knew where I was or where I was going, and I DID need to know where I was because I was the one who had to get where I was going, and then back again.
This led to a sense of autonomy and self direction that I've found practically impossible to convey to those born since the 1990s, who have grown up in constant communication.
It's refreshing, and maybe even a possible sign of AVOIDING the apocalypse to see younger people rediscovering this sense of freedom.
I hope more can find it, and the sense of satisfaction it brings...
I had similar to this. Dumb phones had only become popular in late highschool.
I remember sneaking out at 2AM and just hanging out a few streets over in the woods on summer nights. The feeling of walking out of the house at 2AM, full of energy, looking up at the stars, about to begin an adventure, has been forever matched.
I’m a teen of the 70s as well, and I’m currently trying to recapture that sense of liberation. But I can’t believe is how quickly it captured even myself. The fear and anxiety I have of not having even a cell phone is disturbing. Not to mention a smart phone.
If it's literal anxiety (I could break a leg and not be able to call for help and die type anxiety) get a cell phone that has a good battery and NO SIM. It can still call 911 but can't do anything else.
Born in the 80s and this is basically my experience too, although I guess I got my first mobile somewhere in highschool, but it was only a 5110 - relatively primitive. I do fondly remember having to memorise land line numbers, and potentially navigate parents of friends or romantic interests when the call got answered.
Happy to read this. I just put my MacBook up for sale on eBay. The phone and the computer are way too much. But I find myself more and more trying to leave my phone in my car when I go places. I can’t believe how quickly we’ve became dependent on these devices, when we don’t really need to be dependent on them at all. What kind of witchcraft was it?
We were always "dependant" on everything a phone does. We've always needed directions. We've always needed to communicate with friends and family. We've always needed to manage our finances, buy tickets, listen to music, take photographs, read and watch media, keep up with the news, look at porn and use a fucking calculator.
I don't think it's the phones at all, I think it's the companies that are abusing our phones as they vy for our attention and data and money. But a smartphone as a baseline concept is the single most useful tool anyone has ever owned.
> no one will bother you with anything, no new likes on Instagram, no new offers on Amazon
It seems half (if not more) of the problem is distractions by profit-seeking, tracking companies. I solved this problem by choosing a GNU/Linux phone, without any proprietary apps. No distractions, and yet whenever I need to be available, I am.
That’s the truth. I’m trying to save up for a pixel six a or seven a so I can get off of my iPhone and use Graphene OS instead. But I still have about $500 left to pay off my iPhone so I don’t know how to do it yet on my current state of financial existence.
I have an iPhone, however I’m not on any mainstream social media, and I’m very conservative with the apps I do install, and I prune aggressively. I rarely get push notifications (maybe a handful a week, in that ballpark) from apps. Obviously I receive notifications for emails and messages, but those are “soft notifications” that don’t interrupt me.
One thing I’ve found even more liberating: not taking my phone when going out for walks. My watch is enough. I’m still reachable for calls and texts. I still get urgent calendar reminders for meetings, and I can play virtually any song or podcast ever produced, if I so desire.
I honestly feel perfectly liberated with my iPhone. Yes, I have all these apps. That does not mean I must use them simply because they put a stupid notification up. Do I want to shop? No? Then why would I open Amazon? Do I want to look at what my friends are doing? No? Then why would I open Instagram?
I enjoy very much having the ability to remain in contact: with friends. Which is why those notifications are on, for various messaging apps. Work notifications are only on during work hours.
I also enjoy the time-wasting aspects of a few mobile games and some social media like Imgur. But like, I only use them when I am choosing to waste time, like if I'm waiting to meet someone and they're running late.
Am I that much of an outlier? My phone is a tool, an amazing tool to be sure, but so much of this is written as though people use theirs with shock collars attached; that they have no free will whatsoever and are utterly enslaved by the things.
that depends on where you draw the line of free will. I know people who use that exact same argument for why they use tik tok. They "enjoy the time-wasting aspects", especially in down time. To me it looks like they're stuck and their happiness is suffering.
The problem is what we think we want is shaped by society, culture, and now big tech companies. Instagram made the goal of millions of teenagers to "want" to get more followers. It was always of their own free will, and yet I would argue it was a huge net loss for teenagers and societies.
Staying in touch with friends is great, and tech like this makes it so much easier, especially when in different timezones/continents, but these days I just think you lose more than you gain. The same for filling in-between time with a game. It's fun and I want to do it, but my mind in the long run is happier when it's given space.
I have a hunch that the underlying problem is “too much love”.
Micromanaging children is the norm, although we kind of have an understanding that it creates less capable adults. Phones are great tool to control people especially as somehow it is the norm that we _should_ answer phone calls at random times during the day. Children of today suffer this. Also who were grown up before the mobile era, like me, we feel responsible to answer the phone because we love to be loved.
Maybe we should think about how we give and receive love more :)
I picked up an iPod, the first generation that had the buttons integrated into the scroll wheel, and replaced the battery. I could probably get by loading this up with podcasts, TED talks & audiobooks. My downfall is being insanely bad at directions. So I kind of need to bring my phone with me while driving most places.
I have done as the author mentions, and simply walked around my neighborhood without a phone. It really is a great experience.
Thanks for this! I will put some more effort into disconnecting more.
If you want to get better at directions, you can try drawing your own maps. When MapQuest was popular, but before I had a smartphone I would usually sketch the map out. A few lines, a few names and you are good to go. Usually won't take more than a couple minutes since you should already know how to go from your house to the main road. Then you simply need to mark down major turns (plus the street before the turn so you don't miss it).
> It’s a chain you carry 24/7 connected to the rest of the world, and anyone can pull from the other side.
I carry a phone with me at all times but I never have notifications on, not even for phone calls. It's a pull-only device. I do not at all share the author's anxieties because I treat my phone differently. On the odd occasion that I turn notifications back on (maybe I'm waiting for an important call or email) it drives me absolutely up the wall, I can definitely see where the author's anxieties come from.
I really want to however i am always on-call and the fall through for my team. Although it rarely happens i always have to have a phone with me. It will likely be like that until i retire because of my position.
