Why You Should Be Skeptical About Your Apps

Apps are awesome.

Many apps entertain you while killing the idle five-minute segments in your day.

There’s a reason so many great businesses and experiences have been built on mobile apps.

There is a darker side to apps that a lot of us aren’t aware of.

For example,we spend way more time on it that we think.

That’s almost two full days of being awake.

Mobile analytics company Flurry defines “Mobile Addict” as someone wholaunches apps more than 60 times per day.

And they willpeople who make appsliterally use “addiction” as a success metric.

The solution isn’t to throw apps out the window.

They’re extremely convenient and they bring great benefit and joy to our lives.

They’re also only going to more and more useful.

You’d probably rather live in a world with apps than one without them.

Apps aren’t passive (by default).

They constantly reach out to you through your inboxes and push notifications.

These notifications require a human element to overcome.

App developers and marketers specifically design these hooks to draw your attention back to your mobile gear.

You start to feel more and more compelled to use the app every time you feel a certain way.

Before you know it, you’re using the app more and more often throughout the day.

In order for you to regain a bit of control, youwanta bit of friction and inconvenience.

Another way to counter triggers is toremove push notifications from apps you check occasionally.

I only leave push notifications on for Whatsapp and SMS or iMessage.

Charge your phone in a separate room, and buy an alarm clock.

External triggers can be relatively straightforward to ignore or clamp down on.

However, it’s likely you’ve built an emotional or personal connection with apps.

(For example, I noticed I use Snapchat when I’m feeling bored.

I use Path when I think of a friend.

Discover what beliefs support your internal triggers.

That’s precisely what mobile apps want you to do.

It’s okay to invest some of your time and energy in these networks, of course.

However, it’s also important to verify that you start to diversify your investments.

If possible, get email addresses or phone numbers of your closer friends and acquaintances.

Keepcopies of the content you want on your hard drive.

Make it as painless as possible to leave a service if you ever want to.

The unpredictability of these variable rewards makes them even more potent.

A little while after we receive a reward, we crave more.

We become focused on trying to get the next reward.

When you use them, apps reward you with feelings of connectedness, relief, and excitement.

The more you use them, the more you want to use them.

You should reward yourself for controlling your impulses with apps.

However, they can also trigger your attention when you’re trying to focus.

They lure you into investing your time and energy with them so you find them even more attractive.

They reward you for using them.

Use this information to disentangle your mind from apps.

Use your apps, don’t let your apps use you.

Photo byMo Riza,Wonderlane,XKCD, andm01229.