Google’s New Experimental Apps Will Make You Less Addicted To Your Phone

Google recently released a number of new apps under the “wellness experiments” banner and the 3 apps are supposed to improve our relationship with our phones. They’re supposed to make our phones less addictive.

I installed 2 of the apps and they’re pretty interesting. Post box helps you minimize distractions, by holding your notifications until a time that suits you. Simply choose how often you’d like your notifications to be delivered – a maximum of 4 times a day.

Of course, my worry with this is I’ll miss out on some important notifications but I’ll test it over the next few days and see if I’m missing out on too much or if I’m getting more done because I’m not being bombarded by alerts.

Unlock clock is a less intense shift in how we use our phones and is simply a live wallpaper. But how does a live wallpaper encourage one to use their phone less, you may be asking. Well, the live wallpaper shows you the number of times you’ve unlocked your phone daily. It seems the idea is that this becomes a mini-game which sees you trying to unlock your phone less and less if you find it distracting.

Both apps I tested seem pretty rough around the edges but they are “experimental” apps after all. Finally, the 3rd app is called We Flip and its the one I found least appealing. We Flip enables you to switch off from technology as a group, to spend quality time together. Simply wait for everyone to join, then flip the switch together to begin your session. If someone in the group unlocks, the session will end and you’ll be able to see how you did.

Whilst that’s a pretty useful app the fact that everyone has to have it on their phone makes it harder to test of all 3.

Also read, Tired Of Your Employees WhatsApp Addiction At Work? Here Is The Answer