A new app called Siempo is attempting to make smartphones less distracting by, well, making them less distracting.
Currently available exclusively for Android, the app works as a launcher and replaces the home screen on your device with a simplified black and white version that doesn’t display all those colorful and often distracting icons along with your apps.
Adding to that whole less-distracting plan, Siempo also separates tools from time-wasting apps. Those time-wasting apps can be randomized so they’re harder to find on your phone and you’re less likely to spontaneously open them.
The app also allows you to eliminate interruptions by batching your notifications. So, instead of getting a notification every time you get a new email or someone comments on your new Facebook profile pic, you can set it so instead you get those notifications at once every 30 minutes or hour or even just a few times a day.
You can also set your lock screen so it says something like “Stay off your phone!” When you open it.
Yes, you can certainly still do all the things on your phone that you already could, so for some people, it may just make using your phone more annoying rather than less distracting, although arguably if you’re annoyed by your phone that might work as a deterrent to keep you off of it as well.
The idea is that by taking away the “Oooo Shiny!” aspects of the device, you’ll be less-inclined to get sucked in and ultimately less distracted by your smartphone as a whole.
If you like the idea of it but aren’t quite ready to commit to the minimalist homescreen you can also make your phone slightly less distracting by just switching it to grayscale.
