I Solved My Doom Scrolling Problem

I do have a problem with doomscrolling and spending too much time on my phone because I am bored. But after every doomscrolling session, I end up feeling bad. So lately, I have been looking for solutions to this. One solution is to have a "dumb" device, as they say, so I cannot access those apps at all. But I also need certain apps to communicate with people in both my personal and professional life. Also, for transportation, I need certain government apps to know which bus is going where so I can actually go there. I can't do any of those things with a dumb phone.

Online, I have seen some new devices that limit the apps but are still modern, but they are so expensive, and if reviews are anything to go by, they suck big time and are a waste of money. I decided to find a solution to this problem my way. I will start with Instagram because that’s the app I sink most time into.

Solution: Web version added to my home screen. After I made this decision, I started using Instagram a lot less since there is more friction. Instagram made it so that every feature is available in the web version, but something as complex as Instagram runs a little worse than the native app. However, it is a boon for me. I can still check my friends' stories and like their posts, but I don’t lose myself in the reels.

I completely deleted and uninstalled TikTok, so I am good on that front. If your friends send a TikTok and when you click on that link on mobile, it forces you to download the app to view it. Solution: Desktop mode. Your browser app on your phone has a feature called “Request Desktop Website.” On the desktop version, you can watch the video. Since modern web technologies are already responsive and screens on our devices are high resolution enough, you can interact with the page quite easily.

On iOS :

The video shows how to request destop version of a webpage on safari on iPhone

I hope you find this useful. If you need other solutions for other apps. Let me know. :)