Detoxify - Detox from your most addictive apps

@farbodsaraf this is soooo good! similar to the defunct Space. why did you make detoxify? (pretty obvious, but wondering if you have a story.)

@farbodsaraf @tomfme Space isnt defunct. You can still get it at http://www.youjustneedspace.com or here -> Space

@tomfme Thanks! Didn't use the Space before but looks like a similar concept. I used to remove apps but I'd end up re-installing them after a while. We read from "The Power of Habit" that unlearning a habit (aka forming a new habits to replace the old one) is about having a proper cue. So we thought the fake app could act as a cue/signal to remind you about your goal and boost learning the new habit of not visiting the app randomly based on the habit.

@farbodsaraf neat! you folks are clearly thinking about this the right way. @mattmayberry whoops sorry for saying defunct. the product hunt post i linked too says it's "no longer available"

@farbodsaraf great idea! When I deleted facebook from my phone, the first week I kept going to my phone to access it but it was not there. It was such an unconscious move that I was surprised myself. I think your idea will help people realize this more consciously and it will help.

@anna_0x yesss, give it a try and you'll be surprised how many times you instinctively open the addictive apps.

@anna_0x @farbodsaraf Lol. You're not wrong. The number of times I've scrolled through reddit, sighed, closed it down, and immediately opened the same app again...

@carlos_bernabeu Glad you like it!

@satwaya Awesome, let us know what you think!

@ivan_camus That's exactly why we built this, those instinctive habits of randomly opening the apps.

@oleg_ivanov2 Thanks! Once you tried, let us know if it helps!

@paschalis_tsolakidis Thanks, let us know what you think.

@s_jayaswal Thanks! That's basically how it works: learning a habit (aka forming a new habits to replace the old one) is about having a cue. The fake app acts as a cue/signal to remind you about your goal and boost learning the new habit of not visiting the app randomly based on the habit. By installing the fake app, you'll be surprised how many times you unconsciously you open them, although you are aware that they are fake apps. It feels like our brain is on auto-pilot, once we're hooked/addicted to unconsciously open addictive apps.

@farbodsaraf Sounds good. Im not fully sold on the installing the fake apps manually. Because if i know they are fake and i put them there, then my mind would work around it, i might do this a couple of times but dont know it would be sustainable. Maybe you could just replace the app shortcuts programatically rather than having the user put them there on their own?

@s_jayaswal The point is most of us open the addictive apps instinctively many times a day so even though you're aware that it's fake, based on your old habit, you most likely open the app and if after a couple of times you became aware of it being fake, then you reach your goal which is the whole idea behind this. Regarding your last suggestion: replacing the app shortcuts programmatically isn't feasible so that's why we went for this implementation.

@mayank_singh5 Thanks!🙌

@colinrhys If you're able to avoid re-installing them, then you're definitely good to go!

@_rypatrick Yep, Reddit is there, you can search for it

@max9xs Thanks man, glad you find it effective.

@brianswichkow Thanks Brian, your words made us super happy!

@forestanderson Screen Time / App Limits are ignored very easily, with a power of simple tap so it requires a strong discipline.

@saqib_ameen1 This works exactly the same. You can create shortcuts on your home screen, that's the whole point.