Germany’s COVID-19 lockdowns planted Frederik Riedel firmly in front of his smartphone, where he scrolled endlessly through Instagram and Twitter.
Riedel didn’t consider himself an addict, but he kept coming back to the same apps for hours on end. Hoping to untether himself from the device, he tried an array of software, but everything he tried was either too restrictive or too lenient. Riedel realized that he would be able to quit only if he could block the social media apps from opening.
That inspired Riedel to create One Sec, a wellness app that requires users to take a beat — either with a breathing exercise or simply waiting — before apps like social media or games will open on their devices. He says it cuts users’ screen time in half.
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“I thought, ‘What if I would give myself this small break when I’m actually opening the app to break my habit,’ and really give my brain a chance to catch up to realize what’s going on, and then make an intentional decision that, ‘Yes, I wanted to use this app.’”
Riedel’s path is similar to that of the founders of Brick, an app that relies on a physical device to keep users away from their phones. Kirsten Young, Brick’s vice president of marketing, told Straight Arrow that phones were getting in the way of the lives of founders TJ Driver and Zach Nasgowitz.
People have told both platforms that the apps helped them pull away from their phones. But Jennifer Katzenstein, a pediatric psychologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the apps are only as good as the user makes them. She recommended picking up a hobby or doing an engaging activity while the phone is locked to cut down on screen time.
“So much of our lives are done on this device now,” Katzenstein told Straight Arrow, “that we have naturally needed to have it with us because it becomes everything that we do throughout the day and communicate with others.”
Breaking the cycle
Apps like One Sec and Brick give people the opportunity to lock their phones or block selected apps for a set amount of time. Android-based phones and iPhones both come with built-in options to allow people to unplug entirely or keep them off specific applications.
Those apps vary in functionality and cost. Most have parameters that people can set to restrict how long they use an app or completely lock their phones.
Apple, however, has fought against the apps. The tech giant removed or restricted third-party screen time and parental control apps from its online store after releasing a native app for its devices, The New York Times reported in 2019. Apple said it was protecting user data. But developers said the crackdown was an attempt to give Apple a monopoly.
“Can you really trust that Apple wants people to spend less time on their phones?” Fred Stutzman, chief executive at Freedom, a productivity platform that blocks distracting apps, said to The Times.
Since 2019, Apple appears to have reversed course. A recent review of the App Store showed more than 50 screen-time apps available for download.
For Brick, the act of having to interact with a separate physical device helps distance people from their phones, Young said.
“Rather than asking people to rely entirely on willpower, Brick creates a physical barrier,” she said. “The idea is that even a small amount of friction can help break the cycle of automatically reaching for your phone.”
One Sec more resembles a guilt trip, informing users how many times they used the application in the past 24 hours and letting them decide whether to proceed.
“We do this because we think it’s the right thing,” Riedel said.
‘Reclaiming agency’
Phone addiction is more complex than other forms of dependency, Katzenstein said. Devices provide a dopamine rush, she said, but some people — teens in particular — have reported being fearful if they ever leave their homes without a phone.
“What I see more often too is our teens, our kids, are using it as a distraction, but also as an avoidance, especially if they’re in a social situation where they’re feeling uncomfortable or anxious,” Katzenstein said.
It’s why completely avoiding the phone for at least an hour a day can help redevelop a healthier relationship with devices, she said. She recommended that parents hold the phones and have their kids do an activity that’s just as mentally stimulating as scrolling.
Adults are more complex. Katzenstein said people can easily override settings on a screen time app. But they are just as attached to phones as teens are, she said, and in many cases, they need the devices for work.
Psychologists have given both One Sec and Brick glowing reviews. Brick in particular has been lauded for having a physical device people can interact with to control screen time.
German psychologists told Riedel they were studying how friction and nudging can help convince people to break bad habits. Their collaboration found One Sec reduced social media use, on average, by 57%.
Researchers in Australia and the Netherlands wrote in a 2023 review that the smartphone apps are an effective way to reduce phone use, but more studies are needed to evaluate long-term success of app-based interventions. The most effective apps implemented grayscale coloration on the device, limited the functionality of other apps and used a mixture of intervention methods.
Controlling one’s phone usage isn’t intended to make people phone-free, but to have appropriate relationships with the devices.
“More broadly speaking,” Brick’s Young said, “when you think about the screen time movement as a whole, it isn’t about rejecting technology, it’s about reclaiming agency over how we use it.”
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