Design Ethicist Imagines How Apple Could Help Combat Tech Addiction in Future iOS Updates

[DeepIn2U]

Imagine if, once a week, your phone gave you a report on how you spent your time, similar to how your activity tracker tells you how sedentary you were last week. It could also needle you: “Farhad, you spent half your week scrolling through Twitter. Do you really feel proud of that?” It could offer to help: “If I notice you spending too much time on Snapchat next week, would you like me to remind you?”

so stupid!

it already does and has for 4yrs or more now:

Where you spend your time using the phone:
Cellular Data - apps used
WiFi - Apps set to use WiFi
Location Data
Apps that use majority of battery life and processor time.
Health app if you're lazy on your sedentary arse or exercising.

We've been in an age where the digital hub - the PC/Mac is gone and no longer the central hub of our experiences: Camera, Internet, Music ripping, movie burning, printing.

We're not in an age where all of these are no longer needed or done digitally on a central location:
iPhone has a camera
iPhone has a full web browser and web standards support mobile devices better than ever before (thank GOD Flash is almost fully dead)
iPhone has access to billions of tracks over the internet connections available. Many of our music is currently in, consumed and shared in digital format, no more need to "rip" unless it's an audio source recorded by you or someone else that isn't sourced elsewhere (an archive). Movies are digital fully now ... TV consumption as well has changed for the better. Printing .. this has been stupid from the very start!! Create PDF and one. nobody with a computer should be printing anything unless government requires it and really they should stop as well.

Due to all of this and much more our focus of time, information consumption and sharing is done on a single device 90% of our day, day to day and thus it seems like we're addicted due to that focal point. It's not addiction its efficiency and convenience of what technoogy had brought to us. Why isnt' these groups able to see this?!

It's been a very slow and gradual occurence for over 15-25yrs now.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Haven't read the article, but if this is like some of the ideas that I've heard about, they want to make a 'crappier' version of the iPhone, one with huge training wheels and a barking dog to tell users not to do something that the could do before.

Somehow I predict this to reignite the jail-breaking industry, and that's probably not a good thing, at least for Apple.

Plus, wasn't a phone that would combat addiction already invented? I believe, if I'm not mistaken, it was called Windows Phone.

 

[omenatarhuri]

I think this is a problem and I would be happy if Apple looked into it. More so for adult, teens. Small children parents can handle.

I think the ideas are interesting. It’s hard to think of concrete steps to make this happen.

 

[jimbobb24]

Relative to competitors tools to restrict access to devices are extremely limited. Apple could do better here.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

It is a parent's job to monitor kids phone usage, not a corporation's.

Just like it's a parent's job to teach their children about S-E-X? And how well has that gone? There are large amounts of children living with AIDS, and then there was that whole issue about doing the nasty in that certain hole. Those resourceful kids just decided to switch holes. Problem averted. All the kids needed is the okay to 'express those urges' in a simple and easy way. But even THAT was forbidden in an incredibly hysterical system.

Technology can do wondrous things, and it can also cause horrific problems. It has to be an industry wide 'solution', or the problem will just switch to a different vendors product.

Oh, and my neighbor was using the parental locks on their cable set top box. He even had a password. It was their mother's name. There was no security. Some parents are more capable of handling being parents than others.

 

[smacrumon]

Here's what I don't really get... what science is backing this up? When has tech addiction ever been diagnosed? Is it bad for your health? If so, how does it negatively impact your health? This isn't based on anything.

Said the tobacco companies...
There is a lot of data that shows mobile devices are addictive. Data on screen use show that they light up similar areas in the brain similar to other addictions.
Addiction in general is quite detrimental for the health of individuals.
It's not that the article isn't based on anything, it's that your comment isn't based on anything. That's the problem here.

 

[jeremiah256]

As said earlier, since making the iPhone less addictive would mean Apple nerfing apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., I really don't think this is going anywhere. That said, if Apples creates a service that reports your use of your phone on a daily or weekly basis, I'd welcome a nice visualization.

 

[Newton1600]

As a parent...I don't see how this is at all Apple's problem.
My wife and I have been using the OurPact app (the free version) to control/monitor our children's phone use, and it has been working out perfectly.

Apple should implement those parental controls directly into iOS
[doublepost=1516251083][/doublepost]

As said earlier, since making the iPhone less addictive would mean Apple nerfing apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., I really don't think this is going anywhere. That said, if Apples creates a service that reports your use of your phone on a daily or weekly basis, I'd welcome a nice visualization.

If apple gives us more controls to curb our tech addiction other tech corporations will also take note and fall in line. They have a lot of power to create a better world. If you think about what gadgets make your world better without making it worse in another sense you can’t say the smartphone falls into that category. Something like a dishwasher would fall into such a category. Gadgets are taking many people’s lives away. I smashed my iPhone last year against a parlayed wall because it was detrimental to my relationship with my wife and kids. Some are able to control themselves and others would be helped by built in controls. Having certain apps blocked automatically at certain times based on what the user wants to do. Block Facebook and internet use on your phone during work, unblock during your lunch break. These are controls Apple should build into their software. Have them turned off by default but available from control center
[doublepost=1516251346][/doublepost]

Haven't read the article, but if this is like some of the ideas that I've heard about, they want to make a 'crappier' version of the iPhone, one with huge training wheels and a barking dog to tell users not to do something that the could do before.

Somehow I predict this to reignite the jail-breaking industry, and that's probably not a good thing, at least for Apple.

Plus, wasn't a phone that would combat addiction already invented? I believe, if I'm not mistaken, it was called Windows Phone.

Who is saying these features would be there by default? There are people who want to change and could be empowered by these features. Everyone else could turn it off.
[doublepost=1516251488][/doublepost]

How did this even get published? This sounds like an old person claiming "kids these days spend too much time on their devices" This was never done with macOS...why would they do that on iOS? An incredibly poor idea.

It should be up to each user to block apps on a schedule whatever they want

Also, how would the system know what is "valuable" and what is a "time-waster"? "Phineas, you spent 6 hours in Mail this week. Would you like me to interrupt your work this week?"

 

[jeremiah256]

Having certain apps blocked automatically at certain times based on what the user wants to do. Block Facebook and internet use on your phone during work, unblock during your lunch break. These are controls Apple should build into their software. Have them turned off by default but available from control center

If I understand you correctly, you're asking for something more powerful than both the 'Do Not Disturb' function and the current Notifications settings in iOS? One thing I've been jealous of Android is their ability to set up 'modes' with NFC tags. Knowing Apple, they don't want to use NFC, but might one day allow us to set up scenarios based on location, time period, and context (similar to your phone blocking notifications when you're driving).

 

[ClaytonK]

Is it feasible for Apple to rate importance of types of notifications in each app? Even if they did, greedy app developers would find ways around them to maximize their visibility.
I'm not sure if the framework for this exists. But I think the responsibility falls on app developers and us choosing apps that manage notifications flexibly.
LinkedIn is an example of a poor design, as one cannot receive notifications for direct messages without also receiving ones for birthdays and other stupid information.

 

[IJ Reilly]

As said earlier, since making the iPhone less addictive would mean Apple nerfing apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., I really don't think this is going anywhere. That said, if Apples creates a service that reports your use of your phone on a daily or weekly basis, I'd welcome a nice visualization.

Not necessarily. One common issue for parents is kids using their phones when they should be sleeping. A control could prevent their phones from unlocking during sleeping hours. Parents could select any phone-free time periods they feel are appropriate, without targeting any specific apps.

 

[mikecorp]

NY times should maybe consider complete ban of Apple smart phones, ipads and computers.

-children are not addicted, they evolved. They can walk, bike and drive while using the phone.
-what P me off are the old folks that they stand in the middle -of the door in supermarket or walking slowly and blocking traffic. Old people should be banned. N.Y times should be banned.

 

[kdarling]

It is a parent's job to monitor kids phone usage, not a corporation's.

Easy to say. You can always tell the people without children on this forum

What I'd like is for phone makers to build in more parental controls, instead of us having to rely on paid apps from carriers that often have little fine control... or which can be blocked by a smart kid.

E.g. I should be able to block all websites during the school day except the ones I whitelist for education.

 

[jav6454]

Easy to say. You can always tell the people without children on this forum

What I'd like is for phone makers to build in more parental controls, instead of us having to rely on paid apps from carriers that often have little fine control... or which can be blocked by a smart kid.

E.g. I should be able to block all websites during the school day except the ones I whitelist for education.

It seems you didn't read the thread did you? Please go back and read, I have expanded my point very clearly. This thread isn't long.

 

[DeepIn2U]

People really need to learn to rely less on their phones, IMO. Takes the human element out of communication.

Perfectly stated as well as your signature matches the photo above succinctly: The things you own end up owning you.

 

[kdarling]

It seems you didn't read the thread did you? Please go back and read, I have expanded my point very clearly. This thread isn't long.

Yeah, you came up with a lot of unworkable ideas that only a non-parent would try to make. Here's reality:

1. Parents are not beside their kids 24/7, and certainly not when they're outside of the home.
2. Kids do NOT obey everything parents say. Duh.

So all the thread comments about "parents should control what their kids do" and "parents should just tell their kids to stop doing this or that" are NONSENSE in real life.

Even good kids will push boundaries either on purpose or accidentally. They're also not wise enough to know how to control themselves.

So when they get a device that can be very necessary and helpful, that device needs to also have parental controls so that when the parent is not around (which is a huge amount of time especially as a kid starts going out a a lot) or the kid is under pressure from peers, then YES THE DEVICE CAN ACT ON THE PARENTS' BEHALF.

Frankly, people without teens should NOT be commenting in this thread. It's worse than when civilians try to talk like they understand military life.

 

[jav6454]

Yeah, you came up with a lot of unworkable ideas that only a non-parent would try to make. Here's reality:

1. Parents are not beside their kids 24/7, and certainly not when they're outside of the home.
2. Kids do NOT obey everything parents say. Duh.

So all the thread comments about "parents should control what their kids do" and "parents should just tell their kids to stop doing this or that" are NONSENSE in real life.

Even good kids will push boundaries either on purpose or accidentally. They're also not wise enough to know how to control themselves.

So when they get a device that can be very necessary and helpful, that device needs to also have parental controls so that when the parent is not around (which is a huge amount of time especially as a kid starts going out a a lot) or the kid is under pressure from peers, then YES THE DEVICE CAN ACT ON THE PARENTS' BEHALF.

Frankly, people without teens should NOT be commenting in this thread. It's worse than when civilians try to talk like they understand military life.

Here is a difference of opinions. While I don't have teens, or kids... I know how I behaved during those years. My parents (as you stated) weren't also around me 24/7, hell, I barely saw them due to their line of work in many instances. However, they managed to curb habits and addictions (video games) and teach me without parental controls or having a company do their work for them.

Now, I am one example, but anyone here who grew up in the 80s and 90s knows a certain level of truth to this. Parental controls are there as an aide, not as a replacement for you or your job as a parent. If you don't see it that way, or if you think a company should dictate a child how to act, then by all means keep on arguing your point, it won't change mine. Also, a device telling a child how to act is close to indoctrination.

 

[decafjava]

Yeah, you came up with a lot of unworkable ideas that only a non-parent would try to make. Here's reality:

1. Parents are not beside their kids 24/7, and certainly not when they're outside of the home.
2. Kids do NOT obey everything parents say. Duh.

So all the thread comments about "parents should control what their kids do" and "parents should just tell their kids to stop doing this or that" are NONSENSE in real life.

Even good kids will push boundaries either on purpose or accidentally. They're also not wise enough to know how to control themselves.

So when they get a device that can be very necessary and helpful, that device needs to also have parental controls so that when the parent is not around (which is a huge amount of time especially as a kid starts going out a a lot) or the kid is under pressure from peers, then YES THE DEVICE CAN ACT ON THE PARENTS' BEHALF.

Frankly, people without teens should NOT be commenting in this thread. It's worse than when civilians try to talk like they understand military life.

This 100 times, no kids but a 14 year old niece and I hear from my sister what that is like.

 

[kdarling]

Parental controls are there as an aide, not as a replacement for you or your job as a parent. If you don't see it that way, or if you think a company should dictate a child how to act, then by all means keep on arguing your point, it won't change mine. Also, a device telling a child how to act is close to indoctrination.

No one is saying parental controls are a REPLACEMENT. NO ONE. But they'd sure be handy to a parent as an additional tool. Otherwise, often the only recourse is to TAKE AWAY THE DEVICE.

Now, as to the comment about a COMPANY making the decisions, I agree. Do you also object to Apple and its current censorship of apps?

 

[Newton1600]

If I understand you correctly, you're asking for something more powerful than both the 'Do Not Disturb' function and the current Notifications settings in iOS? One thing I've been jealous of Android is their ability to set up 'modes' with NFC tags. Knowing Apple, they don't want to use NFC, but might one day allow us to set up scenarios based on location, time period, and context (similar to your phone blocking notifications when you're driving).

That’s correct something much more powerful than the article talks about

 

[jav6454]

No one is saying parental controls are a REPLACEMENT. NO ONE. But they'd sure be handy to a parent as an additional tool. Otherwise, often the only recourse is to TAKE AWAY THE DEVICE.

Now, as to the comment about a COMPANY making the decisions, I agree. Do you also object to Apple and its current censorship of apps?

What's wrong with that? Taking away the device because your child has exceeded the alotted time adds the human interaction.

I disagree with Apple's censorship, yet I choose to allow said censorship because in the end, I like their ecosystem.

 

[JediZenMaster]

A little over one week after Apple investors urged the company to do more to protect children from smartphone addiction, a new column by The New York Times writer Farhad Manjoo has looked into potential ideas that Apple could implement in a future iOS update to curb addiction for all users, including kids.

Manjoo spoke with Tristan Harris, former design ethicist for Google and owner of Time Well Spent -- an organization that works to improve technology's impact on society -- and Harris offered a few suggestions for ways Apple could help combat smartphone addiction. While Harris's ideas are not confirmations for features coming to iOS in 2018 and beyond, it is an interesting glimpse into potential solutions Apple might implement if it decides to tackle this issue down the line.

To start, he suggested a way for Apple to offer feedback on the iOS devices that customers use, imagining a weekly report that would include the time spent within apps in a sort of ranking system. Users could then set prompts for future weeks that would pop up when their time spent in a specific app is reaching their set limit.
Harris then focused on notifications, which have long been an area that iOS users have asked to be updated. The new idea was for more granular, "priority level" notifications that Apple would require to be placed on every app. Harris explained there would be three levels for "heavy users, regular users and lite, or Zen," and then Apple would have to pen the rules for which notifications would go to each level.

So, for example, if someone chose the medium "regular" level, a DM from a friend on Instagram would appear on the lock screen. But at the same time, something less important -- like when Instagram sends out a reminder to view a friend's Story -- would be prevented from appearing. "And then Apple could say, by default, everyone is in the middle level -- and instantly it could save a ton of users a ton of energy in dealing with this," Harris explained.

If Apple implemented similar features, Manjoo pointed out that it could set a precedent for the industry as a whole.
Following the investors' open letter last week, Apple stated that it thinks about its products' impact on users, and it takes this responsibility "very seriously." With a larger spotlight being shined on the issue, Harris said that now is Apple's "time to step up" and really get behind anti-addiction features for its devices. Harris went on to say that in regards to this problem, Apple "may be our only hope."

Article Link: Design Ethicist Imagines How Apple Could Help Combat Tech Addiction in Future iOS Updates

There are apps that can do a lot of this already.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yeah, you came up with a lot of unworkable ideas that only a non-parent would try to make. Here's reality:

1. Parents are not beside their kids 24/7, and certainly not when they're outside of the home.
2. Kids do NOT obey everything parents say. Duh.

So all the thread comments about "parents should control what their kids do" and "parents should just tell their kids to stop doing this or that" are NONSENSE in real life.

Even good kids will push boundaries either on purpose or accidentally. They're also not wise enough to know how to control themselves.

So when they get a device that can be very necessary and helpful, that device needs to also have parental controls so that when the parent is not around (which is a huge amount of time especially as a kid starts going out a a lot) or the kid is under pressure from peers, then YES THE DEVICE CAN ACT ON THE PARENTS' BEHALF.

Frankly, people without teens should NOT be commenting in this thread. It's worse than when civilians try to talk like they understand military life.

I don't have kids myself, but I can totally understand what you mean, and I am certain if I had kids I would want those controls. To not get why a parent would want this seems to require not so much a lack of children, but an ideological orientation, or some sort of generalized paranoia. We've heard unfocused fear expressed again and again in this thread, though of what is very much unclear.

 

[kdarling]

What's wrong with that? Taking away the device because your child has exceeded the alotted time adds the human interaction.

Usage time is not the only factor. Accessing certain websites or talking to strangers are examples of other things that cannot be easily controlled.

In fact, what parents WANT to do is exactly what you and other non-parents are saying: to parent their children, which includes being able to control what dangers they can face alone. All your arguments seem to go against the very thing you claim that parents should do.

We don't WANT to take devices completely away. Just to prevent our children from getting in trouble. It's the same with cars. You don't want to take away driving privileges completely. Just the ability to speed, text while driving, and go outside their bounds.

--
Btw, you talk about growing up in the 80s or 90s. You didn't have a smartphone back then. What did your parents limit you using? A Gameboy? Hardly the same scenario

 

[Suckfest 9001]

Yeah yeah...