Redpill — A Vaccine for Screen Addiction

Last Updated: November 22, 2023

Screen Addiction, primarily caused by highly addictive social networking algorithms, is one of the first large-scale examples of AI being utilized to take advantage of humans. These algorithms are engineered to hack your brain — and they will only get better and better at doing so.

These algorithms will lead to extremely negative consequences — which is concerning, considering that the companies developing them have no incentive to stop advancing them.

Even those with the most extreme willpower lose against the algorithms at least half of the time. We need to develop technology to serve as an opposing force to these algorithms.

Some notes on Screen Addiction:

• If you are like the average American, you use your phone for around five hours each day


• Of the around five hours you spend on your phone each day, only one of those five hours will be "productive"


• Five hours per day on your phone represents 1/3 of your waking life


• Over your entire life, you will spend about 15 years on your phone


• You should probably use your phone less

There are many apps and services that are designed to help you end your Screen Addiction but the problem with just about all of them is that they are too easy to disable or bypass.

Over the past year, I've spent much of my time working to end my own Screen Addiction. I am now using my phone 80% less. Below I am open-sourcing the hacks that have best worked for me:

Hack 1: The Advanced Screen Time Hack (most important)

Screen Time is useless (way too easy to turn off or bypass) unless setup properly. To setup properly:

1. Delete all highly addictive apps (for me: Instagram, X, Raya, and Spotify)


2. Disable the ability to install new apps


1. Content & Privacy Restrictions > iTunes & App Store Purchases > Installing Apps > Don't Allow


3. Disable Web Content


1. Content Restrictions > Web Content > Allowed Websites (do not allow any websites)


4. Have someone you trust set the Screen Time passcode on your phone


5. Instruct trusted person to withhold the passcode from you

Bonus: I built a device that stores my Screen Time passcode so that I can skip Steps #4 and #5 (I'm calling this device Redpill — hence the title of this post). It's worked really well for me so far, and I am considering mass-producing the product. If you'd like to try it out — see here.

Hack 2: The 2FA Lock Out Hack

If you determine there is a social network that has no place in your life (for me this was Instagram), you can remove access to your own account:

1. Enable 2FA on your account


2. Use an authenticator app as the 2FA method (I use 1Password, which is great)


3. Once 2FA is setup, delete the login from your authenticator app


4. The only way you can regain access to your account is by contacting the company

Hack 3: The Vibrations Hack

Vibrations are engineered to hijack you from the now.

Disable all vibrations on your phone: Settings > General > Accessibility > Touch.

Hack 4: Freedom App (for Mac)

Use Freedom to disable addicting websites on your Mac. Be sure to enable these additional settings:

• Locked Mode


• Block Activity Monitor

Hack 5: The Lock Hack

Purchase a lock from Maclocks to ensure that your laptop can not leave your desk (or designated location) without extreme friction. For me, this prevents my laptop entering my bedroom.

Known Issues

• Sometimes my phone will still find its way into my bedroom. Ideally it will never leave my office (except for when I leave the house).

Notes

• Many folks online recommend enabling greyscale on your phone. I tried this but was not a huge fan as it made my phone depressing to use. That is not the intent of this protocol. The intent is to ensure all time spent on your phone is time well spent.


• I recommend reviewing what apps you have granted Push Notification Permissions to (Settings > Notifications). I found that most apps that I had granted these permissions to, were apps that I did not want to hear from.