
How Android Pie helps me avoid distractions from my mobile device
Android Pie was released recently, introducing a set of tools and machine learning functionality for improving the usage of your mobile device based on your personal preferences.
Android has been helping me be more productive with my phone ever since I switched from iOS early 2016. Finding the right balance between having your phone show valuable information when you need it yet avoiding constant sounds and visual interruptions whenever you get an unimportant email or text message is a big thing. If you don’t get it right, you might annoy friends & families during social activities, disturb meetings or, even worse, cause accidents just from being distracted by something that wasn’t even important in the first place.
Since Android Pie is such a major step forward for me in terms of avoiding distractions, I decided to share what works for me and how I have configured it in this post. Let me know what you think!
Do Not Disturb mode
My phone is always on Do Not Disturb mode, unless it’s on Total Silence. The reasoning behind this is fairly simple: I don’t want to be disturbed by people I don’t know. Why would I let them decide when I can be interrupted?
Do Not Disturb mode lets me decide on which calls actually make the phone ring. I’ve set it to Contacts Only. You also have the option of making your phone ring for Starred Contacts Only, but this didn’t work so well for me. I don’t take my phone with me during meetings or leave it in a different room when I’m at home, so letting all contacts go through is fine.
Avoid Visual Distractions
A recent feature Android introduces is the ability to completely avoid visual distractions, which could previously be achieved by turning of all notifications. This setting allows me to leave my phone on my desk comfortably without being interrupted by any visual distractions when I’m focused on work. Combined with Do Not Disturb mode, my phone will only light up or make a sound when an important phone call comes in.
I still choose for my notifications to show on the lock screen but this setting helps making sure they only appear when I tap my phone’s power button, allowing me to decide at that moment if there’s something I want to engage in.
Notifications
Notifications on my phone don’t ever make sounds. Ever. Why would they? Whenever I install a new app that starts generating notifications, I review the settings to ensure I only receive relevant notifications and not all of the notifications apps typically want to send to make me use them more.
However, as my usage of those apps typically evolves over time, at some point I’m likely to decide I’m no longer interested in certain notifications that I initially thought were interesting (the opposite has never happend to me). This is where Android Pie’s machine learning kicks in. When you frequently discard a particular notification from an app, Android will suggest turning off that specific notification with a single tap. Thank you Android.
Wind Down
As part of the Digital Wellbeing set of tools — “great technology should help, not distract” is what they’re saying — Android comes with Wind Down, which automatically changes your phone’s bright colours to grayscale and sets Do Not Disturb mode when it’s time for winding down.
Given my phone is always on Do Not Disturb and I don’t usually bring my phone into the bedroom, I’m not sure what the added value might be for me specially, but I’ve activated it anyway. I can’t see the harm in trying.
Android Digital Wellbeing
To my knowledge, this is the first time Android is being so explicit about the steps they’re taking towards Digital Wellbeing. I believe it’s an area they will continue to invest, as shown by the Beta program they have launched, which — at the time of this writing — is open to anyone with Android Pie and a Pixel phone. You can register here.
It currently gives great insights on app usage, number of unlocks and notifications and offers a central place for managing notifications, setting limits to app usage by using timers as well as configuring your Do Not Disturb mode. Excited to see what the future will bring!
What are your thoughts on Android Pie or my ways of avoiding mobile distractions? Let me know in the comments below!
