Social overload in your pocket

I recently came across this article that details how the author turned his iPhone into a “dumbphone”. He removed anything with a feed as well as the Internet browser and email. Being able to check anything and everything whenever he wanted from something in his pocket was starting to wear on him.

I love my iPhone and everything that it can do. I love reading about and testing new apps. I really related to what the author was saying though and decided to take on a similar experiment. I removed Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from my phone last weekend and am planning on keeping them off for the foreseeable future. 

Four days later I am still alive and to be honest, my mind is much more clear. All of these services are great in their own way, but because they all go in indefinitely it can be overwhelming to keep up with everything. I still keep up with everything but only once or maybe twice a day via my computer.

Yesterday I grabbed some pizza for lunch and didn’t take my phone out once. If this were a week ago I would have had my phone out the entire time that I ate. I would have been concentrating more on my Instagram or Twitter feed then my delicious pizza. It was very refreshing to just sit and watch the world go by and not have to look into a tiny screen to do so.

- Steve

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I’m always on the hunt for fun, new apps for my phone. I enjoy finding well designed apps that can help make my life easier or just make something I already do more efficient. 

I just discovered Squarespace Note yesterday and really love its functionality, design and overall simplicity. The basic function of the app is to make it easier for you to capture the many thoughts that you have throughout the day in a very simple and easy way. Once you have made your note you can then pick any number of services to have that note sent to. The services that are currently available are Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Email and Squarespace. 

Read more about the app here.

-Steve

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Zeetus lapetus, the future is upon us. While we may not be able to control our dreams entirely, the Japanese Yumemiru app aims to at least influence them. Detecting the different stages of sleep cycle, the app plays a specific preselected soundtrack as one enters REM sleep, influencing the lighter sleep state in which dreaming occurs. Dream themes include the forest, visiting the beach, flying, becoming rich, and gender specific romance. Creepy/cool? My primary concern is the lack of Haagen-dasz ice cream theme. - Maggie

Zeetus lapetus, the future is upon us. While we may not be able to control our dreams entirely, the Japanese Yumemiru app aims to at least influence them. Detecting the different stages of sleep cycle, the app plays a specific preselected soundtrack as one enters REM sleep, influencing the lighter sleep state in which dreaming occurs. Dream themes include the forest, visiting the beach, flying, becoming rich, and gender specific romance. Creepy/cool? My primary concern is the lack of Haagen-dasz ice cream theme.

- Maggie

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Do you sometimes like combining two special things and making one very special thing? Great. Then Screenstagram is the new Peanut M&M of iPhone photography and your computer screen - a cool combo of the new Instagram API and Mac screensaver options. 

Barbarian Group has recently released Screenstagram, an Instagram-fueled screensaver for Mac users. “In a nutshell, Screenstagram displays photos from Instagram - it can show you your friends’ photos or photos from the Instagram popular feed, which contains highly rated photos from across the Instagram community.”

Brandon’s got a pretty wonderful Instagram stream going, and I’ve included a few of my favorite photos of his, above. Check out Screenstagram’s demo video to see how the product would play out on your own screen.

Screenstagram animation demo from Barbarian Group.

- Maggie

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Ben and I have recently been comparing our favorite iPhone wallpapers and found Poolga is a go-to site for both of us. Founded by a small group of artists, Poolga was born in 2007 as a platform for sharing art as Apple product wallpapers. Focusing on illustration, graphic design, and typography, it features beautiful and often inspiringly offbeat work. Here are a few of my favorites, above. 

And if you find yourself getting lonely at work, spend your afternoon with the strapping Master and Commando. Or perhaps the soothingly stern Head of the Answering Service is more your style, though I wouldn’t recommend talking to her during work hours - she’s very serious.

- Maggie

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