iOS 14 and Digital Minimalism in “Unprecedented Times”

This past October, I went on a digital fast for a month. I’d read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, and decided giving up my phone would be a healthy way to combat the heavy screen time I necessarily faced as a full time developer.

Besides, it was fall. In my typical back-to-school-season pathos, I ached for “simpler times” and a more authentic, analog experience that wasn’t dominated by glowing screens.

By the end, I cheated a little, but not in the important ways. I managed to:

• Relegate my phone use to making IRL plans with friends
• Check personal email once per day
• Leave my phone at home when going out
• Avoid checking all social media accounts, besides posting one event on Facebook

The first couple days were hardest, and one of the best tools I had at my disposal was iOS’s built-in grayscale screen filter. Draining the color from my phone was a consistent reminder that most things on it are designed to distract.

Ultimately, my relationship to my phone changed, but a lot of old habits returned.

Fast forward to spring 2020, and well… all bets have pretty much been off.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, I followed along obsessively on my phone. As we become confined to our ≈750 square foot apartment, I stayed connected to friends with FaceTime, messages, Zoom, and Instagram. As I fought boredom of not having work, I downloaded TikTok and wasted hours in mindless scrolling.

As protests for racial justice have erupted with an epicenter in my hometown, I’ve followed along, coordinated meetups and donations with friends, shared articles, signed petitions… all on my phone.

The week of May 31–June 7, I averaged nearly 5 hours of phone time per day—and that doesn’t include screen time on my laptop or iPad. Yikes.

That kind of usage is the excess I tried to break away from last fall. But as our devices have become sole conduits to a social life, it’s been hard to figure out the right balance.

iOS 14 to the rescue?

Yesterday, Apple previewed the next version of iPhone’s operating system, iOS 14. There’s a lot to be excited about, from a less-obtrusive Siri and call notifications to cycling directions in Maps (finally)!

But I’m thinking about my digital fast experiment and my grayscale phone. For the first time since iPhone’s introduction, Apple has redesigned the foundations of the homescreen in some significant ways.

Widgets

First, widgets can come out of hiding on the left side of the homescreen and cozy up to app icons. These redesigned tiles come in three sizes to show valuable information without having to open up any apps.

And you can stack widgets on top of one another to swipe through to different apps on any part of the screen. This is great for digital minimalism. How often have you taken your phone out to check the weather, only to get sucked into social media feeds?

If you can get the information you need right on your homescreen, perhaps the temptation to dive into other parts of your phone will recede.

App Library & Clips

Apple will also allow users to hide entire homescreen pages in favor of a new way to browse: the App Library. iOS will automatically sort apps into categories, and smartly suggest frequently used apps in addition to offering a prominent search bar.

And App Clips will allow developers to ship on-demand “slivers” of apps, so users can download core functionality without getting a whole new app. This will be perfect for things like parking, scooters, and food delivery apps.

Fewer apps, more hidden away.

I’m really hopeful these two updates make it easy to curate a simplified homescreen that’s less distracting. I know, you can do a lot of this today without iOS 14 by deleting unused apps and cramming the rest into folders.

But digital maintenance is easy to neglect, so I’m happy to see updates that will take care of some of the heavy lifting.

Already, brave souls who’ve downloaded the first developer betas have created and shared some beautifully minimal homescreens. (Including more than one that features only widgets.)

iOS 14 won’t magically change our digital habits. But I’m truly excited about an iOS update for the first time in a while.