Unpluq
Off Your Screen, Into Your Life.
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Ben Lang

Unpluq - Get another hour & 20 minutes in your day, everyday

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Get back 1 hour and 20 minutes of your time each day to work out, cook, read or see people you love. Unpluq helps you to take control of your time with a physical gesture to control access to your phone. Improve your mood, sleep, and productivity.

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Aaron Windfield
Interesting. I need something like this. I'll try it out.
Tim Smits
Maker
@musiceverywhere Thanks Aaron, I'm curious to hear if it helps you :)
Clo
Big fan of Unpluq here, I use the app every day and it helps me stay focused and better manage my time. I especially love the ability to choose a random unlocking pattern. Definitely recommend giving it a try!
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@clo__s Thank you Clo for your support and sharing that you like using the random app barrier!
Çağla Çağlar
Hey team, congrats on the launch 🎉
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@uxcagla Thanks so much for your support today!
I was recently surprised to learn that I've spent an average of 1.5 hours daily on Facebook. To mitigate that, I've enabled app limits that come with Screen Time, though ignoring it is just a click of a button and I do so every now and then. I definitely think a more complex barrier would work. Aside from this though, what would you say is the competitive advantage of Unblock over the native app?
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@heyjoshua Joshua this is such a great point--all of these others solutions like screen time limits DO WORK but they have limited impact and work better for some folks than others. The issue is that when you tap "15 more minutes," it actually perpetuates the problem that causes you to be glued to your phone in the first place: it releases a dopamine rush and gives you that reward center satisfaction just like the actual app does. Unpluq gives you the *right* amount of friction to empower you to make a good choice for yourself. It's a solution for the every-person who is simply human, dealing with addictive technologies that have been built to get and keep our attention in an unfair way that hacks at our very biology. Introducing a physical gesture brings you back offline, interrupts that habit loop, and gives you a fighting chance against it. Software only solutions simply don't touch this, and in a study we did with Tilburg University, we showed really significant impacts on procrastination, distraction, and sleep quality vs software only solutions.
@killclick that make sense. Okay, I’m using it now and will come back to you in a few days for feedback. But looking great so far! Can you share the details of the study? I would love to understand more if it’s not too much.
Jorn Rigter
Maker
@heyjoshua That's great, can't wait to hear what you think and learn more about your first experience! Re the study: of course! You can find the paper about the study we did with Tilburg University here: http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=...
@jorn_rigter @killclick thanks! It was a great read. I've started using it and loved it so far. There is a bug on the onboarding process though. The individual apps doesn't show on the "Select which apps to block." screen. I have the screenshot for you if you need it, just tell me where would be best. Otherwise, it has been a great experience so far.
Tim Smits
Maker
@jorn_rigter @killclick @heyjoshua Hey Joshua, Thanks for pointing that out. Would you be able to forward the screenshot & some info to support@unpluq.com? Thanks a lot!
Jim Huffman
Finally, someone made the product that I need to control my own bad habits. Sadly, the iphone time constraints are not enough. If you are serious about getting your time back then this is very necessary. Any advice on ways to use this on the weekend vs. the word days?
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@jimwhuffman Great question Jim! I can tell you what we do in our team: On weekdays: - During the workday, some of us block social media, games, and even some messaging apps during the workday so that we access them only intentionally during breaks, and not during deep work. - In the evenings and into the early morning, some of us block work apps like Slack, LinkedIn, and work email, so that we get real downtime and recharging opportunities On the weekends: - Some of us don't block anything, and some of us block work and social media. Personally, I like to block both work and social on the weekend. I might unblock for 10-15 minutes on social on the weekend to catch up with friends, but I do it super intentionally and don't let it steal my Saturday afternoon! Hope this helps to give you some ideas to structure your schedules!
Baptiste N
I love the idea, but I love even more the headline: "Get another hour & 20 minutes in your day, every day". It's simple, yet so effective. I'm a happy early user of your app, and I wish you all the best for this launch. Hope it'll be a blast! 🔥
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@baptiste_ncls Thank you Baptiste, appreciate your input on the tagline!!
Ishit Patel
Great idea and an even better product!!
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@ishit_patel Awesome thank you Ishit!
Jose Briones
Unpluq has been a great tool when I have to switch to a smartphone. While I use dumbphones most of the time, there are some days where I travel and need to switch to a smartphone. If I do that, I use Unpluq for sure :)
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@jbroines95 Jose, thanks for your support! Love that this is your intermediary and thanks for sharing how you use Unpluq.
Parker Casselman
I’ve used Unpluq for 2 months (beta/full launch) and have noticed a direct change in screen-time. Specifically with social media. If you’re looking to be technologically conscious, this product is for you
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@parker_casselman Thank you Parker for sharing your experience, I'm so happy to hear it's caused a change in how you're using your phone. Amazing news!
Michael Patterson
Congrts on the launch @killclick! Could you see this also being used to prevent people from snoozing their alarm clocks? I have tried several apps that block you from turning off your alarm until you've done something like solve a math problem, stand, etc... but, in my desperation to get more sleep, I always find a workaround like just deleting the app (sad, I know). But if I was physically unable to open my phone to do that without a tag, and I put that tag somewhere outside my room, it seems like it could be a solution. Does that sound like a workable use case?
Caroline Cadwell
Maker
@michael_patterson4 Hi Michael, thanks for thinking along with us on this! Alarm work around isn't a main use case right now but you are right, it could be applied this way, especially if you use a separate alarm app, though we'd have to test if it blocks the alarm from going off at all! It surely would be different on iOS vs Android in its behavior as well because of the native settings we've built upon. Re: just deleting apps, this is the original (but unsustainable in a connected world) solution a lot of people try a few times before landing on Unpluq and realizing it is a more sustainable, balanced way of approaching their tech usage. Would love to hear about it if you decide to give a Tag a try. They're on sale today for Product Hunt, and folks who get them, the majority are still using the many months later.
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