V2 of Exist is here.
Backing up for a second.
The mission of Exist! is to help people escape their compulsive phone use and, more broadly, to elevate their consciousness in a digital attention economy dead-set on lowering it.
That’s a darn grandiose way to start this project update, but here’s why I’m saying it:
I have to keep reminding myself that dedication to the mission is not the same thing as dedication to absolute perfection of the product before we let anyone new start using it.
V2 of Exist still has some imperfections (technically and aesthetically), but we’re sending it anyway, because…
Even with a couple of bugs, Exist will still help you cut down on mindlessly using your phone.
Since V1, here’s what’s new:
The “better ideas” are getting better, and more interactive. With Exist, when you try to open an app you say you want to use more intentionally (Instagram, TikTok, Birdwatchers Against Teen Smoking, whatever), we give you 1) a chance to bail before you do and 2) a better idea. Part of what makes certain apps so addictive is that they substitute for important human impulses, which are healthier to deal with in the real world. For example, it’s common to flick through social media if you’re procrastinating something. Inside Exist, if you admit that this is what you’re doing, we’ll give you an exercise from Phil Stutz (famous therapist) to help you start breaking through that block. This set of alternatives will keep evolving based on what seems to actually help people. By the way, we haven’t talked directly to Stutz so TBD if we can even keep this in there.
We’re de-emphasizing reporting on your overall screen time number making more of a point to help you limit your usage of the apps you’re telling us are bad. The truth is that not all screen time is created equal. Duh. Listening to Charlotte Bronte audiobooks is not the same thing as rotting your brain with powerwashing TikToks, no disrespect to powerwashing.
There’s an “UNBLOCKED” mode. Our experience with app-blocking services is that they get mad annoying when you just want/need to use a given app for a second and don’t want to be harassed about it. The point of Exist isn’t to just lock you out of everything. It’s to gently help you develop the skill of not needing to check your phone all the time. We don’t want “white knuckle sobriety.”
Oh, one last note!
This graphic on the home screen is currently just a static image:
Currently a static image, becoming a living graphic.
The idea is, the more time you spend on your phone vs. in the real world, the more the head turns into a wireframe grid, representing the simulated world dominating your consciousness.
This is a tricky graphic to pull off, and we didn’t want to wait for it to be done to get more people using the app.
Anyway, I’m not sure when you’re reading this but as of June 2nd, all users of Exist! are still going through TestFlight. (Official launch date in the Apple App Store is TBD.)
If you want to test Exist! before it’s live to the public, drop your info into one of the forms on this site and we’ll reach out.
Peace,
Jake
