Apple wants us to handle our S***

Yes, we have reached the point where there is just too much information and content getting thrown at us in every direction, in every language, and through multiple portals.

Look at the redness in your eyes, and the dehydrated puffs under them. There is only so much our bloodshot eyes can take in, whether when sneaking a peek at our phones in a meeting, or after we’ve been scrolling through our news feed for 40 minutes past our bedtime. The redness in our eyes is so understated; its practically high fashion.

Internet saturation does not even cover half of it. We are drowning, and to be frank; I am a culprit on both ends, the creation of content and the consumption of it. I am mindful of almost everything I do – you thought I was perfect, didn’t you? – well, I am, and so are you. We are perfect at wasting time, especially on our beloved phones.

The interesting news and this is the point of this post, is that the company responsible for changing our lives has decided to discipline us, Apple has come to rescue us from our frail selves. In its newest features, IOS 12 wants to help us regulate our mobile usage because apparently, we can’t handle our technology that well.

The news announcement on Apple’s website describes the thinking behind the scope of new regulatory features; “By understanding how they’re interacting with their iOS devices, people can take control of how much time they spend in a particular app, website or category of apps. The App Limits feature allows people to set a specific amount of time to be in an app, and a notification will display when a time limit is about to expire.”

This news brings us to the forefront of taking control of our lives, it puts us in the driver’s seat. It is unfortunate that too much of a good thing has become a bad thing. We need mobile usage etiquette, we need to look each other in the eye every now and then and decide if putting our phone in airplane mode for this conversation will make one of us feel better.

We have so much power, it resides in our growing connection to one another, and in all the resources we have with just a tap of a screen. We have a world at our fingertips. However, there are two main reactions to that, either embracing it and taking it all in, or hiding away and just observing others live.

Our phones could be providing a constant reminder of what we are not doing, who we are not seeing, and money we are not making. Except, we cannot auto-pilot this one, and that is what I always like to repeat. Taking back the reigns is a wonderful thing, and Apple is helping us do it. Is it a clear cut sign that everything we do on our phones is already analyzed to the bit? Of course, but then quit it altogether, or just be mindful of how you handle your technology.