StandBy is an effective way to cut back distractions (and display time)

I’ve been utilizing the iOS 17 developer beta for just a few weeks now, and been which means to jot down a roundup of the options I’ve discovered most helpful. I’ll get round to that, however there’s one which stands out to me – and that’s StandBy.

Apple’s major intention with this proper now’s to show the iPhone right into a helpful nightstand clock, however this isn’t the one manner to make use of it …

What’s StandBy?

StandBy is a brand new function in iOS 17. When your iPhone is switched off, and also you place it on a charging dock in panorama orientation, a brand new show seems.

This includes two giant widgets, on left and proper. StandBy defaults to a clock on the left-hand aspect and a calendar on the correct, however you possibly can customise these to your tastes.

Simply right this moment, Macworld ran a chunk which argued that the function is giving us a sneak peak at plans for a future Apple product, and I feel that’s a sensible take.

Utilizing StandBy to cut back distractions

I do use StandBy as a nightstand function, and it’s helpful in that position – particularly for these like me, who barely know what day of the week it’s after we first open our eyes within the morning. However I’ve discovered one other use for it.

Loads of the time, if I’m stress-free at house, listening to music, or studying, my iPhone shall be by my aspect. Largely, I simply have it there to control chat notifications. However … it may be distracting. It’s very simple to simply mindlessly choose up my iPhone for no specific cause, then get misplaced in one thing.

5 years in the past, I decreased the temptation by placing my cellphone on an app, notifications, and app badge food regimen.

I made a decision initially to strive a ‘notifications food regimen’ – dramatically reducing again on the variety of apps allowed to ship me notifications. However as I began going by the record in Settings, I spotted I additionally had apps I by no means use [so I zapped those too]. I’ve additionally switched off badges on most apps.

The one factor I don’t need to miss are messages, so messaging apps received to maintain the app badges (with some chats muted). Non permanent banners alone are too simple to overlook in my peripheral imaginative and prescient.

However I’ve discovered StandBy is ideal for this. When a message arrives, it’s displayed full-screen, with the precise message content material:

That’s simply a sufficiently big visible change to catch my eye, and since it shows the message itself, I can simply go away it’s when it’s purely informational.

So should you’re in search of a approach to lower down on distractions or display time at house (I don’t rely my Kindle!), I can extremely suggest giving StandBy a strive.