Smartphone addiction is a real problem, with the BreakFree app to measure your dependency on Android devices being the second release aimed at your nomophobia this week. Previously, we saw the Focus: Life Gear by Trident collection of clothes by Kunihiko Morinaga which can prevent electromagnetic waves from reaching your handset so that it gets all stupidly mute when you slide it into a pocket.
But BreakFree doesn’t exactly deal as roughly with your nomophobia (fear of being out of mobile contact) as Moringa’s garments do. Its friendly Sato character who looks somewhat like a young Buddhist monk, will tell you how you scored in terms of the number of times you’ve unlocked the smartphone and the hours you’ve spent on it during the day, week or month.
The application calculates if you are engaged with a certain app for too long, are calling up too many people for too long or if you have used the handset for more than an hour and will chastise you very gently. You can check out your usage stats for frequently used apps and call patterns amongst other functions in case you think you may be wasting too much time on certain tasks.
BreakFree doesn’t just stand by uselessly and point out where you’re going wrong. It also lets you set schedules for disabling your data connection, deploying automatic text messages saying you aren’t available, rejecting calls and so on. It could also work as a handy way to help parents keep tabs on how their young ones are interacting with their smart devices.
Think your smartphone addiction needs to be checked? You can download BreakFree from Google Play Store and it’s coming to iTunes soon.