Permanent Silent Mode

Users describing keeping phones permanently on Do Not Disturb, only allowing specific contacts, philosophy of asynchronous communication

Users are increasingly reclaiming their focus by treating smartphones as asynchronous tools, drawing inspiration from the era of answering machines when immediate responses were rarely expected. Many maintain a permanent "Do Not Disturb" status or disable notifications entirely, choosing to batch-check messages on their own schedule to protect their mental well-being and curb digital addiction. This shift often involves selective filtering—allowing only urgent calls or specific VIP contacts to break the silence—ensuring that the phone serves the user rather than the other way around. Ultimately, these strategies emphasize a proactive approach to technology where individuals prioritize manual engagement over the constant, reactive noise of the "always-on" culture.

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I chose the hard way and disabled them anyway. If I want to know if a train is delayed, I check. If I wait for a driver, I check. Actually the latter is better as I'm not surprised by the guy arriving but can synchronize well. And frankly, I don't complain.

And every evening or so I sit down on my computer and check WhatsApp notifications on web.whatsapp.com to catch up with what's going on in groups people added me to. I find this quite good for my well-being.

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My solution to this problem was to have my phone permanently on silent. The logic being - there was nothing so urgent 25 years ago that couldn't be solved by an asynchronous answering machine message checked once a day; why do I need moment to moment updates now.

Nowadays I'd probably use a tool like yours. My partner is going through legitimate withdrawal symptoms after two years of short-form content addiction. Turning off all notifications was one of the first things I did for them.

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I'm occasionally keeping my data turned off and am telling everyone "if urgent call me".

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At least on iOS, internet call is treated basically the same as cellular, showing a splash caller screen and ringing if not on silent. This means that it's trivial to setup phone in such a way that no notification gets through but calls do, even with sound.

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I just disable notifications for Facebook on my phone altogether. I'll proactively check every few days.

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I have an Android phone and it's constantly set to 'Do not disturb'. I only have a couple of people that are exempt (you can do that in the settings). Because of this I am not too fussed about even occasional extra notification, because I deal with all of them when I have time.

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Personally it just grates me when my notifications stack up (even if I wasn't disturbed when the notifications came in). My philosophy is - I should be able to control what I see, hence this app.

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Nice to see something like this... I've gotten to where I simply have most app notifications disabled altogether. Pretty much only phone calls and text messages get through, and my text message notification sound is pretty subtle at that.

If I go a few days without going into a given social media app to see the notifications in the app, so be it. For that matter, I'm relatively selective about the apps I even install in the first place.

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