Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass

"[...] the outside world, the non-digital world, is merely a theatrical space in which one stages and records content for the much more real, much more vital digital space. One should only engage with the outside world as one engages with a coal mine. Suit up, gather what is needed, and return to the surface." -- bo burnham, Inside

https://youtu.be/PSClBFUe-o0?t=26

TBH I don't think Instagram particularly keeps people inside given that >99.99% of its users use it exclusively on mobile.

From what I’ve seen, Instagram is better at motivating young people to go outside and do things than video games were in the 90s or even today.

With Instagram they see their friends doing things and it’s a reminder that going outside and/or spending time with friends is fun. There’s a lot of pearl clutching about people getting jealous about other people’s vacation pictures, but on the whole the active Instagram users I know are much more social and likely to spend time outside the house than the gamers or Redditors. By a wide margin.

I stand by the meme: that summer was closest we've gotten to world peace.

It's still very popular in my area during the warmer weather. I don't play the game myself but it is quite nice to see, really and makes me feel a little better about my community, as silly as that sounds. When people get out and enjoy public spaces together, it nurtures a positive perspective.

https://www.instagram.com/ct_thelittlethings/ :)

Bricky roads They trappers grass Stony walls They trappers wind Iron stove It trappers fire Trappers is we By the works of hands And forgets us We were ever free...

During COVID I'd take a lot of walks, and in a similar way, it helped to have some kind of basically useless goal/destination in mind. For me it was checking out how construction in a nearby park was going, including what was happening in a temporary holding pond. I would send "pond updates" to my family in other states, which they found amusing. I got really interesting in all the different birds I was seeing and how the plants were growing. Now that I'm downtown, in a more "walkable" place, I don't really have the same variety of interesting natural things to see. Maybe I can think of something similar.

They responded on another post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43160338): it's https://www.instagram.com/ct_thelittlethings .

Sure, why not, here it is: https://github.com/freetonik/geostreaks

We are a social species living in a world where everything is commodified, and to survive means trying to find a way to exist in that space. It creates a mindset where even a simple hobby needs to somehow create profit, because everything around us requires we have and/or create money over all of the less tangible things that actually make humans happy.

Some people have the luxury of being able to step around that mindset, even if only for a little bit, but there is less and less space for just existing.

The other factor is that there were too many "whimsical" apps, which were mostly variations of drinking beer, iphone guns, or fart apps. Apple cracked down hard on those by adding rules about similar / copycat apps or low value apps.

Perhaps not all whimsy, but definitely take a look at https://www.creativeapplications.net/blog/ for some interesting stuff people are doing out there in the world.

But when we had fart app everyone said civilization was coming to an end

I thought for a moment you were talking about https://whimsical.com/, which is productivity suite that people depend on for work. I wouldn't want to hear it's shutting down! Then I realized you're talking about the concept of whimsical things, not a company. Whew!

Is it possible that we're not as comfortable as we were a decade ago? I'll admit to having no aspirations to make that next killer app, but that's because I'm fairly financially secure, not wealthy by any means, but a decent paying job with a pension, and I know that's a privileged position the days.

and subscriptions

And then update that location on OSM as having grass

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I've been wanting something like this for a very long time. I always imagined seeing the "scientific classification" metro-style path where at some point it splits showing how far apart are two species.

Check out this fake lighter app I have

Every god damn subreddit gets infested with political content it's hard to browse. And even if you want to get more niche in depth content, most of the time subreddits will be filled with extremely beginner, basic questions.

I am really hoping they kill old.reddit.com so I can finally cut it off completely.

The reddit app is so bad, it may actually have been designed to end addiction to reddit.

I have never installed it.

I prefer to access things through a web browser.

I remember seeing a small patch at the top of The Peak that should do the trick

Surely you can find some green plastic herbs somewhere.

Of course no one needs an app to do any of this, but the general idea of getting out and touching a tree, climbing a snowbank, going out without a coat or hat for a few minutes when it's freezing are all the sorts of things that keep me happy during in the winter.

Besides, depending on your location, touching a tree might also be more hygienic than touching grass (e.g. if you happen to be in an area used for dog-walking).

As fast as some social media circles move I imagine come spring it's possible to not understand the context of most of what is being posted.

Hibernating? Touch Bear.

You'll never use social media again.

Build startup and exit for +$20m before you can unlock your apps for the extra motivated

Valid point. Should not only be to touch grass. At least snow, sand from the beach, and trees could at least be on the list.

Wdym is hard? Hard like is harder to make apps for Android than iOS? Genuinely curious