One of the most annoying things in today’s modern world is distractions. Meanwhile, our processing power is limited. Social media and online communication are distractions, especially when we need to focus on something, whether it’s work, study, or something else.
One thing that really annoys me is WhatsApp groups.
I thought about reducing distractions caused by WhatsApp groups by only opening WhatsApp when I need to. My first thought was hiding WhatsApp. It turns out, my Android Realme C51 doesn’t have the Hide Apps feature. Oddly, some Android devices do, but my Realme C51 doesn’t. How about using the existing one?
I found this feature in the Settings > Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls option. There’s a feature called Focus. How does it work? It pauses selected apps (one or more) and hides their notifications as well. Then, you can specify when and how long you want it to work in Schedule option. The setting will grey out selected app or more selected apps. This may not hide the app as if it were gone from the home screen, but it will make it less visible.
That’s useful. The downside is that you can only set one time, and it applies globally. For example, you can’t set a different time if you have different apps.
I haven’t updated to Android 15 or Android 16, so I don’t know if this is any different.
So, if you want to prioritize privacy over focus, Android 15 has a Private Space feature.
Is this Focus feature sufficient for controlling distractions? For me, it’s quite helpful because I get a notification when I click on an app in the Distracting Apps category, reminding me to concentrate. Most importantly, we also need to train our own self-discipline to focus, we cannot just count on the device.
Note: I’m using Android 14 when writing this blog.