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An app for screen addiction strikes a chord

Congratulations, you made it to Thursday, which is in fact an accomplishment. It can be hard to step away from your phone period, let alone give your tired thumb a break from doomscrolling when troubling news looms.

That’s why the chatter around Zario today is giving us hope. The new app uses psychology-backed concepts to help you understand your screen addiction and overcome it. Co-founder Ondrej Zak shared his experience, and it’s resonating with many in the community.

“I reached my lowest when my boss approached me one day after a meeting. She told me to never turn on Tinder during meetings again. 😅 The scary thing was that I wasn't even aware of having used it…"

Zak turned to the book Indistractable by Nir Eyal. “I started exploring how my brain 🧠 was unconsciously programmed to reach for the phone every time I felt the slightest discomfort,” he continued.

Then came Zario. It works to help you find digital balances with “science-backed challenges” on your phone. Examples include things like turning your phone to black & white to make it less appealing and making an origami. The challenges aren’t meant to transform your life instantly, but help you find short-term relief that adjusts your behavior over time (“sooner than later my brain found a workaround.”)

One commenter, Sarah Jordi, added “⬆️ this part is really spot on… deleting or time-restricting TikTok is only symptom control and not addressing the issue at its root…”

Co-founder Killian Fjellbakk also chimed in to explain to one commenter how the team approaches the app's challenges, explaining "Novelty and scarcity is often a trigger that draws us to picking up our phones more often; fomo. We've been relying on extensive testing… Finding the right balance is definitely key.”

Now is a great time to join the conversation and give Zario feedback about its MVP.

Cat Nips
  • Got 5 minutes? We’d love to know: How do you think we’re doing?
  • RonRon = “purr” in French. We're biased but we can’t think of a more relaxing way to meditate than with high-quality audio and a haptic experience that simulates a cat purring on you.
  • mysc. helps you create, collect, organize miscellaneous things in daily life like your shower thoughts, moods, wines you loved, etc.
  • Twitter only stores your Spaces chats for 30 days, but FlowInSpaces will let you archive them into a playlist for free.
🥱 or 😍?

Some people were left disappointed by Airbnb’s big launch following a lot of hype.

Nonetheless, The new Airbnb does includes interesting new features, including Categories, Split Stays, and AirCover Guests. Co-founder Brian Chesky tweeted that the launch is “the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade.”

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Our ultra-fast Daily: Three takes on new products. Yesterday’s top ten launches. That’s it.