Black Mirrors. Joy Thieves. Anti-facts machines. There are a lot of slang terms referring to smartphones by a less-than-appealing aspect. I myself have found that beyond the apple health app and maybe a rocket sim game or a comfy youtube video, my phone is mostly good for making me sad and or hopeless.
Sometimes I struggle to get started working once the sun is up. I’ve been waking at 4:30 AM reliably and it’s just hard to stop the momentum of wasting time from like 5 to 9 AM and start work. Sometimes I reflexively prompt an LLM to remind me how to get focused, just because. It’s some kind of start. Usually I read the response and try to implement some part. Recently though, I mentioned that I thought my phone was distracting me because it doubled as my CGM reader. It told me to go get a standalone reader, something I mostly forgot about since I’ve never actually seen one used.
Each time I was picking up my phone to check on my metabolism, whether necessary or not (I often just check to check because it’s been a moment) I was also seeing notifications on my phone from any of the other bajillion apps.
Turns out, this was the right move. It took some effort - I had to get a prescription to buy the new reader (65 dollars with coupon) from the pharmacy, and I had to buy a screen protector (10 dollars) because the plastic is weak to normal pockets which have zippers or rivets. The yellow silicone cover (10 dollars) also made it a lot easier to spot when I leave it sitting somewhere away from me.
It has some downsides, like the cable it came with is the only one I seem to be able to charge it with while still able to use the device to see readings. And because my macbook only has USB-c, when I upload the data for my dietician to see it requires a very specific usb a-to-c adapter.
But now I can ditch my phone. With the Dexcom G7 I could almost ditch my phone, I have an apple watch that pairs directly to the sensor, but in a noisy electro- magnetic environment the connection is dropped frequently. So in effect both major players in the CGM game almost mandate that you keep the most distracting device ever devised by mankind glued to your person. Of course, this doesn’t create special carve-outs for your phone. If you have to go into a clean room, a top-secret conference, or just take the SAT or go anywhere else a phone wouldn’t be allowed, the only way to keep access is a dedicated device.
Now, I pick up the reader, glance at a number and put it back down. Sure, I can distract myself just a little with the aggregate metrics the standalone device still gives, like seeing my 7, 14, 30 day average glucose or the average trend line across a day. But that data isn’t as rich or distracting as the exact same on my phone.
All of this applies unless you sincerely need the real-time reporting from a smartphone, or if you need to get the data to Clarity or LibreView and you don’t have a computer.