Arianna Huffington has a solution to your annoying phone notification problem

Arianna Huffington wants to block your notifications.
 By 
Karissa Bell
 on 
Arianna Huffington has a solution to your annoying phone notification problem
Arianna Huffington at Variety's Power of Women Presented by Lifetime in Los Angeles on Oct. 13, 2017. Credit: Richard Shotwell/Variety/REX/Shutterstock

Uber board member, media mogul, and sleep crusader Arianna Huffington wants you to turn off your phone.

That's easier said than done, of course, so she's teamed up with Samsung to make an app that will help you force yourself into it.

It's called Thrive, and the goal, according to Huffington, is to provide "the tools to take a break from your phone to do whatever it is that makes you more human." The Samsung-exclusive app isn't out until December, but Huffington took the stage at Samsung's Developer Conference to share more about how it works.

The main feature of the app is something called "thrive mode: that automatically suppresses your phone's notifications for a predefined period of time. You can opt to have a "VIP list" of contacts whose calls and texts will come through, but everything else -- calls, texts, and app notifications -- will be shut out.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If someone does text you, an auto-responder will let that person know you're currently unreachable because you're choosing to be in "thrive mode." (Side note: "Sorry boss, I'm in 'thrive mode' for the next hour sounds like the perfect way to get out of meetings, no?)

There's also an "App Control" feature that helps you keep tabs on how much time you're spending in apps. You can also opt for notifications that will ever so gently remind you when you're spending too much time glued to your Instagram feed.

Huffington also said there's an alarm feature that will help shut out the outside world for the first few minutes of the day after you wake up.

"Instead of immediately being at the mercy of what the world wants from you, your phone will be operational only ten minutes after you wake up -- think of it as your helpful coach," she said. "You set the agenda the Thrive app helps you achieve it"

The Thrive app is out December 15 in Samsung's Galaxy app store.

Topics Samsung

Mashable Image
Karissa Bell

Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.

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