Tech Talk: Smartphones: Are You Using Yours, or Is It Using You?

By Mark McNease

One of the things I’ve done to keep from being completely at the mercy of my iPhone is to never have it in the bedroom at night. During the day, maybe, but when dinner is finished and we head into the bedroom to watch Jeapoardy and whatever else we can fit in before sleep takes over, my phone gets left on the kitchen counter. Always.

I’ve also tried not looking at it before 8:00 am, but that hasn’t been successful. Just not having it near me at night has been a great help. I’ve told people that if they text me after 7:00 pm, they won’t get a reply until the next day. You know how many people are texting when they should be asleep or paying attention to their  lives outside a smartphone? Too many.

It’s undeniable that our smartphones are incredible little machines. Handheld computers, and even more expensive than a desktop. They keep us connected to family, news, community, and entertainment. But sometimes it feels like the phone is running us, buzzing, dinging, flashing, and demanding attention all day long. How else are we supposed to doomscroll through the headlines? We want to be alerted if life as we know it has come to a screecing halt.

This week’s we’re looking at how to take back some control. No advanced tech skills are required, and no artificial intelligence will be harmed. Just a few simple tweaks that can make our phone lives calmer, safer, and less demanding.

🔔 Tame the Notifications (This One Matters Most)

If your phone interrupts you constantly, it’s not rude, it’s just badly trained. My personal peeve: the vibrations.  But I keep my phone on mute, so I need to have some to know when I’m getting an important text. The downside is that it shakes against me in the belt holster I’ve always used, and 80 percent of it is spam.

One thing that helped me was turning off notifications for all the app. I never turn them on. I don’t need to know who responded to a Facebook post, or how many points I earned from scanning receipts into Fetch. Every time a new app wants to send me notifations, I firmly but politely say hell no.

Do this today:

• Go into Settings → Notifications
• Turn off notifications for apps you don’t truly need alerts from
  (games, shopping apps, news apps are common culprits)
• Keep alerts for:
  • Calls & texts
  • Important email
  • Calendar reminders

We don’t need to know everything the second it happens. And it we do, it’s time for therapy.

🔕 Use “Do Not Disturb” Without Guilt

“Do Not Disturb” isn’t antisocial—it’s self-respect.

• Set it to turn on automatically at night
• Allow calls from favorites (kids, partners, close friends)
• Silence everything else

Your phone will still be there in the morning. I know this from experience.

🔐 A Quick Privacy Check (Worth Five Minutes)

Many apps collect more information than they need.

Check this:

• Go to Settings → Privacy
• Review:
  • Location access (set many apps to While Using the App)
  • Camera & microphone permissions
• Delete apps you don’t use anymore
  (If you don’t recognize it, you probably don’t need it)

Less data shared = fewer surprises.

📱 Screen Time: Use It as Information, Not Judgment

Most phones track how much time you spend on them. Don’t panic—just look.

• Open Screen Time / Digital Wellbeing
• Notice:
  • Which apps get the most time
  • How often you pick up your phone

If nothing else, it can be eye-opening—and a little funny.

💡 Tech Tip of the Week

If your phone feels overwhelming, it’s usually notifications—not the phone itself. Start there.

✅ What You Can Do This Week

Pick one of these:

• Turn off notifications for one noisy app
• Set up Do Not Disturb at night
• Delete one app you don’t use

Small changes add up.

Next week in Tech Talk: Passwords, Password Managers, and Why “123456” Is Still a Bad Idea