OK, so I’m gonna use this as an excuse to go on a little nerdy rant so forgive me ahead of time if this is a little long-winded.
There are many different approaches you could take but what I have found the effectiveness varies from person to person.
For example the minimalist list of apps, such as with O’launcher or the iOS widgets people have shown you already is a decent set up as is
However for me it just feels like you’re trying to force the operating system to behave in a certain way that it was just never meant to be so I gave up on that pretty quickly. (I like having PWA’s which of as of right now it is basically only supported on icon related launchers. This may not be a concern for most people and the aesthetic is probably gonna be a significant bigger priority.)
I’d recommend setting the icons all to grayscale or monochrome of a specific color. With android this is gonna heavily depend what distribution you’re running. The Pixel OS and AOSP icon customization is still lacking but most other OEM skins don’t have this problem and iPhone all of that customization is within the homescreen but will apply systemwide.
If you want to have a list of apps on iOS in a more native, feeling way, Assistive Access is going to be more of your friend it is essentially a dumb phone mode. You dont even have to use it most of the time but just start getting to the habit of hey, I really don’t want to use my phone right now, I still want my alerts and I still want access to certain things let me activate this. I think this is a better way of approaching that than instead of many people may do and just get a separate dumb phone.
Spotlight search is an essential. Ever since iOS 18.1 you have the ability to have Spotlight search as a shortcut so I recommend putting it action button, lock screen or where I personally put it in Control Center .
An empty home screen can be aesthetically pleasing, but in my experience, it’s not really all that practical. I find putting the apps align with your priorities the heaviest (and you have to be realistic with yourself about it) within the homepage does wonders.
If you just leave it empty and then resort to swiping to the app drawer or app library you’re going to see icons of shit you were never intending on opening.
In my social circle. I call the smartphone the “vape pen of information” so I think adding friction and removing convenience as frustrating as it may be does a lot. Here’s an example of that.
For the iPhone disabling Face ID and locking apps behind ‘require passcode’ then using an alpha numeric password for that adds a significant friction point and makes you start questioning whether or not this application you’re trying to access is necessary in that moment. Yes, it is super inconvenient almost frustratedly so but the convenience selling point is what makes these things so enticing in the first place so I mainly suggest doing this approach with only seriously problematic apps.
On android there’s a bit of a better implementation of this. You have the advantage of work profiles and private space you can make this a separate pin code or password that way you’re not doing an all or nothing solution do I need the app on my phone or not.
(Not everybody has the privilege of owning multiple devices and they need to access platforms one way or another so if you have an android device, this goes a long way as long as you don’t take the lazy approach)