Always remember, your focus determines your reality." - George Lucas
Boring Phone
Even with an iPhone 11, I can see the benefits of using the native Apple
apps to preserve the battery life and maintain simplicity. My
minimalistic and colourless approach to my phone has enabled me to use
it less. One habit I had to work on for the past two months was avoiding
Apple Safari to casually browse the internet and watch YouTube videos.
Clear icons (iOS 26.3) and dark, minimalist wallpaper
The apps I use the most are on my home screen. Everything else can be
accessed by swiping down and manually typing in the app I want to use,
which is usually Apple Mail, Signal and WhatsApp. I have six apps with
allowed notifications on the lock screen - calls, iMessage, Signal,
WhatsApp, Apple Reminders and Notes. Only calls, iMessage and Apple
Reminders have been given the permission to have badges on them.
Lost Post - First Impressions
I stumbled across a lovely social media app that does things
differently. The concept is simple - receive a thought-provoking
question, respond to it and submit it. In return, you receive someone's
else response to a question and read it. The replies, which I like to
think as journal entries, come from people from around the world. You
can respond to the entry through a collection of buttons - Like, Funny,
Insightful and heartfelt.
Lost Post social media app
As you receive responses from the world, you start collecting a wall of
flags representing the locations of where you received post from. I like
this approach. It reminds me of the pen pal experience I had when I was
a child. There is also a streaks tracker and accolades feature where you
earn different achievements such as reaction enthusiast, deep thinker,
globe trotter, etc. In addition, there is a calendar view to see the
post you have received on each day as well as the country you received
it from. I love this sincere social media concept.
So far, I have received post from America, Germany, Lithuania, India and
Israel. Lost Post is definitely a strong recommendation for those who
want a social media experience without the toxicity in other apps out
there.
Before the Christmas holidays, I made a costly mistake in breaking my
iPhone 15 screen as I dropped it, landing on a rock. Not even a screen
protector could have saved it and it didn’t. I am cautious about using
third-party companies to fix my devices. Again, this could be a huge
mistake on my behalf. However, a previous replacement battery experience
caused me a lot of stress.
Replacing my iPhone 15 screen is going to cost roughly £289 (including
VAT). That’s a lot of money but I know it is cheaper than replacing the
phone completely. I’m happy with my iPhone 11 right now. The only reason
for wanting my iPhone 15 back in the impending discontinuation of
software updates later in the year.
A heavy indent can be seen on my iPhone 15.
The Media Shelf
Book | Minimalism Sucks: Learn a Dogma Free Way to De-clutter Your Life by Jens Boje - Apple Books link
This short (24 pages) book gives practical and honest advice to living a minimalist lifestyle with a realistic approach. It isn’t very often a book or article mentions minimalism with children, so it was refreshing to see.
Financial Minimalism: The Art of Living Well with Less Money by Florian Schoeder
As always, thank you so much for reading. The Weekly Review is simply a
place to gather thoughts, ideas, links, and recommendations — the kind
of things I would have once shared on social media.
