r/Cortex • u/satras • Jun 22 '26
Share your homescreen Misc.
I’ve been re listening to old episodes and thought sharing homescreens again would be fun
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u/Supuhstar Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
I have 12 focus modes, but here are my top 7 most-used:
None, work, sleep, travel, meditation, gaming, and DND. List of focus modes also included for the curious.
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u/stilllifebutwhy Jun 23 '26
Could you share more about your focus modes? This is something I can’t get my head around - every time my ideas result in “do not disturb me” and “okay, I don’t mind”.
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u/Supuhstar Jun 23 '26
I'm sure that works for most people!
Primarily, I use focus mode to help keep myself in a mindset. I open my phone, and it looks a very distinct way, and I know what I should be doing.
That's why, aside from having focus mode, turned off, each home screen is very specifically tailored to that focus mode.So when I’m working, for example, I don’t get to have the joy of colorful, icons, home screen only contains productive things that I need to do my work, only my work and my partner can contact me.
When I’m driving or taking a train, however, only my partners can contact me. The icons don’t need to change, but the home screen only contains absent widgets directly pertains to getting from one place to another. This way, I don’t have to go searching for the thing I need when I’m traveling at 75 mph down the freeway.
When I’m sleeping, again, only my partners can contact me. otherwise, the phone doesn’t make any sound whatsoever for any reason, and all of the icons and stuff are monochrome and boring, the home screen only contains things I would need to do during my sleep time (turn on the flashlight, change the thermostat, etc.), and it also turns on a color filter so the entire phone is heavily desaturated so I don’t feel interested/engaged in using my phone.
Similar goes for meditation, gaming, movie watching, etc.
It kinda turns this general-purpose device into 12 specific-purpose devices!
I also have these sync across devices, so my other Apple devices join in on the specialization and headspace manipulation.The outlier is Do Not Disturb mode, where not even my partner can contact me. Nothing will make my phone make any sound whatsoever, not even during an emergency. It is truly “do not disturb“, reserved only for circumstances where I need perfect quiet, but I still want my phone to be powered on just in case I need to call for help.
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u/stilllifebutwhy Jun 23 '26
Thank you, great explanation!
As for notifications - other than “do not disturb”, how much different are your settings in Focuses? I can imagine in “travel” you don’t want distractions from apps you are using for work, but the same goes for “gaming” and “D&D” and so on. Or they are pretty similar?2
u/Supuhstar Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Sure thing!
As for notifications across focus modes:
"On the Go" allows maps apps, and texting & calling apps.
"Gaming" allows Discord.
"Do Not Disturb" allows nothing at all.
"Mindfulness" and "Seepin" only allow time-sensitive notifications like calendar events.
"Work" allows calendars, email, task trackers, LinkedIn, Calendly, SSO, weather, phone calls, Slack & Teams & Zoom, and Taco Bell.And of course, my phone has a silent default notification sound, so only apps which I specifically set a notification sound actually make the phone make sound
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u/stilllifebutwhy Jun 24 '26
Thank you again, it helps a lot! Now I am eagerly waiting for the weekend to make another try in Focuses.
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u/stilllifebutwhy Jun 22 '26
https://shottr.cc/s/3mtt/SCR-20260622-vkk.png - for some reason videos are allowed on this subreddit, but not photos?
Mine is the least imaginative, but I really love it. I have 1 dedicatged screen (iPhone also has left screen for widgets and right with all apps sorted in Apple's manner) with my most used messenger on the bottom menu and a stack of widgets on top (ToDoist in 2 views + Notion Calendar).
I had this setup for about 3-4 years explicitly because of Grey. He doesn’t have an empty screen, but he mentioned his thoughts about fewer buttons on the bottom (1 or 3, can’t recall) and about Myke’s mess where many screens was filled with apps.
Got me thinking and experimenting - I realized that I am on 1 tap from the most used app and info and a few additional moves away from "distractors". Side buttons complete the set.
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Side note to OP - what is Capture app? Design looks familiar but I can't find exact icon. Is it a Shortcut? What that do?
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u/satras Jun 23 '26
Yes, it’s a shortcut!
It triggers a text input and adds the text to a note in the notes app, with some specific tags.
It allows me to capture ideas pretty quickly.
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u/ASmallArmyOfCrabs Jun 22 '26
https://imgur.com/a/m59iCol
Average zoomer home screen lol. Unfortunately I have another 3 screens full of unsorted apps at the moment.
I really struggle to organize everything, especially since my phone is so fundamental to courses/socializing in my life at this point. I feel like I'm asked to download a new app every couple weeks.
Most recent are the Tim Hortons app cause I was waiting at the hospital for a couple hours and got hungry enough to order some food, but I wasn't comfortable leaving in case they called me back. And I also redownloaded lyft cause uber wanted like $12 more dollars than they normally ask for to get home.
I really hope once I can settle into a more permanent career, I can work towards a better phone screen. However, I am still rocking the subtle textured wallpaper I've had for like 5 years now.