NJust write an email quickly – that’s the plan. And then? Four wrong turns: First Instagram, then weather report, ping: Oh, mom sends a WhatsApp. Wait a minute, what was I about to do?
Sometimes you wonder who is actually holding whom: we are holding our smartphones or the smartphones are holding us. It would be easy to say: just put the cell phone away. Digital Detox, as it is called in modern German. But a lot of things are no longer possible without a mobile phone: rent a bike, buy and pay for a ticket, show your vaccination card.
If you can’t get rid of a problem, you have to find a way to live well with it. Christina Roitzheim, Selcuk Aciner and Marius Rackwitz have a suggestion: the trio is developing an app that will give people “back control of their cell phone use,” says Roitzheim. “A lane departure warning system for the smartphone,” says its co-founder Aciner.
Think we should use our smartphones better: Christina Roitzheim, Marius Rackwitz and Selcuk Aciner (left to right)
Source: Tobias Herrmann
The Not Less But Better app is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, the Berlin founding team has already been able to inspire a group of illustrious business angels: The managing directors of companies such as N26 or Blinkist have participated in the first round of financing of the Berlin start-up.
Several female angels from Encourage Ventures also participated. A high six-figure amount was collected, as the founders reported in an interview with “Gründerszene”. Tier’s CPO, Georgie Smallwood, is also impressed and on board as an advisor.
The DHDL investment collapsed two years ago
In 2020, the founders pitched their idea on the TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen”. The jurors Carsten Maschmeyer and Nico Rosberg were initially enthusiastic about the app and wanted to invest. However, the deal did not come about afterwards: After the recording, it was found that they had “different plans for the strategic direction of the company”, said co-founder Aciner to “Gründerszene” at the time.
With Not Less But Better, an AI observes how someone is currently using their smartphone – meaningful, active and goal-oriented (that’s OK) or thoughtless, confused and passive (not OK). In the latter case, the user receives a message that encourages him or her to put the cell phone away.
“Of course we won’t interrupt you if you’re writing a message,” explains Roitzheim. “But if you’re already watching the 20th reel video in a row and it’s already 11 p.m., the real-time coach steers your behavior in the desired direction.” The user should be able to choose how strict the app is with one.
The big difference to existing apps from this area is: This is not about the time that the user spends online or in certain applications. It’s about the quality of what he’s doing.
The problem the app aims to solve is bigger than improving one’s efficiency or kicking a annoying habit. According to the psychologist Roitzheim, if we no longer have our smartphone use under control, then that not only makes us slow and annoyed – it can even make us mentally ill. She and her two co-founders then speak of “problematic smartphone use”.
Doomscrolling until your head, eyes and soul hurt
The team is also tackling the phenomenon of doom scrolling – especially now against the background of the war in Ukraine. Doom scrolling can damage the soul and psyche, says Roitzheim. Science is still in the process of proving this.
You have to remember: The first iPhone came out at the end of 2007, that was less than 15 years ago. Research has not yet worked out what the device did to us, to our behavior and to our psyche during this time.
“The problematic use of smartphones falls into the category of behavioral addictions,” explains Roitzheim. “This is a relatively new category in psychology. Computer games or shopping addiction also fall into this category.”
From a purely scientific point of view, smartphone use activates the human dopamine system in a similar way to food, money or drugs. We always want more of it, even if we can no longer benefit from it after a certain amount.
“There is still no specific diagnosis that a doctor can make,” says Roitzheim. That is why the founding trio currently does not have the opportunity to start as a DiGA and thus be prescribed as a health insurance benefit. “But we see a strong interest in this topic in the healthcare sector. That’s why we’re talking to some of the larger health insurance companies,” says Aciner.
Effectiveness of the app proven in a study
The founders researched the effectiveness of their app in partnership with the Freie Universität Berlin using a larger study. The team wants to have proven that after three weeks of using the app, problematic smartphone use fell by 42 percent. The total screen time has also reduced by 20 percent and the well-being of the users has increased by eight percent.
The screen time is a side effect for the founders. “We’re big fans of our smartphones ourselves,” says Aciner. For this reason alone, the development of Not Less But Better was never about reducing the use of smartphones in general.
“Smartphones are the pocket knives of the 21st century,” says Marius Rackwitz. Imaginable all-rounder. “Otherwise we would have to carry around cameras, lexicons, road maps, compasses and whatever.” You just have to be careful not to hurt yourself with them.