The App that will make me switch to Android

I am super busy with last minute prep for next week's HR Technology Conference, but I had to take 10 minutes to call out a piece I spotted on TechCrunch about a new app called 'Offtime'. The App, currently available only for Android devices, provides a more sophisticated way for smart phone users to manage the incessant stream of phone notifications into more thoughtful groupings to better manage their work time, down time, and the times in between.

The Offtime app is built to allow you to unplug without missing any important or urgent matters. It lets you create an approved list of contacts who are allowed to break through your downtime, e.g., family members, important customers, your boss; but otherwise shuts down your phone's apps, incoming calls, texts, and emails. The app can also be configured to auto-respond to incoming messages when you are taking some unplugged time, while compiling for you an activity log of the things that you missed while taking a break from staring at your phone.

I think this just might be the coolest idea ever.

Many of us have spent the last several years diligently building up enormous lists of friends, followers, and contacts in various social networks and messaging apps. But now lots of people are starting to feel the backlash from such massive networks and active presence on these platforms.

Namely, we are almost never not being pinged, nudged, mentioned, liked, or otherwise being notified about something.

And that can get kind of exhausting. But doing a simple 'full shutdown' doesn't usually work either. We still need to be reached by our family or by one or two close friends or work colleagues no matter what. The problem is that it has been kind of hard in various apps and networks to make a more selective list of who you want to be able to contact you at any given time. It usually is an all or nothing prospect.

The Offline App seems to have found a way to help folks manage this scenario by allowing a more discrete way to take control of that endless series of beeps and pop up notifications and actually allow you to get some real work done, (or take some downtime), without the full panic of not being contactable by anyone consuming your thoughts.

I still have an iPhone, so I can't try out Offline as yet (they say they are working on an iOS version), but if this reeally works as advertised, it might be the App that sends me over to Android once and for all.

If you have tried the Offline App, I would love to hear about your experiences.