Control Your Phone
Your phone is the biggest attention thief. Time to fence it.
Why Your Phone Is the Problem
You can install Linux on your computer, de-Google your email, and fence YouTube — but if your phone is still a dopamine delivery device in your pocket, you haven't solved the real problem. Your phone is with you every waking minute. It buzzes, it notifies, it tempts. Every app on it was designed by a team whose job is to get you to pick it up.
PewDiePie's approach to phones is one of the most practical ideas in the whole tech-fencing concept: the second user profile. On Android, you can create a separate user profile on the same phone. Put all your distracting apps (social media, YouTube, games) on the second profile. To access them, you have to switch profiles — a process that takes 5-6 seconds and requires intentional action.
Five seconds doesn't sound like much. But that tiny bit of friction is enough to make your brain pause and ask "do I actually want to do this?" PewDiePie said he catches himself reaching for apps dozens of times a day and stopping because of that pause. That's the fence working.
Option A: GrapheneOS (The Full Solution)
What Is GrapheneOS?
GrapheneOS is a privacy-focused Android operating system that replaces the stock Google Android on your phone. It's Android without Google. No Google Play Services running in the background, no constant location tracking, no advertising ID, no Google account required.
PewDiePie uses GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel phone. Yes, the irony — the most private Android OS runs best on Google's own hardware. That's because Pixel phones have the best security features (verified boot, hardware security module) and GrapheneOS supports them exclusively.
You need a Google Pixel phone. GrapheneOS only works on Pixel devices (Pixel 4 and newer). If you don't have a Pixel and don't want to buy one, skip to Option B below.
Flash GrapheneOS
GrapheneOS has a web-based installer at grapheneos.org/install/web that makes flashing surprisingly easy. Connect your Pixel to your computer via USB, follow the guided steps in the browser, and it handles everything. The whole process takes about 15 minutes.
Before you start:
- Back up everything on your phone
- Charge your phone to at least 80%
- Enable OEM unlocking in Developer Options (Settings → About Phone → tap Build Number 7 times → Developer Options → OEM Unlocking)
- Use a USB-C to USB-C cable if possible (more reliable than USB-A)
The installer unlocks your bootloader, flashes GrapheneOS, and re-locks the bootloader for security. When it's done, you have a clean Android phone with zero Google services.
Set Up the Second User Profile
This is PewDiePie's key friction technique. On GrapheneOS (and stock Android), go to Settings → System → Multiple Users and create a second user profile.
Your two profiles should be organized like this:
- Main profile: Essential apps only. Phone, messaging (Signal), email (ProtonMail), calendar, maps, camera, music. Nothing that wastes your time.
- Second profile: Everything distracting. Social media, YouTube, Reddit, games, news apps. These are the apps you want but don't want easy access to.
To switch profiles, you pull down the notification shade and tap your user icon, then select the other profile. It takes about 5-6 seconds. That delay is the fence. Every time you want to open Instagram or YouTube, you have to make a deliberate choice to switch.
Pro tip: You can install sandboxed Google Play Services on GrapheneOS in the second profile only. This means apps that require Google Play (banking apps, some social media apps) still work, but they're sandboxed — they can't access your main profile's data.
Install Apps via F-Droid
F-Droid is an app store for open-source Android apps. No Google account needed. On GrapheneOS, it's your primary source for apps. Some highlights:
- NewPipe — YouTube without ads, tracking, or Google account. Background playback and downloads included.
- Feeder — RSS reader for following YouTube channels and blogs without algorithms.
- OsmAnd — Offline maps based on OpenStreetMap.
- Signal — Encrypted messaging (also available directly from signal.org).
- K-9 Mail — Open-source email client (now officially Thunderbird for Android).
- Obtainium — Gets APK updates directly from GitHub releases, so you can install apps that aren't on F-Droid.
For apps that aren't on F-Droid and need Google Play, install the Aurora Store from F-Droid — it's an open-source Google Play client that lets you download Play Store apps without a Google account.
Option B: Fence Your Stock Phone
Don't have a Pixel? Not ready to flash a new OS? You can still fence your phone significantly without changing your operating system.
Use the Built-In Second Profile
Stock Android (Samsung, OnePlus, most Android phones) supports multiple user profiles. The same friction technique works: Settings → System → Multiple Users. Some manufacturers hide this option — you may need to search your phone's settings for "users" or "multiple users."
Samsung phones have a feature called Secure Folder that serves a similar purpose — a separate, locked space for apps. Not as clean as a full second profile, but it adds friction.
Disable Tracking
On any Android phone, do these immediately:
- Delete your advertising ID: Settings → Privacy → Ads → Delete advertising ID
- Disable location history: Settings → Location → Google Location History → Turn off
- Revoke unnecessary permissions: Settings → Apps → for each app, review and revoke permissions it doesn't need
- Disable activity tracking: Go to myactivity.google.com and pause Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History
Remove Bloatware
Most phones come with pre-installed apps you can't uninstall (Facebook, Netflix, carrier apps). You can disable them: Settings → Apps → [app] → Disable. This stops them from running in the background and removes them from your app drawer.
For apps that can't even be disabled, you can use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) from a computer to
fully remove them: adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.package.name. Search for
your phone model's specific bloatware removal guide.
Install NetGuard Firewall
NetGuard is an open-source firewall for Android that blocks apps from accessing the internet. No root required — it works by creating a local VPN on your phone. You can selectively allow or block internet access per app.
This is powerful: you can install apps that work offline (games, calculators, note-taking) and block their internet access so they can't phone home with your data. Many apps that don't need internet still send analytics data — NetGuard stops that.
Replace Stock Apps
Your phone's default apps are often data collection tools. Replace them:
- Keyboard: Replace GBoard (Google's keyboard that sends everything you type to Google) with OpenBoard or FlorisBoard from F-Droid. Fully offline, no data collection.
- Launcher: Replace your home screen with Lawnchair or KISS Launcher (minimalist, search-based). A minimal launcher reduces the urge to mindlessly browse apps.
- Camera: Open Camera from F-Droid. Full-featured, no tracking.
- File manager: Material Files from F-Droid.
Honest Downsides
- GrapheneOS only works on Pixel phones. If you have a Samsung, OnePlus, or any other Android phone, you can't use GrapheneOS. There are alternatives like CalyxOS and LineageOS, but they don't have GrapheneOS's security model and support fewer devices.
- Some banking apps don't work. A few banking and payment apps check for Google Play Services or detect custom ROMs and refuse to run. GrapheneOS's sandboxed Play Services fix most of these, but not all. Check your specific banking app's compatibility before switching.
- Push notifications can be unreliable. Without Google Play Services, push notifications depend on the app's own implementation. Some apps handle this well (Signal works perfectly). Others don't get notifications until you open them. GrapheneOS's sandboxed Play Services in the second profile can help, but it's not as seamless as stock Android.
- The second profile trick requires discipline. Just like the YouTube fence, this only works if you maintain it. If you start putting "just one more app" in your main profile, the fence erodes. PewDiePie himself admits he still catches himself mindlessly reaching for his phone — the difference is now there's a barrier.
- Camera quality can be slightly worse. Google Pixel cameras rely on Google's processing algorithms. On GrapheneOS, you lose some of Google Camera's post-processing magic. The photos are still good, but the computational photography (Night Sight, Magic Eraser) requires Google Camera, which you may or may not want to install.
- You're trading convenience for control. Every friction point you add to your phone is also friction for legitimate use. Switching profiles to check something quickly is annoying by design. That's the point — but it's still annoying.