Beeminder vs DND Mode

Bugabee
1

I recently derailed on a “do when I get home” task, and I was relying on Beeminder flipping out on me before I went to bed.

However, I got home later than usual, so my iPhone’s DND mode kicked in and suppressed Beeminder’s notifications.

This had happened before (push notifications getting suppressed by DND) and I thought I had addressed it by adding Beeminder emails to my VIP list. Apparently on iOS, even VIP emails are silenced during DND hours.

So there’s a bit of a catch-22:

  1. Do Not Disturb mode is important for sleep
  2. Fulfilling my Beeminder commitments is important for life
  3. Some of my Beeminder commitments are meant to happen before bed
  4. If DND is on, standard Beeminder reminders don’t get through

Any ideas for how to deal with this?

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2

What does get through DND mode? Can text messages get through?

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3

During DND, you only receive audible alerts from

a) phone calls from people on your VIP list, and
b) repeated phone calls get through with sound.

My assumption is that the way to deal with this is something other than using the phone’s alerts (physical reminder? something else?). Surely someone else out there has created a Bee-checking habit that’s not dependent on the phone alerts?

Unfortunately the Beeminder iOS app still isn’t reliable enough for me to simply “make a habit of checking it before bed” – that becomes an exercise in frustration and doesn’t stick, although perhaps there’s a workaround somewhere.

I could see the value in a “Call if I’m about to derail” daemon that runs at, say, 11pm:

check for goals that will derail in the next [12] hours
if none:
    return
else:
    call me and read me the names of the goals

…then you just set the caller to VIP status so it always goes through. Unfortunately IFTTT can’t handle logic this schmancy…

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4

I thought maybe iOS 12 would allow for this with the Downtime/ScreenTime feature, but it looks like DND is still (almost) all or nothing. Separately, could you elaborate on what’s unreliable about the app?

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5

For me, the iOS app frequently doesn’t load/refresh data properly, sometimes even after logging out/logging back in. E.g., yesterday it wasn’t working all day. Today it’s working fine so far. I haven’t been able to find any consistency in the conditions under which it works / doesn’t work.

As a workaround, I’m working on a Siri Shortcut that will check Beeminder for emergencies. Then, I’ll [just] need to train myself to say “Hey Siri, check Beeminder” before bed and I’ll get a list of anything risking derailment. This still places the onus on me remembering to check, but it’s the best thing I can think of for now.

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6

If you have mail notifications you get plenty of mails during an emergency day. That could also be a solution.

7

Right, the emails are great and they work for things that I can do anytime, just not things-to-do-before-bed :slight_smile:

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