Now that I've had two-ish weeks using the app, I have come to the conclusion that Pokémon Sleep is Actually Good. Maybe not for the reasons they envisioned or designed for, but I like it.
The major complaint that I see floated around about it is how it simply cannot run in the background. To use the app, it demands full screen focus, and then has your phone enter Sleep mode to turn the screen off. This, coupled with the fact that modern phone operating systems have a penchant for terminating background processes to conserve system resources means that if you tab away from the app, it is very likely getting terminated. Annoying, right?
Well, to me, this is not a technical setback, but one of its strongest features. One morning recently, I picked up my phone immediately after waking to respond to the dozens of DMs I get from other time zones while I'm asleep. And, wouldn't you know it, doing so caused my phone to terminate Pokémon Sleep as soon as it hit the background. Eight and a half hours of "progress", gone. I learned my lesson! I don't need to be Logged On the second I open my eyes. Do a morning routine that doesn't involve Posting while afflicted with Morning Brain. And on the other side, at night, I find myself Scrolling a lot less before bed. I turn on the app and set my phone down for the night, and that's that.
Between uninstalling the (former) Bird App from my phone, and Pokémon Sleep effectively holding my device hostage, I've been less Terminally Online than ever before. I think that's a good thing? Time will tell.
If you read this whole thing, feel free to add me, also. My code is: 4454-2197-1561
