Ariana Huffington, who made millions from online media, just created an app to get people off their smartphones

Ariana Huffington’s wellbeing organisation Thrive Global has created an app for Samsung devices that helps users spend less time immersed in technology.

In August last year, Huffington departed the online news and opinion site Huffington Post, which she co-founded in 2005, to establish Thrive Global. The wellbeing startup, which makes money from corporate training, consumer content and items like cosmetics, pillows and Fitbits, by January had already doubled its revenue targets for 2017.

Now the organisation has created a mobile app for Samsung smartphones, also called Thrive, which allows users to put their phone into “Thrive mode” to block notifications, calls and SMS messages from everyone except those on a “VIP” list. An auto-reply function lets the sender know that the user is taking a break from their handset.

Huffington said Thrive mode is made for “whenever you want to be undisrupted — whether you want to spend time with your children, loved one, do your best work without any distractions — or just sleep”.

The entrepreneur revealed the new software at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco, while sheepishly admitting that her success with Huffington Post was borne by the mass adoption of mobile technology. Read more

Tony Yoo - Business Insider Australia - 20 Oct 2017