Attention and time

Start with the practice you are supporting and the point at which it is complete. Longer sessions and more opens can mean value, confusion or compulsion; the number alone cannot tell you which.

Rewards make this harder to read. External rewards can weaken intrinsic interest even while participation rises, so a reminder someone chose, a learning challenge and a reward for opening the app every day deserve separate evaluation. Read the evidence on rewards, autonomy and habit.

NN/g describes the trade-offs of infinite scrolling, including orientation, finding things again and reaching the end of a page. It says nothing about spiritual formation either way.

Offer choices by purpose, channel and frequency: a reading reminder by push, a weekly reflection by email, group replies in a digest, essential account messages separately. Allowing notifications in the operating system is not permission for every kind of marketing.

Don’t send the same prompt by push and email unless someone asked for both. Make the message useful on its own, with the reference, the edition and a link to the surrounding passage, and with a web fallback if the app isn’t installed. Put pause and unsubscribe in the message itself. Don’t read a tracking pixel as proof that someone read the passage.

Lock screens and shared inboxes can expose sensitive interests. Never build a preview from a prayer request, grief, an abuse disclosure or a private chat; even the sender’s name can reveal an affiliation.

Avoid suggesting that God personally sent a notification, manufactured urgency, and anything that ties someone’s worth to opening the app. For some people, staying connected online is an important source of access and community, so “put the phone down” should remain an invitation, never an instruction.