71% Of People Struggle To Stay Focused Due To Digital Overload

By Andrew Frost Moroz, founder of Aloha Browser

Take a glance at your browser right now; how many tabs are open? Ten? Fifteen? Or maybe, like me, you’ve completely lost track.

I know the pattern all too well, constantly checking if that camera gear has gone on sale, refreshing my inbox while waiting for a key email, tracking stock movements, or watching for limited product drops.

And before I realise it, my focus is shot and I’ve somehow burned through almost an hour doing nothing but mindlessly refreshing pages. Sadly, I’m not even exaggerating.

I have good news for you: you and I, we are not alone.

Almost half of modern people with a wide range of interests fear missing out on important updates, that’s what we saw in the study conducted at Aloha Browser. So, they’re keeping open a lot of tabs (almost 30% over 10, including 21% over 20) checking for a price drop on that coffee grinder they’ve been eyeing, or seeing if their favourite band announced new tour dates, plane tickets, stock prices and much more.

Moreover, the majority of them; almost 60% receive notifications for things they don’t care about more than once per hour, including 30% receiving them every 15 minutes or more often. So, I believe you are not surprised that 65% of us feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available online.

In an age when constant digital noise is the norm, our ability to concentrate and manage information is deteriorating. Most people start their day with good intentions, tackling a specific task or checking on something they care about.

But somewhere between the pings of incoming notifications, pop-up ads, and the lure of unrelated links, many drift off course. In fact, 71% of respondents admit to losing track of their original goal due to distractions. At the end of the day, 64% are left with a nagging sense that they didn’t accomplish something meaningful like spending time with loved ones, working out, or focusing on personal projects.

Thus, uncontrolled information consumption harms the human brain, negatively affects mental health, and reduces overall quality of life.

 

Technologies Must Help Humans

 

At Aloha, we are convinced that technologies are meant to help people cope with digital overload, stay focused, decrease stress, and organise smart information consumption.

We built Aloha Browser with strong beliefs that it is crucial to protect user privacy in a digital world that was becoming increasingly invasive. As we step into 2025, however, the challenges we face have expanded.

The sheer volume of online content has overwhelmed the internet, making it paradoxically more difficult to find what truly matters, even though we now have more tools at our disposal than ever before.

In response to growing user demand for smarter information management, 58% of them are interested in using an AI tool that helps them stay updated and have at their fingertips the information that matters to them, we created Snips.

These smart, real-time screenshots keep an eye on the web for exactly what you care about and deliver updates in a clean, personalised feed.

For example, Snips can monitor stock prices, track product availability without keeping tabs open, update you about specific emails without refreshing your inbox, or show new comments on social media posts from selected people. It’s like building your own algorithm so you only see what actually matters, without getting sucked into endless scrolling.

That means less stress, better focus, and no more cluttered browsing.

Private by Design

 

As a part of a privacy-first browser, Snips maintains our commitment to user data protection through its primarily on-device architecture. Although certain complex operations may sometimes call for server-side support—this is applicable for Snips on desktop only and requires explicit user consent, the core of Snips is built on local computation that prioritises privacy.

This approach brings multiple benefits. Your login details and session information remain securely on your device, and no sensitive data is transmitted externally without your approval. System resources are used efficiently by loading only the necessary pages, rather than keeping numerous tabs open at once. As a result, both battery life and memory consumption see notable improvements.

The development of efficient, lightweight AI models that can run smoothly on consumer hardware has been essential to realising this vision. By integrating these models with carefully considered design principles, we’ve developed a tool that boosts productivity while keeping privacy intact.

 

The Future of Browsing

 

The idea of using technology to give people more control has guided my work on Aloha Browser from day one. Snips brings it to the next level; helping to cut through digital clutter so you can stay focused on what really matters. It shifts the paradigm from digital resources showing users content that algorithms think they need, to a model that empowers users to act as their own algorithms.

As digital life becomes more central to how we live and work, the tools that balance simplicity, privacy, and productivity will shape the future. With Snips, we’re not just addressing today’s browser overload, we’re rethinking how tech can truly support human attention, not compete with it.

Andrew Frost is a founder of Aloha Browser. With his 20+ years of experience in managing mobile projects, he is a big privacy advocate and an ambassador for a user-centric design which helps Aloha to win its market share. His passion lies in making the seemingly convoluted appear simple, ensuring that technology empowers and enriches lives. Andrew has extensive knowledge of the mobile market inside and out, from working through his career on ZigBee, 3G and various VPN standards to launching consumer and enterprise applications for companies like Conde Nast, Allianz and more.