My approach for iPhone:
- Set time limits on apps. - Block App Store. - Set a Screen Time pin, then forget it.
Downside: if you need to install a new app, you need to do a iTunes backup, factory reset and restore the backup,. Also apps won't continue to update with this approach.
Worth it though. I don't miss wasting 10-20 hours a week on brain rot apps.
Why have the brain rot apps installed at all?
Can't uninstall the browser, and occasionally it's needed for legit reasons. I quite literally can't resist drifting towards mindless scrolling apps, though I know that's hard to fathom for some people.
I think it's not the apps are brain rot.
It's the content available on platforms and the way how you navigate inside the app. You can watch various content on YouTube for instance.
Your method skips the subtlety and goes straight to a hard reset (literally)