I had a dumb phone until around 2011 and I really miss not staring at my phone all of the time. The only thing that gives me pause is my family sending links via text. I’ve tried other ways to limit screen time but if it’s there I’m gonna use it.
I just want a smart phone with privacy. I want to be able to use a web browser. I have little interest in a dumb phone since I never get calls or txts
Have you looked at GrapheneOS? It’s a big change, but it gets the job done.
Disclaimer: I shamelessy advertise it because I use Graphene OS and I want others to use it too so it won’t become abandonware, forcing me back to a slow crappy phone again.
It really is pretty nice.
Yea I’d love to use it but Google phones are really expensive here and I already have a Samsung phone that works
My bank is inaccessible without a smartphone & there aren’t alternatives I can move to, so until that changes am stuck with having one. Often consider getting a dumb phone for everything else I use a phone for (texts, alarm clock & ability to make emergency calls).
But as things stand I barely have enough use of any phone to warrant having two of the damn things.
oh wow that is wild about your bank. reminds me that some stuff at my work requires 2FA via app so idk how I’d get around that
Yeah, like ostensibly there are alternatives to 2FA which do not rely on a phone, but they’re not nearly so easy to set up, and there’s potential for a lot of woe stemming from user error, even if your work stuff facilitates them. They’re apparently more secure though, so maybe you can persuade your work to go offer the option on that basis?
I have some stuff at work that requires 2fa too. I have an old iphone with no SIM in it in my office, I use it for authentication and that’s it :)
No. on both counts.
I actively dislike the trend of returning back to “Dumbphones” because it doesn’t actually actively address the issues around Smartphones in general and causes people to be lazy and less aware in general about technology. It is not ideal to be lazy and unaware about technology in this day of age.
These devices may make perfect sense for the aging population who only makes phone calls and sends occasional texts; or for the vulnerable teenager population who absolutely cannot be trusted to self-regulate themselves because that ability is not yet fully developed when using a standard Smartphone; but they do not make sense for your average everyday Adult.
If you have troubles with notifications; I beg and implore you; Learn about how to train your device! Learn which applications are sending notifications, how to block apps that send unimportant notifications, and most importantly how to manually silence your device when you are not in a time or place you are willing to receive notifications and how to un-silence your device so you receive important ones as well!
Modern Smartphones do in fact offer many controls and widgets. Learn how to use them and to customize your phone to offer up only the information you need at a glance; and how to hide information that you don’t need.
If this is still a challenge; a modern smartwatch paired with your phone helps a lot to minimize unnecessary information flow while still allowing you to customize and receive critical notification and bits of information.
i’m really hesitant to put the onus on the user, when these phones and apps have been meticulously designed to keep us engaged 24/7.
ye I know how to configure my notifs settings. my issue is wanting novel information all the time so I pick up the phone and start scrolling
If you have troubles with notifications; I beg and implore you; Learn about how to train your device! Learn which applications are sending notifications, how to block apps that send unimportant notifications, and most importantly how to manually silence your device when you are not in a time or place you are willing to receive notifications and how to un-silence your device so you receive important ones as well!
This is not anywhere near as simple as you make it out to be. I’m tech-savvy, ensure my phone is configured exactly the way I want it, and do not have any issues with phone addiction. However, I am still constantly annoyed by unwanted notifications. App updates regularly introduce new ways to notify you that can be disabled, but are defaulted to enabled. Also, many (most?) apps do not allow fully granular notification adjustment and just smash most things under “General”. I may want GrubHub to ping me when my order’s on the way, but I do not want them pushing promotions at me. (Note: I picked GrubHub at random, but my example is actually 100% true. The only way to get away from their promotional notifications is to disable all notifications.) I absolutely understand the desire to just get away from the app world entirely.
My wife has the same phone as I do. She has no issues with using her phone, but I would not describe her as tech savvy and she really doesn’t have an interest in learning all the ins and outs of every app. I don’t blame her because my own experience proves that you can be a highly advanced user and still experience frustration. But, mostly, I don’t think it’s something she should have to spend time on. The general population is not going to become an expert on anything and default functionality should be catered to them. Currently, default functionality is driven by ads and engagement rather than usability, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
Choosing a dumbphone is a very valid way to just eliminate that issue entirely. It’s not a lazy choice, it’s a practical one about how one wants to spend their time.
Thank you for this. I would add, given the literal engineering for addiction, for at least some people, “just tune your notifications” is like telling an alcoholic “just don’t drink so much.”
I tried but hated navigating with the mobile version of Google maps, so I’m splitting the difference and getting a CAT S22. Flip phone with Android go, hoping it’s everything I need.
I’ve considered using a dumbphone, but it would be too inconvenient. There are certain Android apps that I need, like Signal or my bank account app.
I bought a new Nokia 3310 a few years ago for this reason…
However, it didn’t work properly (because of where I live, despite the seller assuring me it would work.) Then it just died altogether after two days and I was unable to get a refund. It now lives in my drawer.
In that brief time of using it, however, I realized that I was really missing the camera and music player more than anything and this phone didn’t cut it in those departments. It had a headphone jack, and I have a huge MP3 library but the sound quality was extremely bad. And I have a kid, so I take tons of photos - but the photo quality of the 3310 was worse than a 90s webcam.
Since then I’ve considered getting another one for privacy and to be on it less, but I haven’t found a dumb phone that’s the right combination of things I tend to use.
Oof, yeah. The 3310s are basically bricks now with so many carriers discontinuing 3G service. Nokia makes a couple of 4G feature phones, the 225, the 6300, and the 2780 Flip. The 225 runs S30, the 6300 and 2780 run KaiOS so they have some app support like a web browser, but functionality is very limited. And you won’t get good photos out of any of them.
If you’re looking for privacy, look into the Fairphone. If you’re looking for a feature-rich phone that will force you to use it a lot less, look into Sunbeam. They run a stripped-down variant of Android with only the most basic functions.
I got a Unihertz Titan Pocket earlier this year, I highly recommend those too, though they run Android 11 so if you are serious about privacy you’ll probably want to do some degoogling. Its camera is… okay.
Thanks for the response and recommendations. Does the Titan offer any music streaming options? (Or music players, failing that)
It’s an android, so yes. Spotify, Deezer, YT Music are all options.
Oh right! Haha, sorry I thought it was the Titan that ran the stripped down version of android. :) my mistake
Question about Unihertz phone, does the model you’re using support phone call recording? It’s usually an option inside Phone > Settings along blocking numbers, but some android phones simply don’t have it enabled.
I didn’t know, so I went and looked. There is indeed an option to record calls.
Thanks. These phones look interesting in case I have to upgrade.
I see this debate a lot and I just wonder what it is the average person is actually doing on their phone that it’s impacting their life so negatively. I constantly am using mine as well… To talk to people. Like I am doing right now, with this comment. For me, all this gestures to the internet is a communications tool, first and foremost. And growing up in a more rural/country area of the country, the absolute best way to connect with new people and discover new things.
I see Twitter is bad, Facebook is bad, Reddit is bad, Instagram is bad… You’re literally interacting with people. People will seek out similar minded people outside of the internet and do all the same shit they do on the internet with them. Have the same discussions. Think the same thoughts they are commenting and making memes of. If all this is bad, then that means interacting with other humans is bad.
I’ve seen another form of this argument before now that I think about it…
“Why don’t you get off the comouter and make some friends?”
“I am with some new friends I met the other day right now! We’re going on a raid in this dungeon.”
I did, for a long time. For me the perfect phone nowadays would be a dump phone but still capable of features like GPS navigation. I know some of those exists, but I always feel it’s a locked down version of Android only supporting a bunch of apps (no Telegram for instance, but only Whatsapp)
i’ve considered this one for awhile, but never actually made the leap: https://www.thelightphone.com
The Light Phone II does not display images. When you are sent an image to your Light Phone II, you’ll see an icon indicating such. There is also an option to forward those images to your email, however, you cannot view the image from the phone itself.
There is also an option to auto-forward URL links sent to you, and you can manually forward any message to your Light Account email as well.
Sometimes, yeah. I think the issue would just be finding the right one. LTE hotspotting, basic text email, and GPS would be important, as well as having an OS that isn’t just some chopped up version of Android which entirely defeats the point in my opinion. I don’t use 95%+ of the apps on my phone. I hardly even use the web browser.
I’m actively considering getting a used Pixel and putting GrapheneOS on it, which is a highly locked-down, de-Googled Android phone. That won’t do anything to keep me away from social media and the like, but it will stop 99% of tracking, which is perhaps my biggest beef with smart phones. I want the smarts to serve me, not FAANG.
I went for it, and was delighted by how much more responsive my phone is. I haven’t had a phone this responsive in about 5 years.
The privacy aspect is good too, of course.
something really satisfying about the thought of de-googling a google phone lol. I wish I had thought to do this with my old pixel. it was giving me problems but the T-Mobile guy said google just stops supporting them after a while.
Ironically, because of its security features, GrapheneOS only supports Pixel phones. Very tail-eating snake territory.
I’m considering getting one but for different reasons. I want to eventually bike to work rather than drive and it would be a good thing to have a phone for emergency purposes, however I’m not allowed to bring my personal phone into my workplace for security reasons. I was looking into dumb phones that could be less expensive and handle the heat and cold of the weather in my area if left in a bike seat storage. I don’t trust my current phone to hold up in those temperatures. The options were pretty limited and not as inexpensive as I was hoping, but one day I’ll figure something out. Maybe a light colored storage bag for the spring and summer and a darker bag for the fall so I wouldn’t need as temperature tolerant a phone.
I want to, but communication is nearly impossible without messaging apps. Everything around here is done through whatsapp. I don’t like it, I limit permissions and open it only once or twice a day, but there’s no avoiding it.
(And no, SMS isn’t free like in the US. Sorry guys.)
I used a dumbphone for quite a while last year and honestly loved it. I have a small collection of them at this point since they are relatively inexpensive.
Today I use a Unihertz Titan Pocket which is technically an android, but looks like a Blackberry. I’ve gotten a bunch of comments on it. It will certainly do more than I need, but I’ve disabled the play store and use it mostly like a dumb phone, with the exception of streaming music, which the dumbphones obviously wouldn’t do. I bought a dedicated mp3 player for that purpose, so that’s not the feature that brought me back.
I switched because while I could absolutely use the dumbphone to do everything I needed to do, group texts were ultimately the thing that brought me back to an android. Though it’s been a known issue for many years, group texting on Nokia’s feature phones is just bad… when it works at all. I still keep an eye on the dumbphone market and will absolutely switch back when group text messages are sorted out.
Never. I think they should still make them though for folks like senior citizens. OP don’t take that as an insult please lol. My grandfather is pretty sharp for his age but has always been bad with technology. It’s getting harder and harder to get him dumb phones according to my parents. With him being pretty sound mentally I’m concerned about the folks who are less so.
