22 ms·

Dumber phone

• amiga-workbench 9y ago
  I'm not sure if I want a totally dumb phone, but I do want one that isn't subverted by my carrier, Google or Apple. We need a solid open baseband that runs at 3G speeds at the very least.
  • robterrell 9y ago
    Did you read the article? It's not about buying a flip phone, it's about turning your smartphone into a slightly dumber phone, to alleviate your brain's addiction to it.
    • amiga-workbench 9y ago
      I did read the article, I don't personally have a problem with addiction. My phone only gets used when I'm either sat on the toilet, waiting for a bus/taxi, or deliberately talking to somebody. The problem I do have with my phone is that its not actually under my control.
  • gnode 9y ago
    Purism are making a security and privacy focused phone and OS that may be of interest to you, but it's not yet available. Baseband support is 4G, and separated from the CPU: https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
• rms 9y ago
  I think it may be healthy to reset dopamine by doing this occasionally for a week or so at a time, but I like the cheap dopamine and connectedness of my social media connections.
• eleitl 9y ago
  Way ahead of you here. I've upgraded to the original Nokia 3310 years ago, and it does the trick.
  • Lionsion 9y ago
    > I've upgraded to the original Nokia 3310 years ago, and it does the trick. I wish there was a "dumbphone" that supported and extremely small number of utility apps, like Signal.
    • roywiggins 9y ago
      That's sort of what Java-supporting feature phones are meant to do, but I don't think there are many apps available and supported (WhatsApp probably still is). I got by with Opera Mini on a feature phone for years, it was painful to use but still handy.
    • my_username_is_ 9y ago
      The issue is that people have differing opinions as to what those essential apps should be... I'd imagine that it's hard to get consensus around what you need. For what it's worth I've been trying to have a more "dumb phone" experience recently, but not by having an extremely small amount of apps. I simply removed all of the ones that are sources of distractions on a daily basis. The biggest culprit for me is Chrome. I'm realizing that I really don't have any need to have access to the entirety of the internet at all times. A couple dozen apps will give me what I actually need, and no distractions or aimlessly browsing [HN, Reddit, Facebook Instagram, etc.]
      • Lionsion 9y ago
        > The issue is that people have differing opinions as to what those essential apps should be... I'd imagine that it's hard to get consensus around what you need. I don't think so. There's already a consensus around the dumbphone experience. Those featured a limited UI and and OS focused communication, so really it's just about integrating with evolved versions of standard dumbphone apps (e.g. CardDAV, messaging apps like Signal, etc).
• baybal2 9y ago
  As somebody who had an always on internet connected PDA back it times when most PDAs were black and white, I can say it will eventually pass. The sense of novelty will vanish, and the thing will not be as interesting when an average person first see it.
  • Lionsion 9y ago
    > As somebody who had an always on internet connected PDA back it times when most PDAs were black and white, I can say it will eventually pass. I don't think the software and cultural environment was that same for those devices as it is for smartphones now. An old internet-connected PDA chiefly had utility apps like this guide advocates. There was nothing from giant companies whose business is to capture and sell your attention, no attention slot machines, no games built to drive in-app purchases. Things now are qualitatively different, even though the hardware might be in some ways comparable.
    • baybal2 9y ago
      >no attention slot machines I lived in the time when slot machines were standing on the street in the open in Russia, and yes, mentally infirm people were wasting themselves on them. Normal people not. It takes a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of a bling bling slot machine is to waste time and money. It takes a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of 20 bling bling popups a second smartphone apps is to waste time and money and suck out clicks out of mentally infirm. It takes no special personality to get an idea that clickfarming app must be removed, and take actions to do so. My former high school classmate who did not manage to leave Russia is running a typical "smartphone fixer" kiosk. He said few years ago that the most common request is to "remove Google nagware and lock/destroy/delete google pay so, god forbid, your child will never ever buy anything in that Internet thing mouth breathers waste themselves on."
      • Lionsion 9y ago
        > I lived in the time when slot machines were standing on the street in the open in Russia, and yes, mentally infirm people were wasting themselves on them. Normal people not. Plenty of "normal people," even intelligent ones, are addicted to smartphones (though the degree of addiction varies). Smartphone slot machines are subtle enough to snare people would wouldn't be taken in by a traditional slot machine, even though they use the same primal re-enforcement mechanisms. > It takes a particular lack of basic logical reasoning to not to understand that the the purpose of 20 bling bling popups a second smartphone apps is to waste time and money and suck out clicks out of mentally infirm. I think this comment reflects a bizarre disconnect from everyday reality. By your logic, you're labeling a ridiculously large fraction of the population as "mentally infirm." "Basic logical reasoning" is not something people typically apply to everyday activities like smartphone use; those are typically done on autopilot and bypass it, because "basic logical reasoning" is expensive and slow.
• mattnewport 9y ago
  This is one of the advantages of using a Windows Phone these days: fewer apps to tempt me into letting distractions creep onto my phone :-)
• spking 9y ago
  Another more extreme step I've heard others take is to put their device in one of those locking cookie jars: https://www.thekitchensafe.com https://www.thekitchensafe.com
  • alasano 9y ago
    That is indeed extreme.. obviously it would be preferable to have the proper motivation to stop this type of behaviour on your own but a detox period is required for that.
  • swirepe 9y ago
    I like this, but I don't $50 like this.
• parvenu74 9y ago
  Personally, I would love a flip phone with a removable battery and a physical button on the side to turn WiFi hotspot functionality on/off -- with OFF being the default. Having a phone that you only need to charge once a week is a great feature!
  • craftyguy 9y ago
    A coworker of mine recently picked up a Nokia 3310[1] for that exact same reason/purpose. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_3310_(2017) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_3310_(2017)
    • MikkoFinell 9y ago
      Just ordered one! "Smartphone" going in the bin.
      • dingaling 9y ago
        Possibly too late but make sure you buy the latest 3G-enabled version. The 2017 initial release could only connect to 2G networks.
        • MikkoFinell 9y ago
          They assured me it wouldn't be any problem to make calls and send messages because of that.
    • tthayer 9y ago
      I used one of these for six months and it was definitely enlightening. Maybe there are firmware updates that make it less crashy now?
  • masklinn 9y ago
    Get a 3310 and a mobile hotspot with a data-only sim? The Huawei E5770 has 500h standby 20h activity, an ethernet port and USB power output (to act as a powerbank).
• anon01010 9y ago
  I've been implementing a similar regime on my smart phone for the last few months. After cracking a previous phone and resorting to a brick phone, I remembered how much I'd enjoyed the time I used to have with out a screen, either to read or just think. I was eventually swayed back onto a smart phone after moving to a new city (for google maps) and now use that almost solely along with music, and occasionally chrome for fact-finding. Would definitely recommend giving it a couple of months trial!
• cdnsteve 9y ago
  This is already being built from a company with a similar vision : Lite Phone https://www.thelightphone.com/ https://www.thelightphone.com/ Lite Phone 2: Campaign https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2-design#/ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2-design#/
  • jpfed 9y ago
    I really like the Lite Phone idea; browsers and the vast majority of apps are distractions. But an integrated camera is not a distraction; it's a tremendously convenient feature!
    • 24gttghh 9y ago
      $150 for a device that only makes calls seems pretty inconvenient too. It should be <$50. The one that does texting should be <$75. Not $300-$400... Edit: I say should; I should clarify that I think the pricepoint is waaay to hipster for me.
  • josefresco 9y ago
    Several previous threads on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=light%20phone&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=light%20phone&sort=byPopularit...
  • ad7024 9y ago
    Check out Siempo (www.getsiempo.com) - it's basically a software version of the Light Phone 2 (for Android only now). We believe the launcher approach is the most effective way to solve the problem b/c it actually gets at the root cause, which is that the smartphone interface has no protections against the persuasive techniques of addictive apps. So we made a new interface that is less distracting and more intentional. We just launched in the Play Store and would love your thoughts and feedback!
    • mkaziz 9y ago
      I love the idea but it needs way too many permissions. How do you guys make money?
• willnewman 9y ago
  I adhere to a lot of these rules myself and have recently noticed peers doing the same. Another I'd add that really makes the phone boring is putting it in grayscale mode. On iOS: Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters > Grayscale. Then you can set the Accessibility Shortcut to Color Filters, and when you triple click the home button your phone goes grayscale. I don't have it on 24/7, but do enable it any time I feel myself getting sucked in too frequently.
  • maxxxxx 9y ago
    I set my Android device to grayscale for a while. I liked it but for the video player and one photo app I would like to have colors. Does anyone know how to do this? I have tried to do something with Tasker but couldn't figure it out.
    • anowlcalledjosh 9y ago
      I figured it out after a few minutes poking around. You'll need some way to set "secure" settings – if you're not rooted, the easiest way is via a Tasker plugin called AutoTools. Once you've set that up, create a task with an action of "AutoTools Secure Settings", then configure it as follows (under "Custom Setting" in the AutoTools menu): - setting type: secure - name: accessibility_display_daltonizer_enabled - input type: toggle - value: 3 That task then toggles greyscale mode, so you can hook it up to an application context or whatever. (Switch the value to 1 if you want a task that always enables greyscale, or 2 to always disable.) If it doesn't work, diff the output of `adb shell settings list secure` from a PC with greyscale mode enabled and disabled, and use whatever name you get there.
    • psteinweber 9y ago
      I recently saw an app (Android only) that apparently is capable of setting your phone to grayscale, with the exception of certain apps. Unfortunately I can't find it anymore. I've been trying hard. I too would love to live on a black and white phone with certain exceptions (in my case mainly camera and maps). If anyone knows/remembers this app, you'd make my day :)
  • 9y ago
• awat 9y ago
  Good write up I’ve been working on a similar trajectory for my own smartphone usage. I’ve toyed with getting a dumb weekend phone but I think this might be the way to go. I don’t want to ignore technology I just want to make sure I’m in control as much as possible.
• xmodem 9y ago
  Thank you to the author for a thoughtful, nuanced take complete with actionable suggestions, that doesn't talk down the immense benefits smartphones have brought especially to the disabled.
• procparam 9y ago
  One huge distraction-enabler is the fingerprint sensor. It makes things too easy for me - I put my hand in my pocket, put my finger on the sensor, and by the time it's in front of my face I can be mindlessly browsing reddit. So I would add the following tip: disable the fingerprint sensor if you have one (also face recognition, etc), and replace it with an inconveniently long password. This way you really need to think about whether it's worth the time to open your phone.
  • BartBoch 9y ago
    You can always set your fingerprints for the other hand instead. This will force you to switch hands which requires more complexity.
    • kgdinesh 9y ago
      Interesting. I'm gonna try this and see.
  • hawski 9y ago
    I have one on 5" phone. I lately think that I would gladly go back to my old Moto G 1st gen that actually works better now on LineageOS [0] than before on original ROMs. It's smaller - it fits my pocket. It is a bit less convenient to stare at the screen, but now I think that's good. But sadly it has broken SIM slot. Maybe I will sell my phone and just buy something smaller, used with good LineageOS support. Or maybe something even more inconvenient - at most 10" 3g laptop. [0] But last April Fools' "joke" was really testing my nerves and I'm still not settled on this.
  • antisocial 9y ago
    I installed space recently and I use it just for Twitter. I don't have any other distractions. I think it has been useful so far. http://youjustneedspace.com/ http://youjustneedspace.com/
  • gkya 9y ago
    Reddit, the serial time-killer. Removing it from my phone was a tangible life improvement. And on desktop, I've moved everything to multis so that my reddit homepage is empty like a desert, so that I have to choose what to see purposefully from the sidebar. Thus I don't compulsively go to reddit and get lured by a sea of interesting links. This has helped cut the time I spend on reddit by, well IDK, I don't spend more than about an hour or two a week on it anymore.
• Karunamon 9y ago
  While %s/drug/phone/g makes for an easy rhetorical trick, it also destroys a lot of essential context. It's also a bit on the offensive side if you or someone you know has dealt with actual drug addiction; as in, it cheapens it. Picking some offenders from their list.. * You keep using your phone after it’s no longer needed to solve a problem. (Because nobody uses smartphones for fun?) * You feel strange when you don’t have your phone. (I also feel strange when I don't have my watch, lighter, and multitool on me. This applies to all every day carry items.) * You’ve begun having trouble doing normal daily things without your phone. (Normal daily things include responding to alerts, taking phone calls, and sending messages. I could not do my job without a smartphone, let alone a great deal of plain old human socializing. Further, IMs and SMSes are more respectful of my friends' time than phone calls which demand everybody drops what they're doing) * You borrow money to pay for your phone. (Given the industry move to carrier financing rather than contract lock-in, I think most people now borrow money to pay for their phone) * You drive or do other dangerous things (like use heavy machines) while you are on your phone. (People yammering on their phones in traffic has a lot more to do with a poor understanding of attention than it does this increasingly tenuous drug analogy. Besides, phone use while driving was a safety issue long before smartphones proliferated.) * You hide some phone use or the effect it is having on you from others. (Only when the specter of Ludditism creeps through and I'd rather not be moralized to about my use of technology.) ---- Let's not even talk about the bare equation of all games to addiction (seriously?). If you feel you're addicted to your smartphone, by all means, do whatever works for you, but if you intend on presenting that to the world, please keep the crappy logic to a minimum.
  • emodendroket 9y ago
    Any behavior can end up being "addictive" if you keep doing it even as it has negative consequences for your life and are unable to stop, right?
• bernardino 9y ago
  Extensively, if now your phone is only filled w/ tools and you are more prone to roaming around the internet through a browser, you may restrict and hide the Safari application on iPhone: Settings > General > Restrictions.
• julioneander 9y ago
  Also, for any apps that have group chats, I like to disable notifications for them. If someone really needs to contact me, they can send a direct message, or @ me, otherwise I will only check the group chat when I have the time or patience to do so. Or maybe I'm just getting old and stressed.
• yosito 9y ago
  Personally, I find my smartphone addiction gets worse when I turn off all notifications. Because then FOMO takes over and I spend tons of time digging into apps to make sure I didn't "miss anything". For me, it works much better to intentionally choose the notifications I get to be the things I really want to be interrupted by. I wish there were an AI or human secretary who could make those judgements on a per-notification basis with my best interests in mind, but that doesn't seem to be a realistic option at my income level. Another thing I do to limit my phone's dopamine rush is to delete all of the social media apps from my phone and only access them via a browser. mbasic.facebook.com is significantly less addictive that the app, while still being useful. Sometimes when I really need a break, I'll create a block list in the "Restrictions" settings on my iPhone and block Facebook, Reddit, Twitter and HN completely. I wish that there was a way for someone else to be able to remotely manage those restrictions for me, so I could uninstall all of the time-suck apps from my phone and only re-install them by getting permission from a friend who could help me honor my intentions.
  • amgutier 9y ago
    Limiting FOMO was a large part of the appeal for a smartwatch to me. I could easily triage notification and dismiss from my wrist without the ability to get lost in an infinite scrolling list of whatever. The few times when it was an actionable notification, the phone came out to respond, but for most notifications, they are read and ignored. Now that I don't wear my android watch daily, I find myself with my phone on my desk or table more. The fear of missing important notifications makes me more obsessed with all notifications.
  • fragmede 9y ago
    There are various apps to try and promote healthy levels of smartphone engagement. Eg in Forest (iOS and Android, no affiliation)[0] you plant a tree and it will grow with time, but will wither away the more you play with Facebook. It will occasionally notify in case you get lost in facebooklandia. If you object to that particular implementation, the point is there's a usage API in case you'd like to write your own app. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.forestapp https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.forestapp
• josefresco 9y ago
  Does anyone with an Apple watch (or other smartwatch) feel it helps them leave their smartphone behind and/or reduce their smartphone usage?
  • innocentoldguy 9y ago
    I do. I have an Apple Watch with a SIM chip in it and I leave my phone at home all the time. I still get text messages and emails, so I know if something urgent is going on, but it is also a bit of a pain to reply, so I find, more often than not, I don't. It helps me to plan my responses to specific times during the day.
    • josefresco 9y ago
      Thanks for this. We're considering smartphones for our soon-to-be "tween" children, however I've considered pairing them with a smartwatch, in an attempt to keep them from developing this same "dependence". I doubt it will work for them (Snapchat/Instagram etc.) however it might work for me/us.
    • seddinbad 9y ago
      Can you install apps like a simple web browser, Google maps or whatsapp/telegram on it ?
    • whytaka 9y ago
      I second this. The Apple Watch lasts all day for me while on LTE. It's all I need and want.
    • rashkov 9y ago
      I’ve been thinking of doing the same. Are you able to do google maps and uber?
  • rhodysurf 9y ago
    Yes. When I'm doing stuff I never look at my phone cuz I already know what notifications I have and whether or not I care
  • 9y ago
• abelpmathew 9y ago
  related: http://humanetech.com/ http://humanetech.com/ & http://humanetech.com/take-control/ http://humanetech.com/take-control/ (edited to fix URLs)
• prophesi 9y ago
  I just got a Pixel the other day after being phone-less for about 3 months. I only need it to do ARCore development, so I keep it powered-off. * I had to print out directions to get to new places, which had me learn my way around. * People were much less flaky since they couldn't text me at the last minute to cancel our plans. * I no longer had a crutch in difficult social situations, which helped me actually get to know strangers and form new relationships. I might still use it as a GPS when traveling, but I otherwise can't see why it's necessary for people/machines to be able to steal your attention at a moment's notice. Of course, this isn't do-able for a lot of people, as their work/life depends on it. And it's possible to reap the above benefits without going fully phone-less. But for those interested, it's not as bad as it seems to drop the phone altogether.
  • komali2 9y ago
    I respect what you're doing, but I noticed it's the friends like you (off Facebook, never answers texts) that stopped getting invited to stuff. Scenario 1: housewarming party 3 weeks away. My phoneless friend doesn't get the Facebook invite used to corrall the other 30 people coming. She also doesn't get the group FB message (nobody uses group SMS anymore in my friend group). A fluke of busyness means I don't see her for those 3 weeks and she thus misses the party. Scenario 2: my roommate and I just got home from work, and decide to go out. We text phoneless friend and other friend. Other friend shows up. Three hours later we close our tabs, and get a text from phoneless friend. "I just saw this!! Are you guys still out??" It's a core value of mine that people should be allowed to live however the hell they very well please as long as it doesn't hurt others, but I genuinely feel like without a minimum level of connectedness (at the very least relatively easy access via SMS), they're kinda hurting themselves. As close as a friend as they may be, if the barrier to entry to hanging out with them is providing them step by step directions to the bar we're at as well as making sure all plans are 48 hours ahead and by the way I have to trade voicemails to even inform them... Eeeh... Standard replies to this kind of post: >If lack of connectedness is an obstacle to people hanging out with you, they weren't worth your time / that good of friends anyway. I counter with the idea mass culture movements require participation to, well, participate. My bestest friend ever doesn't have to participate to remain in that state, sure, but I guess if all you want in life is a tiny circle of three of your besties then power to you. > People were more genuine and less flaky before cellphones I lived before and after cellphones and in my experience, people were just as flaky back then, it just didn't seem that way because we were all hanging out less. Either way, cut flaky people out o your life homey. It's not as big of a deal to flake out of impromptu Wednesday trivia night at a random bar, only possible at the drop of the hat as my friends like to do, with cellphones. It also allows us to avoid the "fuck I don't wanna be here, normally I do but today was exhausting" aspect of cyclical plans (say regular DND night) because we can all communicate those feelings early and quickly make new plans with the smaller group.
• wonton2 9y ago
  I’m I the only one who get fomo by using my smartphone? Consider all the experiences and face to face conversations you miss by looking at others on social media or when you are playing candy crush.
• gwbas1c 9y ago
  I find I get hooked into my smartphone when I want stimulation without needing to focus. It's not a FOMO thing, it's a "I can put this down at any time but don't want to thing."
  • emodendroket 9y ago
    Not saying you are wrong, but you wouldn't be the first person to wrongly assert they could quit whenever they wanted.
• Yhippa 9y ago
  Every night I say "I'm going to be in bed before midnight". Then all of a sudden it's 1:45 AM and I'm still on Reddit.
• hawski 9y ago
  For me it's the browser. What I did yesterday on Firefox for Android: - installed uBlock Origin (also First Party Isolation and HTTPS Everywhere), - disabled JavaScript via about:config javascript.enabled, - and added .css| rule to uBlock Origin (I would still like to disable CSS entirely, this only half works). Basically I would like to have "links2 -g" [0] for Android. There is also an extension for Firefox to automatically enable reader mode [1]. It waits for additional WebExtensions API. I want to omit CSS, because of: - too small or too big font size, - no proper text wrapping, - wrong contrast, too big margins, - position:fixed bars that are so trendy right now. Basically I want to bail out of modern web. However I would probably use modern web apps on proper browser when I want an app, but just not when I want to read some information. I know that there are sites with good content that will be broken because of it. But it will be only a minor collateral damage. I added to my long todo-list a modern pure HTML browser for Android and Linux. What would also help is a different search engine. Of course I also have one in my todo-list. A search engine that would _not_ index ad serving sites. Also as an option it could not show JavaScript enabled sites. I know about Million Short, but it does not cut it. Such a pair of a browser and a search engine is, or rather will be, my answer. Also it's sad a smartphone with it's array of sensors is not a proper tricorder... [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=%22links2+-g%22&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=%22links2+-g%22&tbm=isch [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/automatic-reader-view/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/automatic-rea...
  • konraditurbe 9y ago
    I use startpage.com on night mode, it's minimal on css and does not track.
    • hawski 9y ago
      But doesn't it have the same index as Google? I would probably prefer to have my idea of a search engine implemented before the browser one. Because then not only the search interface would be light and serving me instead of corporate interests, but also all the found sites. Also I could use it on regular browser.
• ryanpcmcquen 9y ago
  For me, the key has been deleting all social media accounts. Feels like I just freed up 30% of my time. When you delete social media, you pay yourself in time.
• konraditurbe 9y ago
  Get a fitness band/notification band/pebble and disable biometric authentication. When I would get a notification, I opened it, went to the homescreen and start browsing the news or the damn Kindle app. Having a smartwatch enabled me to dismiss notifications from my wrist and respond to messages. The fingerprint scanner is for me a very obvious attack vector so I disable it and use a long password. This means I use the phone if I absolutely have to. When I was younger and didn't have a phone I had a book, and I was always reading. This is now the phone, its not that the phone has made me have less time, I didn't have any to begin with.
• laurieg 9y ago
  I really recommend unplugging for a few days. It helps you notice how you are interacting with technology. I spent 4 days on a tiny island (population 11) a few years ago. I was there with one friend and we decided that there would be no screens and no watches/clocks for the whole time. You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon after it got dark. We barely even thought about things that weren't directly around us. The most surprising thing about the trip was the return. We caught a small covered ferry that had a little TV hooked up. The TV was showing the preparation for some sports event, basially nothing was happening. I was utterly transfixed by it. The movement, the colors, the cuts every few seconds was way more stimulation than I had had over the past 4 days. Smartphones add interactivity and take this even further.
  • usaphp 9y ago
    > You very quickly adjust to not having it. Easily within a day. We ate when we got up, and then again later on. We went to sleep soon after it got dark. Not sure why do you need adjusting to eat when you wake up and sleep after dark, and how technology prevents you from doing that in your usual life?
    • mikepurvis 9y ago
      Habit. Especially in the winter, there are several hours of darkness before most adults' bedtimes, which is typically filled with screen time, whether TV/videogames, computer, phone. If you have young kids, it's even more pronounced, because you end the day physically and emotionally drained, and you feel like you need that time to "unwind" before going to bed yourself. This isn't to say it can't be changed by willpower alone, but I can see how an unplugged vacation would help kickstart the process.
    • laurieg 9y ago
      I think most people live life based on a schedule, to a greater or lesser degree. The schedule is informed by clock time. I get up at this time, I eat lunch at that time and so on. When I was on the island I felt like I was much more in tune with my internal needs. I was trying to paint a picture of the experience with my comment, rather than give a prescriptive handbook of what to do.
• justadudeama 9y ago
  To me, uninstalling all Social Media did wonders on my productivity. I replaced them with instapaper (for articles I saved before hand) and Kindle. Now, I can't mindlessly loose track of time on twitter or something, and if I am truly using my phone to fill some in-between time waiting for a doctors appointment or something, I am doing something I already previously decided to do, not something I come up with (an article/book I already picked out), so I am no susceptible to temptation. One thing I would add to this, is either disable, or put in the same folder as the other distracting apps, the web browser. You really need it for a surprisingly little things on your phone, and I found it as an alternate route to my time wasting websites.
• lifeisstillgood 9y ago
  So ... make this an app - take all these good ideas and create a config changing app that dumbs down your phone for you. Most people, myself included, look at the very long list of changes and think "I dont know how to do all that" And the coder in me wont do it manually ...
• ajuc 9y ago
  I don't own a smartphone, simply because it's not convenient. I've had one from my previous job, it was Iphone 4 IIRC. It was bulky, I had to charge it every day, and when I enabled maps or a browser it got hot quickly. Now I'm using Nokia 106. It lasts 2 weeks on one charge (1 week if I'm listening to radio/podcasts a lot), it's much smaller than iphone, never gets hot, and I'm not afraid to drop it. I dropped it several times, and even washed it once by mistake in my jeans. It works still, I just had to dry it and buy a new battery. It's much more convenient to use as a phone than a smartphone, and when I'm going somewhere for longer than 10 minutes usually I take a backpack and a tablet, so I can use browser and I have gps anyway (and much more convenient than on a smartphone), but there's this small hurdle of taking it out so I don't waste as much time on it as I would otherwise. I think this combo (dumbphone+tablet) beats a smartphone on almost every front.
  • yoz-y 9y ago
    I am glad this works for you, but for example the only function I could use on a dumbphone is alarm. I never call anybody and I send SMS messages only when the network coverage is too poor so it falls back. I use GPS all the time for public transport, I doubt a standalone GPS does that. What about photos, tablets can have decent cameras but phones are usually 2-3 generations ahead.
    • ajuc 9y ago
      I meant gps in tablet. It has everything smartphone has, but with reasonably sized screen.
    • thanatropism 9y ago
      Smart wake-up alarms that detect when you're entering light sleep in the morning are the only way to be happy. I used to have a Jawbone bracelet that did that by slowly increasing vibration. It was even better. But the setup I have today with my phone under the pillow works.
      • ajuc 9y ago
        When I set alarm clock to 6 after a few days I wake up by myself at 5:55
• goodroot 9y ago
  Awesome. I came to the same conclusion and this is how my phone shook out... * No SIM, data only. * Safari is hidden via parental restrictions. * I have Bear Writer for notes, Headspace for meditation, Spotify for music. * iMessage for im, ProtonMail for email - notifications disabled. * My everything else folder has undeleteables, 1Password, and an authenticator. I schedule a daily block to check notifications and read blogs, publications, and check out the front page of HN. No browser on the phone is a huge step. If you have a portal to the Internet, your phone is very much intelligent.
• komali2 9y ago
  My problem is I browse hackernews and news.google.com in my browser in my phone. Please send help I haven't spoken to my child in three days.
  • graeme 9y ago
    Remove your browser, and keep a todo list of things to google later at a computer.
    • komali2 9y ago
      How do I win hipster bar fights then
• josh33 9y ago
  I've had a similar approach for the past few months, but with some changes: - I have my wife manage restrictions; only she knows the passcode - I have Safari set to only a whitelist. This means when friends send me a link, I've got to get to a computer to open it. - I have no access to "unlimited" content: no app store, no news aggregators, no google - My home screen has primarily utility and "creation" apps (Drafts, Day One, Trello, etc) - I've turned off almost all notifications. Mail has no sounds, alerts, or badges. I do have badges and alerts on text messaging and slack, but am probably going to turn off slack notification completely. - I've yet to remove all games. I should. I've yet to remove Hacker News and Tech Crunch, but don't currently feel an incessant need to check those.
• Skunkleton 9y ago
  Step five - feel satisfied with yourself Step six - watch with dismay as all of these distractions creep back onto your phone.
  • egypturnash 9y ago
    Step seven - read an article like this and remove some or all of these distractions again. Repeat until death, or until you decide to smash all your technology and go live the Unabomber lifestyle.
• jeffreyrogers 9y ago
  These are pretty good rules and I've been doing something similar for a while now. Unfortunately, most people like being addicted to their smartphones and don't see it as a problem.
• fsiefken 9y ago
  Yes, that's why I bought the new Nokia 3310 as a second phone. Unfortunately no whatsapp.. but that can be a feature. I like the minimal layout of the blog, but no rss!
  • vaillancourtmax 9y ago
    Here it is: https://nomasters.io/index.xml https://nomasters.io/index.xml
• brightball 9y ago
  I've done exactly this and it helps a lot. I also tried the "gray screen" thing briefly but didn't keep it because it was a pain when using the nav stuff on Google Maps.
  • kdamken 9y ago
    If you have an iPhone you can set it to be an accessibility shortcut and turn it on/off by pressing the home button three times.
• hedora 9y ago
  I switched to a $10/month prepaid plan. For data, it works out to $0.01/MB. Is reading some random web page really worth $0.10? I think not. It has been amazingly effective when I’m out and about. Now, I just need to disable wifi...
• antisocial 9y ago
  I see so many recommendations to get rid of a smartphone. Here is a different view. I didn't have a smartphone till 2014, I used to think that it was a scam by phone service companies and manufacturers to make you spend more. And then I almost missed my kid's team event due to change of location and missed the messages from other parents. I would have messed months' long preparation by all these kids by my kid's absence. That was the first and last straw and got a smartphone. I also want a phone handy to take pictures. A phone is essential, I just would like android and ios to care more about distractions and develop features to limit these distractions. I am also looking forward to robust, foolproof apps like Space by Boundless etc.
• oftenwrong 9y ago
  Anybody remember this? http://www.dumbsto.re/ http://www.dumbsto.re/ Simple, sms-based "apps" you can use to smarten up your dumbphone.
• heywire 9y ago
  > What if we could make our phones so boring we just look at them we we have to? What if we could strip out most, if not all of the dopamine inducing features and leave the phone in a state that is useful but boring. I did just this to my Facebook feed. It may seem silly, but I signed up for a bunch of non-interesting Facebook groups which pollute my feed with noise. After a couple weeks, I deleted the app from my phone and resorted to using the website through my mobile browser when needed. So far I usually check about once every day or two, mostly just to see if I have any notifications. I find the feed so uninteresting that I rarely just browse it anymore. Before, I would spend a 15 minute here and there, adding up to probably 2 or more hours per day. One thing I noticed is how less often I find myself getting upset at stupid things. Before, I was reading local news stories that were being passed around, and finding myself upset at some of the comments. For what? I wasn't even really interested in the subject of the story anyway!
• jancsika 9y ago
  I think the behavior of people who write computer music using realtime DSP environments is oddly similar. Yet it's instructive because I don't think electronic composers are in any way "addicted" to their environments. > You keep using your phone after it’s no longer needed to solve a problem. There is a large amount of electro-acoustic musical output where the purpose was obviously to employ a particular piece of technology or software, rather than the technology/software being a means to realize some musical concept. > You spend more and more of your time on your phone to get the same effects The amount of time feel giddy by getting basic sounds out of the computer is rather small. The amount of time to get something that sounds "professional" is months if not years. The amount of time to get a timbre as compelling as an electric guitar is so great that you'd probably have to become a full-time filter designer and stop composing. > You feel strange when you don’t have your phone. > You can’t stop yourself from using your phone, even if you don’t want to. I heard about a composer who pushed to get an electronic piece on a concert that was otherwise acoustic. (This composer had written acoustic pieces.) The organizer gave in and made an exception for this composer, who ended up eating the tech people's time trying to set up the AV equipment and scrapped the piece at the last minute because he couldn't get his laptop to work. > You have a hard time giving yourself limits. You might say you’ll only use “so much” but then can’t stop and end up using twice that amount. Or you use it more often than you meant to. I once heard a composer say that the average CPU load of their piece looked to small, so they added "stuff" to the piece to get a more impressive-looking workload. > You’ve begun having trouble doing normal daily things without your phone. I remember having a conversation with a composer who got up, ran to get his laptop because he wanted to write a convolution kernel. > You drive or do other dangerous things (like use heavy machines) while you are on your phone. Luckily for society this one doesn't apply. > You borrow money to pay for your phone. Or for a fancy Mac plus hundreds or thousands worth of proprietary software. > You hide some phone use or the effect it is having on you from others. Well, that one doesn't even really apply to phones. The overall point is that maybe people initially do stuff like this because they're insecure and don't want to miss out.
• ImJasonH 9y ago
  I made a simple tool to help me break my bad social media habits: https://quit.social/ https://quit.social/ I uninstalled Twitter and Facebook from my phone, and replaced them on my home screen with Safari bookmarks that looked like those apps (using favicons). Any time I would try to open those apps, it would deliver a "mild shock" in the form of a big red shame warning telling me how many times I've recently failed to stop using the apps. I kicked the habit in about a week. The fake Twitter app still sits on my home screen, but I only ever tap it by accident. As soon as I come up with something to put in its place, it'll be gone too. Feel free to use it if you find it useful, it's pretty ugly but it worked for me. If it works for you, consider making it prettier: https://github.com/imjasonh/quit.social https://github.com/imjasonh/quit.social
  • romwell 9y ago
    The discussions on successfully quitting social media pop up weekly on HN. The irony is, of course, that HN is social media. Personally, I clock more time here than on FB and IG taken together.
• buf 9y ago
  I changed my phone's language to Japanese (which I don't speak very well). Instead of mindless tapping buttons, now I have to think about every action I take. It makes using my phone tiring, so I don't use it very often.
  • freehunter 9y ago
    I've tried the same with German (which I don't speak very well) but I switched it back when it kept taking me to the German language version of every site I visited.
    • buf 9y ago
      Good point. I had this problem too, but there is a setting ...somewhere, to fix it.
  • odammit 9y ago
    Uhhhh, that’s an awesome idea.
  • konraditurbe 9y ago
    I am learning German at school, a couple classmates changed their phone to German and they said it helped learning new words, I should try it out.
• adhambadr 9y ago
  Checkout our phone www.blloc.com . I think its exactly what we thought of, dumbing down the smartphone to the bare essentials without missing out too much. we don't have it perfectly communicated (working on it), but we're trying to find the middle between a "smartphone" and full blown detox. We got inspired from some of our friends who went "dark" and didn't work out; we were as product designers sick of snapchat, gaming and the addicting viscous cycle however we still wanted to be in touch with some news, use uber and be sometimes reachable on whatsapp, messenger or telegram. We re-designed notifications to make it less distracting easy to turn off per app and most important functionalities reachable. Mainly theres no lock, you can lock some apps, but its ready to use (I was about to throw my iphone everytime it showed me 4 popups before i can use it). check it out let me know if it would make sense if we create the possibility for people (or you) to extend it and build their own integrations / functionalities.
  • TinyPants 9y ago
    I really like what y'all are working on. I echo some other comments about the legibility of your body copy, I'd increase the contrast. Will your phone be available for purchase/use in the US?
    • adhambadr 9y ago
      thanks a lot! yeah we have to fix that. US is pretty complicated with different bands & carrier restrictions we're focusing on EU this year.
  • rhizome 9y ago
    Looks very cool, but your 10px font-size on the site is punishing.
  • david-cako 9y ago
    I am in love with this. The home screen design is so obvious it hurts -- flip phone UX for a smartphone. "Open and dial". What's the story with the display? Do you have an actual proof of concept where you have a black and white mode that largely decreases battery life? Is there anything special about it, or does it just play into how OLED displays are locally lit?
• peacetreefrog 9y ago
  There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts, Uber, and a camera. That's it, no email (technically have the ability to send an email if i need to, but no notifications and no checking) and no random internet browsing and twitter etc consumption. There are some blocking apps that might help with this, but the biggest thing is the attitude. Twitter in line at the grocery store is no longer what my phone is for. Not that reading tabloid headlines is any better, but the main point is stretching out your focus muscles, getting rid of the urge to immediately grab your phone anytime there's a lull or hint of boredom in your life. Overall, it's nice. Almost like being back in the 90's pre smart phone but also with a super powerful computer that can play any song you want/give you directions to anywhere you need to go.
  • gascan 9y ago
    Best way to start shifting mindset that I've found, is aggressively removing things that I miss & hurt a little. Switch to a flip phone for two weeks. Uninstall Chrome frequently. No email at all. I always cave & go back; maybe I'm on the road and I need to look up information so I turn Chrome back on. Maybe texting with the flip phone is just getting too painful. But I feel like it makes me more aware of what I'm doing.
  • cirgue 9y ago
    The best mindset change for me has been realizing on a fundamental and emotional level just how garbage most of the internet actually is, and how much happier I am to get an extra hour of sleep, reading a book instead of Reddit, or letting myself get bored enough to stimulate serious creativity.
    • imwally 9y ago
      > letting myself get bored enough to stimulate serious creativity. I think this is another key takeaway. We're so scared of being bored that we instantly reach for our phone as a means to fill this seemingly unwanted void. As if boredom has this negative connotation attached to it.
• therealmarv 9y ago
  Get a low cost smartphone! You are so often upset it takes so long on some tasks that you use it less and less... something I discovered whole last year with a 150 Euro smartphone! Nevertheless if you life is dependent on it a 2017 150 Euro smartphone from a store will also make it.
• rthomas6 9y ago
  I edited the hosts file on my phone to redirect reddit to 127.0.0.1. You need root to do it, but now I can't reach Reddit at all on my phone, even on my browser. (Reddit is the worst vice for me).
• kcorbitt 9y ago
  This might be a good place to modestly self-promote my side project app, Time Guard, that lets you block services like Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/HN by default and only unblock them for a limited span at once (much like HN's "noprocrast" feature). https://timeguard.io https://timeguard.io
• gukov 9y ago
  On my Android phone I have no app icons on the home screen. The apps list is eight pages long and the extra few seconds it takes to find anything is a good deterrent. Another good trick for those that absolutely need to keep social media on their phone: use the accessibility settings to make the phone's screen black and white.
• jehlakj 9y ago
  Does anybody else prefer iOS over android for this reason? I started out with an android device but none of the main apps ever felt native other than the settings app. Even sms seemed like a third party, and it didn’t feel as direct as an iPhone. It’s a very minor detail, but enough to give an edge to the iPhone in this matter.
• ForgorPsxrd123x 9y ago
  Dumber Post
• whitepoplar 9y ago
  If you have an iPhone, it seems like the best way to create a "dumb phone" is to set it up as a supervised[0] device, which allows you to pick and choose which apps are allowed on the phone, or to disable the app store altogether. It's intended for enterprise use, but seems like it would also be useful for self control. [0]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202837 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202837
• punnerud 9y ago
  I can recommend sorting the apps based colors. Did this tree years ago, and still love the “new” setup. -You remember the color more often than the name -No question like “was it in economy or productivity” -No addicting game folder. You have to browse to see them (on iPhone)
• pnathan 9y ago
  I don't advocate for dumbing the phone. Take away the dopamine hits, or limit them to "play" time. I use facebook, reddit, twitter, mastodon, in Chrome - not as apps. Both from a security standpoint and the notification standpoint. But I have the Washington Post installed. There are moments when you want real time information coming through.... I would generally advocate for using things that are specialized for long-form thinking and using. I.e., reading. You could do writing if you have a bluetooth keyboard. For games: chess, go. always ask yourself what you are gaining from what you're doing....
• vpeters25 9y ago
  This is a good idea, but i think it could go even further. Somewhat unrelated but if you really want to see how horrendously unfriendly the typical smartphone UX is, hand one to a technology-challenged grandparent (who can probably use a legacy cellphone/flip phone just fine) and ask them to call you. They are more likely to accidentally take selfies than figure out how to call you, even if they have your phone number memorized. It would be nice to have an android "main menu" which is just simply the dialpad when you turn on or unlock the phone. Add a button for "smartphone things" like search contact list or open other apps but keep it most elemental function (making phone calls) up front and and easy.
  • kolpa 9y ago
    All you need is a big widget on the home screen that provides dialer UX or links to dialer.
  • wilsonnb 9y ago
    How is "unlock the phone, click on the picture of the phone, dial number" a horrendously unfriendly UX?
• rhombocombus 9y ago
  Killing notifications has been the biggest game changer for me. I am still phone addicted, but I feel like that has had a substantial tempering effect on my checking of it. Not having a constant nuisance bugging me has made me like having a phone better, and the folks who need to get in touch can still reach me via text if required. That's been my compromise, but everyone will probably have their own flavor. The important thing is that we are beginning to recognize this as a problem, which I think most of us agree that it is.
• michrassena 9y ago
  It's been less than five years since I switched to a smart phone. If I wanted to go back to a distraction free device, I would buy a pay-as-you-go dumb phone, and that would be that. Another option is a cell plan without data. I think it's easier to cut out the functionality altogether rather than trying to let a few things through without opening the floodgates.
• Animats 9y ago
  Get rid of Facebook and Twitter, and you're at least 80% done.
• vinceguidry 9y ago
  The yearning for fewer options for distraction is curious to me. I can understand the desire for fewer interruptions, but me choosing to kill a few minutes here and there playing Threes or Fire Emblem Heroes or perusing a Quora feed isn't the grand evil people seem to think it is. After all, it's not like my brain just stops. Particularly when I play Threes, only a portion of my mental energy is devoted to playing the game, while the rest considers deeper musings. I consider it akin to music in that it 'patterns' my mental energy, reducing the total amount of chaos my mind has to deal with all by itself. It's a shortcut to a meditative calm. Without the shortcuts I ultimately get less meditative focus and not more, like how you're more likely to exercise if you keep a pair of dumbbells handy. If you're so mentally disorganized that phone apps destroy your peaceful calm rather than give you ways to create more of it, I'd suggest a daily 30 minute walk. It's my go-to solution for centering.
  • graeme 9y ago
    Brains are different. Are you a visual thinker? I think in words, and so anything with words heavily blocks background thinking. You may have a type of brain that is particularly compatible with doing secondary phone activities. (By contrast, I can think while tidying, cooking, etc. They're all non-verbal)
  • dwaltrip 9y ago
    > If you're so mentally disorganized that phone apps destroy your peaceful calm... This is an incredibly arrogant and uncharitable statement. You'd be well served to make less assumptions about other people.
• johnvega 9y ago
  Smartphones + social media apps = unlimited ice cream. Being aware of it is the first step: http://humanetech.com/problem/ http://humanetech.com/problem/
• munk-a 9y ago
  There are a lot of technical ways to get around this but here's a simpler approach. I just don't own a smart phone. I own an old flip phone and use it primarily to communicate with my immediate family through texts and calls. I have the advantage of not being required to have a smart phone for work and I'm quite happy with that situation. I generally don't use facebook or pretty much any other social media sites (hacker news is probably the most social I get) and whenever I need to I just do it from home, I like my time.
  • jpfed 9y ago
    A feature phone would be fine, but I'm too attached to always having a camera on me. And as far as I know, feature phones generally have crap cameras.
    • munk-a 9y ago
      You are correct, yes. I don't generally take many pictures which may be an advantage for me not having a smart phone.
  • wilsonnb 9y ago
    This approach does require a lot of sacrifices. Smartphones have a lot of utility that dumb phones don't have. In particular, I wouldn't want to go without Google maps, Spotify, Uber, and Google Authenticator. Aside from that I don't have many apps installed on my phone.
• graeme 9y ago
  I've done something similar to this. I recently was in Cuba, where to get internet you had to go to public wifi places. In between that, my phone was much dumber, but very useful: you could take notes, pictures, set timers, etc. So, back, home, I've done the following: 1. Disabled my phone from home wifi (I have 12 GB data, so this is no issue) 2. Turned off cell service to any distracting apps. Turned off notifications too 3. Set all those on a separate "internet" page 4. Went into parental controls and locked changes to cell data settings 5. Removed Safari, added firefox focus and the google app I've tried locking down my phone before, and it never worked. Occasionally I do want to post something to instagram or check snapchat, and the only good way to do that is on the phone. So I'd end up redownloading them. Now, I still can use them. But only if I go to a cafe or a library with wifi. So I make a list of things I want to do on those apps, and update them when I visit. Meanwhile, I can use my phone for lots of others things. But all of them are self-terminating. I removed everything open ended: browser, youtube, etc. Those tended to be black holes. I also found my phone would get cluttered with old browser tabs, and these would be more distracting than on desktop. So, by switching to single tab browsers, I can avoid this. What happens if I need to google something on my phone, immediately? Well, usually this isn't true, and so I write it on a "to google" list, or walk to a computer if I'm in my office. But, if it's truly urgent, I just go into restrictions, and talk to myself out loud about what I am doing. e.g. "I am changing restrictions, and turning on data for firefox focus. I will search 'how long to boil eggs' and then turn off data to firefox and turn back on data restrictions" I find this latter technique helps me stick to doing only the thing I intended to do. I've been doing this for a week since I got back from my trip, and have had no slippage yet. I'm still easily connected at my office. I have noticed that I am checking wikepedia articles more often, and also using podcasts more. I think this is a good thing, though I'll have to re-evaluate over the long run. I may want to instead add wikipedia topics to a "research" folder so I can do them at a later date; it could be just another form of distraction. But most usage comes while reading books, so I think it's fine.
• ruffrey 9y ago
  I have no 3rd party apps that spew content, and disable the web browser. The web browser can be re-enabled if I need to look at, say, a production issue (I work in software). Otherwise it's "nice" to have to go grab a laptop to get online.
• phil248 9y ago
  I think it's time the Luddites just threw their phones in the trash. Don't get a flip phone. Don't use a telephone either. Cut off the electricity, sell your car and give your TV to a friend. Or, keep pretending that the latest technological innovation is the one that's causing all the problems.
• nunodonato 9y ago
  may I suggest to you all the JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) book, by Christina Crook http://www.christinacrook.com/book/ http://www.christinacrook.com/book/
• nutdip 9y ago
  Wanted hacker news minus comments
• spraak 9y ago
  This article just told me to delete Hacker News
• 205guy 9y ago
  I didn't see this mentioned in a quick scan of the comments: no data plan. I originally did this with my wife to save money: 2 AT&T grandfathered unlimited data plans for $160 down to $15 for 2 phones on an MVNO talk+text family plan (both plans had limited minutes, but the MVNO is cheaper for add'l minutes). We use wifi at home and at work, though since I have computers there, I don't find myself connecting on the phone that much. Also, neither of us use facebook through the app or the browser on the phone. We just use home computers or an ipad for that. That feels much safer for being physically tracked and advertised to. So our phones have our calendar and reminders, notes, and photos, and voice and text of course (just not imessage unless on wifi). It really makes them boring and functional, and not a distraction. The ONLY thing that we miss that is critical is maps when traveling. My wife once switched to a $40 data plan for a month, I tried to check maps with the hotel wifi so they are cached on the phone. But now we found a Garmin GPS at a yard sale for $20 and use that.
  • gambiting 9y ago
    Assuming you are on Android - you can download maps for offline viewing when you are on wifi, just select an area and that portion of the map will be stored for offline use.
    • jackson1way 9y ago
      That works on Google Maps for iOS too and I do it for all devices. On android the reminders are super annoying: Your offline maps will expire in x days, please update! You can disable it, but it took me a while. Totally useless. Just update them when it's time and STFU.
  • coryfklein 9y ago
    Maps are the biggest reason I still have a data plan. We even already have a GPS with a giant screen, but when I'm in the middle of nowhere and need to find the nearest gas station/restaurant/whatever, the dedicated GPS is useless. Even the mere act of inputting an address can be so painful on these GPS models that are so slow, especially because most don't have touch-capacitive screens but rather pressure sensitive ones. Leaning forward to reach it across the dash, it usually registers about 70% of my "key presses".
• navs 9y ago
  For almost a year I personally used a “dumb phone”. I believe it was a ZTE from one of the telco providers. It actually wasn’t terribly dumb, it did have a text based web browser that allowed me to read some lightweight sites, especially BBC and NPR which have lightweight text only alternatives to their core website. However the browsing was painful and while the reward was within reach, attaining that reward was a chore so I simply didn’t browse as much until I eventually didn’t at all. That means, for some, buying a cheaper, slower smartphone may help. Let’s face it, most websites would kill cheaper, older smartphones. So your browsing habits would suffer but in a pinch you could still access limited information. Most third party apps wouldn’t install on your older smartphone but the core apps like Google Maps will still be accessible. In addition to this, opt for a cheap data plan. I currently pay $20/m and that includes 1Gb of data. For $10/m I get more minutes and no data . These tricks don’t work for long but they’re a good kickstart to developing a completely different mindset to how you use your phone.
• coryfklein 9y ago
  I've been doing a similar thing almost in parallel with the OP. One thing I found very helpful was to trade in my giant iPhone X for the small iPhone 5s (~$100 on eBay). The smaller screen decreases overall engagement as well as my likelihood of installing video games during weak moments. Add to that fact that it is slow as molasses, and I only pull it out if I absolutely have to. Doesn't hurt my wallet either to break the cycle of upgrading to this year's expensive model every couple years.
• santoriv 9y ago
  Well, about a year ago I ditched my smartphone for a dumb phone, and the effect of my mental health has been pretty positive. I still engage with the internet way too much through my computer, but I feel like I live a bit more in the "real world" than I did before I got rid of my smartphone. The internet is no longer an omnipresent for me. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that everyone gets rid of their smartphones though as it's not really a problem for some people.
• JepZ 9y ago
  Actually, I use my smartphone since a while with a focus on usability (only top 5 apps on the home screen). So no annoying, attention catching, tracking, adware apps. Just pure focus on what I need: - Adaway (Adblocker; just in case) - Address Book - Browser (long term Chrome user, but the new Firefox mobile feels very nice) - Chat Client (Conversations) - Clock - Connect Bot (for SSH connections) - Dav-Droid (Sync client) - Email client - F-Droid (app store for open source software) - Calendar - Camera & Gallery - KDE-Connect (e.g. for desktop notifications) - Nextcloud client - Omsand+ (Google Maps alternative) - Play Store - Phone - Spotify - Termux (a shell that is actually usable on a smartphone) - Text/SMS - Titanium Backup - Xodo (nice PDF viewer and annotator) With that setup I can sync my data with other devices, communicate (voice, text, email), enjoy basic entertainment (Spotify) and use some cli if it is required, while not having all that attention stealing crap on my phone.
• tomaskafka 9y ago
  I noticed that I get uncomfortable even feeling the physical presence of the phone (we are wired so that the body reminds us of things, it serves as a state memory). What helped was putting the phone into the bag instead of having it in pocket.
• allenrb 9y ago
  It's been about a month since I pulled the SIM from my iPhone, snipped it in half, sync'd the latest photos (mostly my daughter, or cats), ran a factory reset, and stuck it on a shelf. I bought an LG flip phone the next morning. Since then, I've felt like parts of my brain are growing back. While I'd cut down significantly on smartphone usage over the prior year, I'd started to realize that the mere act of exercising "don't use it" discipline was in itself distracting. That's all gone now. My flip phone is not fun. It's boring. In fact, it's immensely frustrating when I do need to carry on a texting conversation. And that's perfectly alright. When I need to get someplace new, there's no Maps to save the day. Instead I look at the route beforehand and write (by hand, with a pen) a few notes on a Post-It. In the process, I've learned more about parts of two cities than I had in a year or more of mindless reliance on Maps. The biggest thing I miss and haven't found a satisfying workaround for is the camera. Flip phones seem to be stuck in about 2001, camera-wise. Even under the best of conditions, the results are barely passable. It's my patient hope that if enough people reject smartphones, there may one day be higher end functionality available in a flip.
  • jaysonelliot 9y ago
    Have you considered carrying a compact, dedicated digital camera, like the Cyber-shot WX220?
  • jakecopp 9y ago
    Do you drive rather than use public transport? When I've headed out somewhere new with friends and ended up in a strange place at 1am, Google Maps public transit directions are my lifeline. If I drove I could just head in the rough direction or use a streetmap, though transit maps aren't usually complete with all routes and times. There is nothing worse than standing at a bus stop for an hour hoping a bus will come, and that bus will take you home. Train stations are alright if the trains are still running, but usually I need to rely on a late night, barely functioning bus network. I would love an e-paper/ink phone that did maps, texts, calls, photos and nothing else.
    • evjim 9y ago
      I did the whole flip phone thing for awhile and you can load a version of google maps onto most phones that run Java applets. Also, I worked on an epaper feature phone startup. But as a company we never got it to take off. I open sourced it to an extent but havent worked on it as much as I would have hoped. http://woodstead.org/epaper.html http://woodstead.org/epaper.html
• agotterer 9y ago
  My divesting of notifications was an accident. A botched iOS upgrade turned off all my notifications. It took me days to realize I was never getting alerts for emails, Facebook, etc. At that point I made the conscious decision that I didn’t miss them and kept them off on nearly every app, with the exception of a few that aren’t noisy and I enjoy getting. This had caused me to check my phone much less frequently and not feel the need to instantly respond. I have good self control, so spending too much time on Fb was never an issue for me. This has caused me to primarily use my phone for utility or at least consciously for time killing. But I spend far less time on my phone and no longer crave those dopamine notifications.
• deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
• raz32dust 9y ago
  I disable most notifications, and even the ones that are turned on are silent ones. I keep the phone aside on the table almost all the time, and consider myself a relatively mild user of the smartphone. Where I really miss the phone and feel handicapped without it is when I have to quickly look something up on google/dictionary. e.g, if I have a quick random question about why something is the way it is, what causes some symptoms etc. I can't imagine going back to childhood (90s) when we had to go to libraries or ask poorly knowledgeable people about stuff. In a way, I feel this is the future. Human beings are supposed to become one with the machine at some point. People who dislike that or choose to stay away might actually be likely to be outcast and be considered weird. I already see that happening, for example when I tell people I don't have a facebook account. It boils down to, "Do I value personal privacy, or being connected to the world's information flow ecosystem?". And I am not sure that choosing to be private is the obvious right answer at this point. And it might not even be possible in the near future.
  • russdpale 9y ago
    try this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.siempo.phone https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.siempo.phon...
• microcolonel 9y ago
  > surveillance capitalism This name is catchy, but it obscures the truth: that you are not being spied on (in this case), you are actually spying on yourself. It's more like compulsive disclosure capitalism.
• coatmatter 9y ago
  All the tips on how to spend less time on the internet are great, however at the end of the day that time still needs to be replaced by a more productive pastime if one just isn't feeling it when it comes to productivity. Otherwise, the mind will creatively figure out an endless list of other things to idle time away with. In the past for many people, this might have involved more segmented activities such as quality computer games and the like. But really, I think what most of us would do better with now is more time spent outside with a cardiovascular activity such as cycling or running. I say cardio, because that often eats up a good chunk of time and rests the mind in a way that few other sports can and also because it's essential for physical and mental health and cannot be substituted. Don't worry about the strength stuff immediately if it's not already being done - that will easily follow once the cardio routine is sorted. As popular as 'strength' is right now in fitness circles, cardio is still key and the (evolutionary) root of all health in my view.
• BuckRogers 9y ago
  I've done what's described in the article for years. In fact, I've never once installed Facebook or Twitter on my iPhone. My general rules- - No social media, at all. News only for entertainment, and news sources (fed through Feedly) have to be new sources, not politics-masquerading-as-news. Things happening, not things people are saying. - No notifications enabled other than texts and calls. - Do not disturb set for 10PM-6AM, allowing favorites to call through (wife & family). - Single page homescreen to keep it clean, tidy & organized. Mine is used for utility, and like most things in modern society, there's enough power if you aren't very intelligent to get controlled by the technology. You have to be capable of seeing through the tech, and not become its slave. Eternal vigilance is the cost of freedom I suppose. I rarely look at my phone, I do have games, but they are opened less than once every 12 months. Looking at what I have installed now, I have Super Mario Run, Breakout & "Faby Bird" (a Flappy Bird remake). I see no need to remove them when I don't find them to be a problem or damaging like social media is. Why do I have a smartphone then? ApplePay, remote home & PC controls, GPS maps, online banking, Lyft, Exxon Mobile SpeedPass+, Find My iPhone to know where my family is if they need me, are all invaluable. Those are the things I use a smartphone for.
• bluecat22 9y ago
  I think the idea of dumber phone introduces with it another notion, since the phone is seen more as a utilitarian tool(not for entertainment), then it should not have to be replaced frequently. With the above concept the entire discussion then hinges on how updatable the phone software is? Because if the phone software is not updatable, even the minimum number of apps needed on the phone will stagnate and you'll have to buy a new phone anyhow. The single biggest point of failure in the updatability of a phone is the devices drivers for the SOC. Linux fails in this regard because the driver ABI is not stable, so you can't run drivers that the vendor launched with the launch kernel. It is this problem of updatable drivers for SOC components that needs to be solved before any idea of a long lasting utility phone becomes practical.
  • tomrod 9y ago
    Why can't it be solved?
    • bluecat22 9y ago
      Because in the space of open source operating systems, we realistically only have Linux Kernel. With each new release of Linux kernel, the internal kernel interfaces that device drivers use, change. So whatever binary kernel driver the vendor released with kernel version x is not going to run with next kernel version y. You only have 2 options: 1. Either you get the source of device drivers, which the vendors don't release because they want to protect their hardware IP 2. or the kernel keeps its interfaces stable so that drivers released can be reused again. Right now, both are not happening and that is the real reason Android phones have a life of at most 2 years.
• superkuh 9y ago
  Even better, try not taking your phone with you at all. They're essentially ankle bracelets that use the carrot instead of the stick. At least in the US your location is recorded and stored for at a minimum of 2 and usually more towards 5 years depending on telco.
• Naracion 9y ago
  About a year or so ago, I changed the launcher app on my Android phone to the Linux CLI Launcher (then called t-ui Launcher) [1]. This was a revolutionary step towards changing my interaction behavior with my phone. Now, I had to _type in the names of the apps_ that I wanted to open. There was _zero_ visual candy that attracted me and prompted me to needlessly open Instagram. I stopped compulsively checking these apps, moved to using Chrome only in the bus during commute. Every month I'd run "ls -apps" to see what apps I have installed. The first time I ran it, I did not even recognize most of the apps on the list. I have a much happier (and snappier) phone now free of bloat apps, and as a result a much happier and more productive version of me (at least no reduction in productivity due to phone distraction). [1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ohi.andre.consolelauncher&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ohi.andre.cons... edit: grammar, reframe
  • sothym 9y ago
    This launcher is great, thanks for sharing.
  • nurettin 9y ago
    This is great, I was trying to modify termux as a launcher just to accomplish the same thing.
• wyclif 9y ago
  Alan Jacobs recently wrote a similar type of post (spoiler: he deleted all the social media apps, allowed communications apps, and replaced the deleted ones with "environmental" apps) http://text-patterns.thenewatlantis.com/2018/04/back-to-iphone.html http://text-patterns.thenewatlantis.com/2018/04/back-to-ipho...
• AnnoyingSwede 9y ago
  As i got my new Sony Z5 a year back i had a look on the resource usage i had on my old Z1. Any app that consumed amounts of bandwidth and/or battery was never installed/uninstalled on the new phone. This made me drop the facebook app, tinder, all games. It still allows me to login to facebook via the browser if i need to respond to something during they day or want to post a picture but dropped the fiddling with the phone down to less than half on an average day. It also allowed the phone to work for 2 days on a single charge.
• zabil 9y ago
  Since the article and comments talk about dopamine, here's an article about the myth. Please stop calling dopamine the ‘pleasure chemical’ https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17169446/dopamine-pleasure-chemical-neuroscience-reward-motivation https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17169446/dopamine-pleasur...
• c_s_g 9y ago
  I switched from a Nexus to a Samsung for its 'Maximum Power Saving' mode which allows a grand total of 8 apps on the home screen. Four are standard - phone, messages, chrome, settings. Four more you can choose from a limited set ... I have music, camera, maps and clock (alarms don't work without it). I end up spending about half my day in this mode and the other half in addict mode.
• TsukiZombina 9y ago
  I have a better solution, turn it off. Seriously, all that time spent on my phone started to bother me, so now I just turn on my phone when I really need to use it.
• jamiethompson 9y ago
  I might try this. I've been exclusively using a Nokia 2G dumbphone for 2 years now. Just calls and texts (and snake, oh and it also has a flashlight) There are obviously times when I would benefit from Google Maps or being able to listen to music on my phone though. Not having a camera in my pocket all the time has been the only thing i've truly missed though. Being able to take a photo of something and maybe instantly send it to someone is useful. "Hey can you pick me up some X"... "Sure i'm in the shop now, are these the right ones?" That kind of interaction is just useful. I fell like now I've well and truly broken my smartphone addiction that it might be safe for me to reintroduce a smart phone into my life. I feel as though I would now have sufficient will power not to just install Facebook one night and start mindlessly scrolling again. I don't believe I could have achieved that without transitioning first to a completely dumb phone. I imagine that's true of a lot of other people
• dm319 9y ago
  When I got my Nokia E90 back in 2007, I loved the power of having GPS, internet, maps on-tap. But it never intruded on me, and I wasn't addicted to it. I just used it when it was useful. But something has changed since then. I'm not sure whether it is with me, or with 'them'. The article talks about the rewards of posting to facebook - and I now see this same reward for posting here, reddit and any other forum you might be part of.
• binarnosp 9y ago
  Two months ago, after a smartphone induced rage (my ear touching the screen caused deezer to start playing a song during a phone call) I bought a nokia 3310 and ditched the smart phone. Best decision ever. Now I noticed how everybody else is constantly watching their smartphone: sometimes they pull it out of the bag but they don't know why, they just browse up and down through the apps until they tap on a random one, just to close it few seconds later.
• PyErr_SetString 9y ago
  Does anyone rememner the Jolla phone? I had one and it was great! The reason: You could do a lot of the necessary things with a phone, like: * Making calls * Sending text messages * Set an alarm/timer * Take a photo You could also do a lot of the less necessary things like: * surfing/facebook/reddit, through the web browser. * playing (some) games But, those less necessary things were just a _little_ too much effort to be worth it. Surfing was a bit cumbersome and I didn't have that many apps on it. I found myself using the phone less for unnecessary things and just as a tool to actually do things I needed. I loved it for that. If they sold decent phones still, I might probably buy another. Now I'm back to android and use the phone for more unneccessary things again. Also, I liked the sounds and themes on the Jolla.
• mcovey 9y ago
  I own a smartphone, but I use it like I'd use a tablet - wifi only, at home. My primary phone, the only one I take with me to work most of the time, is just a pay-as-you-go flip phone. In fact, I didn't downgrade to this from a smartphone. I've never had a smartphone with phone service, that I carry around with me or use. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing. Maybe I don't want to know. The only real thing I wish I had was an easier way to carry on text conversations. Typing on a phone dialpad is not very fast. Most of the time I can use Verizon Message+ which works in a web browser and lets me send SMS from my own phone number. But when I'm not near a computer, I can't do that.
  • kevin_thibedeau 9y ago
    Seems like a 7" tablet would be a better use case if you don't need pocketability.
    • mcovey 9y ago
      I like being able to use it in bed with one hand, and occasionally to have pocketability, to bring it to things where I'll have to do a lot of waiting, like doctor appointments or being a passenger on a long ride. I looked into small tablets a while ago and found that the selection was pretty limited and none of the few that looked reasonable could easily run LineageOS. But a phone with no SIM card or plan is basically just a really small tablet anyway.
• marttt 9y ago
  See also Hellaphone -- Inferno OS (successor for Plan 9) running on Android phones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_-jQc53jw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_-jQc53jw http://jfloren.net/b/2015/8/18/2 http://jfloren.net/b/2015/8/18/2 https://www.defcon.org/images/defcon-20/dc-20-presentations/Floren/DEFCON-20-Floren-Hellaphone.pdf https://www.defcon.org/images/defcon-20/dc-20-presentations/...
• justdep 9y ago
  Are there any Android launchers out there that water the OS down to the basics? A launcher to kinda simulate what https://www.blloc.com/ https://www.blloc.com/ and https://www.thelightphone.com/ https://www.thelightphone.com/ are doing would be cool.
• MacroChip 9y ago
  I've been solving a related problem: help you use websites for what you want and nothing more. How many times have you gotten on Facebook to send a message and stayed there for too long? It won't happen again. Currently works on Gmail, Facebook, and YouTube. I'll be testing it on Firefox mobile this weekend. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tunnel-focus/hbekjlhfmkgfnohmkodgekodmhhgfjfj https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tunnel-focus/hbekj...