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Oddly they cover the three things I most want in the FAQ- directions? Spotify? WhatsApp? The answer is no to all. I'd take a phone without a web browser or any

by iamben 5y ago

Oddly they cover the three things I most want in the FAQ- directions? Spotify? WhatsApp? The answer is no to all. I'd take a phone without a web browser or anything else if I could have these three.

abemiller 5y ago
More specifically, the answer is "in active development" for directions and Spotify, and no for Whatsapp. Personally I have no use for Whatsapp, so once Spotify and directions are up and running I'll be pretty interested in grabbing one of these to replace my phone. My main concern is the call quality. When calling is essentially all you're reduced to in terms of connectivity, I would want to be sure those calls go smoothly. I remember hearing bad things about the call quality in the past with like mic issues or something, not sure if that's been resolved by now.
- mrzimmerman 5y ago
  I am precisely in your court app wise but I would also need my calendar. I don’t consider it stressful to have and myself and my family are pretty good about adding all of our plans to it so we know what’s going on.
krrrh 5y ago
The simple solution is to pick up an iPhone SE, block the browser and any other problem apps with parental controls, then have a friend set the passcode so you can’t reenable them without asking for permission. I’ve offered this service of in loco parentis to everyone who tells me they want a simpler phone without the distractions, and no one ever takes me up on it.
- tomjen3 5y ago
  That doesn't seem to work any longer, or at least is much more annoying, as you have to enter an apple id that can be used to reset the key.
foobar33333 5y ago
The Apple Watch cellular version might be your thing. Directions, music and some IM usage is very easy but web browsing is non existent.
alpaca128 5y ago
You probably can't expect WhatsApp on any niche platform, ever. It's proprietary and already stopped support for Windows Phone and old Android versions, both of which were at that point gigantic bestsellers compared to such a project.
- msh 5y ago
  The modern Nokia's with kaiOS have a official WhatsApp client build in.
  - alpaca128 5y ago
    Because KaiOS is one of the most popular mobile operating systems right now, even at second place in India. Of course Facebook wants access to that market.
prox 5y ago
It’s easier to stop using these apps. I stopped using whatsapp years ago, first announcement was panic in some cases “How can I reach you!” but it all solves itself. Instead of Spotify I went back to MP3s and bandcamp. I sometimes use Apple Store or Youtube to find new songs/recommendations. For messaging I have a desktop where I can FB message family and friends, so only at set times. Same with other messaging, only at set times. People can text me, but somehow people forgot about that :) Reducing dependency on chokehold services is a good thing in my book. For directions an old fashioned gps navigator works fine or downloaded openstreet map.

by iamben 5y ago

Oddly they cover the three things I most want in the FAQ- directions? Spotify? WhatsApp? The answer is no to all. I'd take a phone without a web browser or anything else if I could have these three.

abemiller 5y ago

More specifically, the answer is "in active development" for directions and Spotify, and no for Whatsapp. Personally I have no use for Whatsapp, so once Spotify and directions are up and running I'll be pretty interested in grabbing one of these to replace my phone. My main concern is the call quality. When calling is essentially all you're reduced to in terms of connectivity, I would want to be sure those calls go smoothly. I remember hearing bad things about the call quality in the past with like mic issues or something, not sure if that's been resolved by now.

mrzimmerman 5y ago
I am precisely in your court app wise but I would also need my calendar. I don’t consider it stressful to have and myself and my family are pretty good about adding all of our plans to it so we know what’s going on.

krrrh 5y ago

The simple solution is to pick up an iPhone SE, block the browser and any other problem apps with parental controls, then have a friend set the passcode so you can’t reenable them without asking for permission. I’ve offered this service of in loco parentis to everyone who tells me they want a simpler phone without the distractions, and no one ever takes me up on it.

tomjen3 5y ago
That doesn't seem to work any longer, or at least is much more annoying, as you have to enter an apple id that can be used to reset the key.

foobar33333 5y ago

The Apple Watch cellular version might be your thing. Directions, music and some IM usage is very easy but web browsing is non existent.

alpaca128 5y ago

You probably can't expect WhatsApp on any niche platform, ever. It's proprietary and already stopped support for Windows Phone and old Android versions, both of which were at that point gigantic bestsellers compared to such a project.

msh 5y ago
The modern Nokia's with kaiOS have a official WhatsApp client build in.
- alpaca128 5y ago
  Because KaiOS is one of the most popular mobile operating systems right now, even at second place in India. Of course Facebook wants access to that market.

prox 5y ago

It’s easier to stop using these apps. I stopped using whatsapp years ago, first announcement was panic in some cases “How can I reach you!” but it all solves itself. Instead of Spotify I went back to MP3s and bandcamp. I sometimes use Apple Store or Youtube to find new songs/recommendations. For messaging I have a desktop where I can FB message family and friends, so only at set times. Same with other messaging, only at set times. People can text me, but somehow people forgot about that :) Reducing dependency on chokehold services is a good thing in my book. For directions an old fashioned gps navigator works fine or downloaded openstreet map.