17 ms·
About 6 months ago my wife and I moved our cell #s to a VoIP provider, canceled our cell plans, and flipped our phones to airplane mode. (WiFi/BT but cell modem
by lrvick 5y ago
About 6 months ago my wife and I moved our cell #s to a VoIP provider, canceled our cell plans, and flipped our phones to airplane mode. (WiFi/BT but cell modem is off)
Offline maps can lead us to free WiFi hotspots when we need it, but otherwise when we are out and about we are forced to live in the moment .
When we do need to look something up in a store or whatever we connect to WiFi and deal with it, because we still have functional phones. They are however limited as they run CalyxOS so there are are only webapps and open source tracking-free F-Droid apps. No intrusive profit-driven social media algorithms trying to manipulate more of my attention away from me.
Also battery life in airplane mode is over double.
When we want to waste time Iwestill do, but I am intentional about it. We have media center PCs, laptops, and desktop workstations but they don't follow us around.
It has been a major mental health win, not to mention a privacy win as our location can't be logged and sold anymore. And saving like $100/mo on 4G plans.
10/10 would recommend to almost anyone.
- kwhitefoot 5y ago> saving like $100/mo on 4G plans. You could get most of that saving by switching to pay as you go; at least in Europe/Scandinavia. I spend perhaps 20 USD per year on my mobile because I hardly ever make any calls or use mobile data.
- yosito 5y ago> our location can't be logged and sold anymore Be cautious about leaving wifi/bluetooth on. Your device's mac address can be logged even if you don't connect, and location data brokers could easily report to advertisers or other parties where you've been seen.
- lrvick 5y agoModern Android actually randomizes macs on every WiFi connect, and we use Tor full time.