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Has anyone experimented with having a "dumb phone" and taking that with them just in-case people need to contact them or for emergencies? Lately, I've had a fe

Has anyone experimented with having a "dumb phone" and taking that with them just in-case people need to contact them or for emergencies? Lately, I've had a few times when I accidentally left my phone at home and after an hour or so realized how much fun I've had without it.

cmurf 4y ago
I wish my stupid smart phone had a dumb phone mode.
- m_mueller 4y ago
  iOS has it, it’s called focus mode. But good luck actually having the resolve to stay in it. (Plus the app drawer kinda defeats the idea again).
  - tillcarlos 4y ago
    Yes. The idea is great: hide some of the screens when in focus mode. Problems: cannot totally disable apps like in the app usage settings. And there you cannot really schedule blocks where you can access them. Also: the allowed apps list has a bug which makes it unusable. I have no idea why these two features are distinct. (mean thought: maybe apple doesn’t actually want us to use it properly?)
    - m_mueller 4y ago
      To me it seems that for a while Apple has become a bit Microsoft-ish with iOS (certainly influenced by its immense popularity) in that they never clean out the old stuff, only add in new stuff on top of it. Exhibit A: Stage manager living on top of but not replacing the previous multitasking features. On your point I totally agree, app usage should be unified with focus mode.
alatkins 4y ago
Apple Watch with cellular lets me leave behind my phone when I feel like it and still be contactable.
- bamboozled 4y ago
  Do you think you could live with it alone? I am actually entertaining the idea of going without a phone all together.
porknubbins 4y ago
I was thinking about getting a cheap prepaid phone to bring on long bike rides. Even though I only check my spartphone once or twice per ride I realized just having it prevents my mind from really relaxing. I should probably just bring everything to repair a flat then I wouldn’t need a phone at all.
- bamboozled 4y ago
  I've taken all the tools and still had trouble, good to have a phone in case you need a ride home, maybe just an old Nokia or something would be fine.
nicbou 4y ago
I depend on my phone as a tool. Alarms, calendar, Google Pay and so on. Instead I worked really hard to suppress the loud parts. Notification control, ad blocker rules, very few apps, and so on. I'd say it works well enough.
- littlecranky67 4y ago
  I observed a similar "defense" mechanism on myself. I struggled with the thought of not having a phones and rationalizing why I can't do this, which is also a common defense mechanism for addictions. The truth is, the rationalization is often completely made up. I.e. in your case, you can get an alarm clock (or a cheap wristwatch with alarm), a paper calendar/planner (or simply a tiny notebook to write down stuff) and your old-fashioned credit card. Now, I totally accept that the phone does provide some value and comfort when dealing with those things, and not having one makes life a teeny-bit less comfortable. But you have to think, is my attention and the ability to have deep, focused thoughts more worth than saving some seconds to minutes of a day when taking down notes or setting an alarm clock. Because thats usually what it boils down to, the phone saves you only seconds to minutes a day for usefull work, but you waste hours on doom-scrolling and having your attention taken away throughout the day.
  - nicbou 4y ago
    I could do that, but it would not benefit me. It's not a defence mechanism, it's just being practical.
    - littlecranky67 4y ago
      If its practical for you thats is okay and good for you. I'm just saying sometimes we trick our mind to thinking exactly that, like "its more practical with a phone" but at the same time not considering that its not practical to read news and browse social media for hours while we should be doing other things. If the later is not happening or not an issue for you, thats totally fine. I just want to point out very often this is not the case, but we make it up in our mind so that we believe it.
- 4y ago
littlecranky67 4y ago
I do exactly this. I got a cheap feature phone (Nokia, ~50€) with a MultiSIM that my cellprovider offers. Both phones ring at the same time when I get a call, and I can take it on either. I only have close contacts on my feature phone, it can play music, and I can make calls. Plus, the battery lasts 3weeks in standby, more when you only turn it on when you need it of course. Focus time is now only a matter of taking the right phone with me when I leave the house, or turning the smartphone off for a while. But there are some drawbacks, i.e. I would love for the feature phone to have a better camera.
- bamboozled 4y ago
  This would be cool to take hiking and camping. I take a nice camera for photos.
fauxreb 4y ago
Yes, many many times. I used to work in Haiti and though we had wifi on base I relished any time away from it. I used to hike between the villages there and carry a $20 dumb (dual sim) that only had two numbers: my wife and my work. Even having the work number was fine because the conversations were very simple: no images, no text, just verbal exchange. Blissful.

cmurf 4y ago

I wish my stupid smart phone had a dumb phone mode.

m_mueller 4y ago
iOS has it, it’s called focus mode. But good luck actually having the resolve to stay in it. (Plus the app drawer kinda defeats the idea again).
- tillcarlos 4y ago
  Yes. The idea is great: hide some of the screens when in focus mode. Problems: cannot totally disable apps like in the app usage settings. And there you cannot really schedule blocks where you can access them. Also: the allowed apps list has a bug which makes it unusable. I have no idea why these two features are distinct. (mean thought: maybe apple doesn’t actually want us to use it properly?)
  - m_mueller 4y ago
    To me it seems that for a while Apple has become a bit Microsoft-ish with iOS (certainly influenced by its immense popularity) in that they never clean out the old stuff, only add in new stuff on top of it. Exhibit A: Stage manager living on top of but not replacing the previous multitasking features. On your point I totally agree, app usage should be unified with focus mode.

alatkins 4y ago

Apple Watch with cellular lets me leave behind my phone when I feel like it and still be contactable.

bamboozled 4y ago
Do you think you could live with it alone? I am actually entertaining the idea of going without a phone all together.

porknubbins 4y ago

I was thinking about getting a cheap prepaid phone to bring on long bike rides. Even though I only check my spartphone once or twice per ride I realized just having it prevents my mind from really relaxing. I should probably just bring everything to repair a flat then I wouldn’t need a phone at all.

bamboozled 4y ago
I've taken all the tools and still had trouble, good to have a phone in case you need a ride home, maybe just an old Nokia or something would be fine.

nicbou 4y ago

I depend on my phone as a tool. Alarms, calendar, Google Pay and so on. Instead I worked really hard to suppress the loud parts. Notification control, ad blocker rules, very few apps, and so on. I'd say it works well enough.

littlecranky67 4y ago
I observed a similar "defense" mechanism on myself. I struggled with the thought of not having a phones and rationalizing why I can't do this, which is also a common defense mechanism for addictions. The truth is, the rationalization is often completely made up. I.e. in your case, you can get an alarm clock (or a cheap wristwatch with alarm), a paper calendar/planner (or simply a tiny notebook to write down stuff) and your old-fashioned credit card. Now, I totally accept that the phone does provide some value and comfort when dealing with those things, and not having one makes life a teeny-bit less comfortable. But you have to think, is my attention and the ability to have deep, focused thoughts more worth than saving some seconds to minutes of a day when taking down notes or setting an alarm clock. Because thats usually what it boils down to, the phone saves you only seconds to minutes a day for usefull work, but you waste hours on doom-scrolling and having your attention taken away throughout the day.
- nicbou 4y ago
  I could do that, but it would not benefit me. It's not a defence mechanism, it's just being practical.
  - littlecranky67 4y ago
    If its practical for you thats is okay and good for you. I'm just saying sometimes we trick our mind to thinking exactly that, like "its more practical with a phone" but at the same time not considering that its not practical to read news and browse social media for hours while we should be doing other things. If the later is not happening or not an issue for you, thats totally fine. I just want to point out very often this is not the case, but we make it up in our mind so that we believe it.
4y ago

littlecranky67 4y ago

I do exactly this. I got a cheap feature phone (Nokia, ~50€) with a MultiSIM that my cellprovider offers. Both phones ring at the same time when I get a call, and I can take it on either. I only have close contacts on my feature phone, it can play music, and I can make calls. Plus, the battery lasts 3weeks in standby, more when you only turn it on when you need it of course. Focus time is now only a matter of taking the right phone with me when I leave the house, or turning the smartphone off for a while. But there are some drawbacks, i.e. I would love for the feature phone to have a better camera.

bamboozled 4y ago
This would be cool to take hiking and camping. I take a nice camera for photos.

fauxreb 4y ago

Yes, many many times. I used to work in Haiti and though we had wifi on base I relished any time away from it. I used to hike between the villages there and carry a $20 dumb (dual sim) that only had two numbers: my wife and my work. Even having the work number was fine because the conversations were very simple: no images, no text, just verbal exchange. Blissful.