9 ms·

Dumb phones are on the rise in the U.S. as Gen Z looks to limit screen time

55 points by harambae 4y ago

greenie_beans 4y ago
didn't realize i could leverge my dumb phone to be an influencer
- dylan604 4y ago
  hence you not being an influencer. as much as i can't stand the concept of influencer as they are today (we've always had them), i do have to give props to how some of them have found their market and made it happen. doesn't mean i give a crap about what they are doing, but i can at least admit they did something.
daveslash 4y ago
I had one of the last Windows Phones before they were discontinued (Nokia Lumina 950). Loved it. It died in 2018 on a camping trip when I let it trickle-charge on a Solar Panel. (Don't do that people!). I took the opportunity to get back to basics and replaced it with a 3G Nokia 3310. I used that for nearly 2 years...until my phone provider sunset 3G support. It was actually quite refreshing. It's nice to be back on a Smart Phone, but it was great to break the bad habits and when I picked up a Smart Phone again, I knew what traps I was hoping to avoid falling into and could be much more deliberate in my usage of the tool.
- grog454 4y ago
  > It died in 2018 on a camping trip when I let it trickle-charge on a Solar Panel. Did the battery die or the whole phone somehow?
  - daveslash 4y ago
    Trickle Charging it caused something do go really wrong with the display circuitry and over half of the screen was randomized color-static looking garbage. The phone itself seemed to operate fine, but the display issues rendered it useless. I later learned that if you use a portable solar panel battery pack, let the pack charge and then plug in your phone. Don't plug a near-dead solar panel battery pack into your phone and let. There's something about the low-voltage trickle-charge that can be terrible for electronics. I'm not an EE, so I don't understand the details. Perhaps someone else can explain it better.
    - tablespoon 4y ago
      > I later learned that if you use a portable solar panel battery pack, let the pack charge and then plug in your phone. Don't plug a near-dead solar panel battery pack into your phone and let. There's something about the low-voltage trickle-charge that can be terrible for electronics. I'm not an EE, so I don't understand the details. Perhaps someone else can explain it better. I'm interested in learning more about this. I recently got a USB solar panel (with no battery). I wonder if it has anything to do with voltage dropping way below USB spec (which I've seen when the panel can't provide the current the device wants, which seems to be pretty easy when the panel is small and/or not in full sun).
    - 8note 4y ago
      I've set myself up some backpack panels + a separate usb batter Generally I've found that batteries will let you charge xor discharge, and won't let you do both. I assume that you'd get unexpected voltage/amperage on the discharging side, from the charging side if you tried to do both at the same time
adept_js 4y ago
[dead]
sanderjd 4y ago
I want to jump on this boat. Anybody have a recommendation for a good value dumb phone?
- not_your_vase 4y ago
  They are dumb. You can't go very wrong with any of them. I use a Nokia 225 4G. But not because of any scientific reason. That's what the store had in stock when I popped up. It's okay. If your store has it in stock, get it. Otherwise get whatever they have.
  - jollyllama 4y ago
    Key point here being, if you try to do your own research and get a model that should work with your cell provider, there's no guarantees; they often have weird aspects of vendor or implementation lock built in.
    - not_your_vase 4y ago
      I suspect this is US specific, and I guess your post might be a valuable heads up about this. (I'm in the EU, and I haven't seen a phone sold here (in a shop) that wasn't compatible with all available providers - to be honest, this problem has never crossed my mind when I bought a phone.)
      - favsq 4y ago
        Dumbphones are 4G. 4G voice service requires VoLTE but mobile operators have to whitelist phone models, the phone has to have the IMS in the internal database... all in all don't expect VoLTE to work. So voice downgrades to 3G. But 3G is being shut down by many operators and more to come. So voice downgrades to 2G, but 2G has a very low limit of concurrent calls, let's say a few dozen. So it's possible that your dumbphone won't work at all.
        tablespoon 4y ago
knaik94 4y ago
Dumb phone cut you out of the majority of communication protocols, no whatsapp, imessage, facetime, or discord. Gen Z is one of the first hyperconnected generations that grew up using social media since they were born. Dumb phones are not on the rise, this is a terrible article. In the US, it's actually hard to get a dumb phone for certain carriers since 3g/gsm bands were turned off making VoLTE a required feature. I personally can't see myself ever choosing to get a phone with a bad digital camera.
- medler 4y ago
  > Dumb phone cut you out of the majority of communication protocols, no whatsapp, imessage, facetime, or discord If you have a Mac, you can access all of these on your mac. If you have any other desktop computer I believe you can still use any except FaceTime and iMessage. A friend of mine has a dumb phone but is still a part of group chats via his computer.
  - berdario 4y ago
    web.whatsapp.com requires you to be already logged in the mobile app. Unless you install the Whatsapp .apk on a desktop (ChromeOS?) I don't think you can easily use Whatsapp without a smartphone
- solalf 4y ago
  Just get a point and shoot camera. If you also need a GPS, you can get one of those TomTom devices they used to put in cars. Dedicated MP3 players are also still a thing if you want a soundtrack for your life. Now all you need is that sweet candy bar phone, throw all this in a large fanny pack and off you go. PS: an old school wallet would also be useful, Symbian OS doesn’t have Apple Pay yet.
- KeplerBoy 4y ago
  Some dumb phones support Whatsapp, but who knows how long that platforms will be supported and good luck typing on that keyboard. Maybe it will be cool once whisper like tools will be able to run in realtime on it. https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-6300-4g?sku=16LIOWW1A01 https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-6300-4g?sku=16LIOW...
deltree7 4y ago
"On the rise" -- No actual figures. May be 100 units to 200 units, who knows Also, never going to happen.
josefresco 4y ago
My life is too complex for a dumb phone. I want TWO phones! One smart and fully featured (iPhone) and one dumb with just essential communication (phone/text). One telephone number, rings on both - is that so hard? I guess maybe with a "virtual" telephone this might be possible but those are increasingly not allowed IRL.
- hklgny 4y ago
  I actually find the smaller sized Apple Watch fills this exact need nicely. Screen is too small to leverage much beyond phone and text. Can leave the phone at home and still use the same number. Lightweight maps there if you need it in a pinch.
- CPLX 4y ago
  Not sure why this is downvoted it's a common opinion and one I've also thought about a lot. I am actually about to do it, I think it's actually trivially easy if you give up on the phone number being the same for voice calls. If you have two iPhones then you can still get iMessage on both. And like who needs voice calls. If you really care you could forward one to the other. The "dumb" one you set up MDM on and disable the browser if you want to really mean it. Just have text messaging, Kindle, spotify/music, and google maps. Seems like a decent compromise.
- izacus 4y ago
  What's wrong with just using extreme power saver on a Samsuung phone to switch between those modes? One tap, gives you exactly what you want.
gcampos 4y ago
I tried to go to a dumb phone in the past, but I quickly realized that modern life is way too dependent on a smartphone. Between using your phone gps to drive around, ordering food, unlocking doors, and check-in out kids from daycare, while not impossible, it would be very inconvenient to not have a smartphone
- waynesonfire 4y ago
  It might be a good idea to try the dumb phone to gradually reduce smartphone dependency. After your habits have changed, you can re-evaluate your app usage and only reinstall the essential ones. Dumb phones are cheap enough to pull this off.
- antibasilisk 4y ago
  When I was using a dumbphone I just took photos of Google Maps on my computer before I headed out, this once resulted in me going in totally the wrong direction for hours, not that I'm complaining since it was an interesting adventure.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
npunt 4y ago
Lots of throwback tech is in vogue with younger people, wired headphones being the most obvious. Not sure about dumb phones. r/dumbphones does have 17k subs. I think the desire is there for a less connected life experience, but some of the utility of smartphones is undeniable, as is the collective action problem around disconnecting from social media, which unless everyone in your social circle does it is tantamount to voluntary social isolation for teens.
- cryptoz 4y ago
  Re: wired headphones: I am so sick of wireless controllers on consoles. The switch controllers are a nightmare - constantly disconnecting, nearly impossible to reconnect. I got my first-ever xbox last month and the wireless controllers are also a pain. I would play both consoles much more if I had wired controllers - and probably also buy more games. (edit: I'm mid-30s)
  - scld 4y ago
    you can just buy a very long usb-c cable and wire up your wireless controllers for xbox, btw
  - vlunkr 4y ago
    I've had problems with bluetooth, but never wireless controllers. I don't miss the tangle of cords in front of my GameCube one bit.
  - yamtaddle 4y ago
    I grew up on wired controllers—my only wireless controller before I got a PS3 some time in my mid-20s was the wireless version of the NES Four Score (which is, technically, a wireless adapter) and I rarely used it. IR-based, just like a TV remote, LOL. Nonetheless, despite repeatedly setting them up, my ("hacked" to have a ton more games, so the content available is extensive and excellent) NES and SNES classics have seen perhaps twenty hours of play between them in (IIRC) about four years, purely because corded controllers are so annoying that every time I think of playing them, I change my mind when I think about untangling the cords and having to adjust where I sit in the room and all that. I've had nearly zero problems with any 1st-party wireless controllers since they became standard; they've been nothing but an improvement—but, I've lived in detached houses that whole time, so maybe it's just because I've been in relatively low-EM-noise environments. I do recall friends complaining about reliability on e.g. the Wavebird and other non-standard wireless controllers, on earlier consoles, but I only ever used wired controllers for those generations.
californiadreem 4y ago
I just got rid of the phone entirely. Humans did fine without them for uh, checks notes, all recorded history. I have a VoIP to use as a MFA bucket (doesn't always work). There are plenty of reasons not to go this route, which I'm sure will be in any replies I get. Yet it works for me.
- colpabar 4y ago
  > Humans did fine without them for uh, checks notes, all recorded history. This really isn't the zing people think it is. Not having a smartphone isn't just hard because you can't look at memes all day, it's hard because society all but requires us to have them to participate. If anything, if you are able to live in today's world with just a dumb phone, it is a luxury.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    > it's hard because society all but requires us to have them to participate. I hear this sort of thing a lot, but it certainly isn't anywhere near true in my part of the US. Is this maybe a regional thing?
  - californiadreem 4y ago
    If you actually define the terms "society" "require" and "participate" in a way that refers to real things, it's very likely that the majority are luxuries themselves and for those that are absolutely necessary to existence, there are workarounds that don't require you have an internet connected device on your person 24/7. Exceptions do exist, I'm certain, but the majority of people aren't part of that group.
    - Gigachad 4y ago
      The Australian government used to threaten you with the police force if you didn’t scan QR codes when walking in to essential stores or locations.
sdfghswe 4y ago
Can I have one of these with just whatsapp?
r00fus 4y ago
This article contains no actual demographics of the dumbphone users/buyers. I know when my kids are old enough, I'll be giving them a dumb phone to take to school. They can buy their own iPhone if they have money or when they graduate.
imwithstoopid 4y ago
this is just a hipster affectation for a few elite kids in drama club...they just pull them out alongside their Bauhaus vinyl, walkmans, ironic parachute pants etc to look cool but they probably own iPhones too don't think for a minute that dumb phones are actually a happening thing for gen z, on a whole they are likely the most zombified generation
- nickthegreek 4y ago
  Agreed. "on the rise" is doing some heavy lifting in that headline. As I guess even a .001% increase technically makes the headline true.
sacnoradhq 4y ago
I deleted a bunch of apps and ignore the pocket screen unless I have a specific task to accomplish. I have too much desktop-laptop screen time with work and substitutes for true leisure.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
Dumb phone is also hard to have installed spyware by overzealous parents.
segasaturn 4y ago
I remember seeing articles with this same title 4 years ago. "Digital detoxes" are definitely a thing, but probably aren't indicative of any sort of long term trend. Kids will buy a dumbphone, use it for a few weeks and then go back to their real phone so they can look at imessage and discord.
extr0pian 4y ago
There was another HN thread not long ago about the "quest for a dumber phone": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34415704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34415704 I dropped a comment there where I said that while I spent hours researching the "perfect dumb phone", there's certain features that are nearly exclusive to a smartphone or just plain work better on a smartphone, including having a decent camera and GPS/map with me at all times. IMO, I think it's easier to simply dumb down your existing smartphone by stripping it of all apps except for just the bare essentials. For example, my phone only handles calls, SMS, maps, camera, books, etc. No web browser, social media, fancy messaging app, or even an app store. Though this may change sometimes and I'll sideload F-Droid or some other app depending on my needs (like traveling). https://chuck.is/phone https://chuck.is/phone
- genocidicbunny 4y ago
  This only seems applicable if the form factor itself is not a concern for you. If I was to change to a dumbphone, I'd want a long (multiple days) battery life even with moderate usage, physical keys and robustness as a start. Similarly, a good camera or GPS would be features I would expect and hope are excluded from the dumbphones. There's no way to achieve these by taking a smartphone and stripping out software -- there are hardware changes needed. What you've described seems to me more a 'locked down smartphone' rather than a dumbphone, and the two are not synonyms imho.
  - extr0pian 4y ago
    Correct. My phone isn't a "dumb phone", but it is certainly "dumbed down". I think that the people partially adopting or experimenting with using dumb phones are doing so to curb habits or escape something. Oftentimes, I think this can be done by simply dumbing down their existing smartphone, or "locking down" as you put it.
- kzrdude 4y ago
  A browser is just so useful for doing things on the fly. Regrettably, it's also a vehicle for addictive behaviour.
wanderingmind 4y ago
While its not possible to live these days without a smart phone, one thing I try to do (in Android Lineage) is to have the default user profile as dumb as possible. I install different apps in different profiles. This way it becomes harder to switch from one app to another. This also hrlps to leave apps you don't want to frequently use stowed away and a little harder to reach (that requires different pin etc). So far it has helped me to reduce my mobile screen consumption quiet a bit.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > While its not possible to live these days without a smart phone That news will come as a surprise to those people living these days without a smartphone.
pjmlp 4y ago
Apparently having self control is something lost to younger generations.
- xboxnolifes 4y ago
  ...the generation currently exhibiting self control in the article?
  - pjmlp 4y ago
    Not if they need to buy a phone for it.
platzhirsch 4y ago
I have recently taking pleasure in using my phone less and less. The following helped me a lot: 1. Uninstalling apps for which a mobile web client exists. 2. Walking over to my computer instead of using my phone, even if I could do the same thing on my phone. 3. Use the freed up time with activities that reinforce this habit. For me it's taking physical notes in a notebook.
petodo 4y ago
or they could just disable mobile data and wifi without changing the phone, pretty much all appeal of smartphone is lost without internet connection and you are left mostly just with practical features
bingobongodude 4y ago
I actually miss Twitter + SMS on a dumb phone. It was a really weird time 2009/2010 where I would only use a dumb phone + SMS + Twitter to keep followers up to date concerning parties and events. I have not used either for a couple of years by now but am tied to my "smart" phone because of various services not even offering websites at times. I don't even check my mails every day... Time to ponder where I took the wrong turn I guess.
KenArrari 4y ago
I've messed around with using a dumb phone + a tablet because I didn't want to totally lose access to things like whatsapp. I liked the fact that I could be unplugged most of the time but still had access to all the apps I needed but occasionally ran into random pain points where a smart-phone was expected. Such as: QR code menus, having to use a phone to check out a propane tank. Weird stuff like that. Google maps was also horrendous on it.
ravagat 4y ago
Recommending the Sonim XP3 or XP5 for anyone looking for a dumb phone to try out. Good models and great form factor. New(upgraded/"Plus") models were released recently if you fancy a try

55 points by harambae 4y ago

greenie_beans 4y ago

didn't realize i could leverge my dumb phone to be an influencer

dylan604 4y ago
hence you not being an influencer. as much as i can't stand the concept of influencer as they are today (we've always had them), i do have to give props to how some of them have found their market and made it happen. doesn't mean i give a crap about what they are doing, but i can at least admit they did something.

daveslash 4y ago

I had one of the last Windows Phones before they were discontinued (Nokia Lumina 950). Loved it. It died in 2018 on a camping trip when I let it trickle-charge on a Solar Panel. (Don't do that people!). I took the opportunity to get back to basics and replaced it with a 3G Nokia 3310. I used that for nearly 2 years...until my phone provider sunset 3G support. It was actually quite refreshing. It's nice to be back on a Smart Phone, but it was great to break the bad habits and when I picked up a Smart Phone again, I knew what traps I was hoping to avoid falling into and could be much more deliberate in my usage of the tool.

grog454 4y ago
> It died in 2018 on a camping trip when I let it trickle-charge on a Solar Panel. Did the battery die or the whole phone somehow?
- daveslash 4y ago
  Trickle Charging it caused something do go really wrong with the display circuitry and over half of the screen was randomized color-static looking garbage. The phone itself seemed to operate fine, but the display issues rendered it useless. I later learned that if you use a portable solar panel battery pack, let the pack charge and then plug in your phone. Don't plug a near-dead solar panel battery pack into your phone and let. There's something about the low-voltage trickle-charge that can be terrible for electronics. I'm not an EE, so I don't understand the details. Perhaps someone else can explain it better.
  - tablespoon 4y ago
    > I later learned that if you use a portable solar panel battery pack, let the pack charge and then plug in your phone. Don't plug a near-dead solar panel battery pack into your phone and let. There's something about the low-voltage trickle-charge that can be terrible for electronics. I'm not an EE, so I don't understand the details. Perhaps someone else can explain it better. I'm interested in learning more about this. I recently got a USB solar panel (with no battery). I wonder if it has anything to do with voltage dropping way below USB spec (which I've seen when the panel can't provide the current the device wants, which seems to be pretty easy when the panel is small and/or not in full sun).
  - 8note 4y ago
    I've set myself up some backpack panels + a separate usb batter Generally I've found that batteries will let you charge xor discharge, and won't let you do both. I assume that you'd get unexpected voltage/amperage on the discharging side, from the charging side if you tried to do both at the same time

adept_js 4y ago

[dead]

sanderjd 4y ago

I want to jump on this boat. Anybody have a recommendation for a good value dumb phone?

not_your_vase 4y ago
They are dumb. You can't go very wrong with any of them. I use a Nokia 225 4G. But not because of any scientific reason. That's what the store had in stock when I popped up. It's okay. If your store has it in stock, get it. Otherwise get whatever they have.
- jollyllama 4y ago
  Key point here being, if you try to do your own research and get a model that should work with your cell provider, there's no guarantees; they often have weird aspects of vendor or implementation lock built in.
  - not_your_vase 4y ago
    I suspect this is US specific, and I guess your post might be a valuable heads up about this. (I'm in the EU, and I haven't seen a phone sold here (in a shop) that wasn't compatible with all available providers - to be honest, this problem has never crossed my mind when I bought a phone.)
    - favsq 4y ago
      Dumbphones are 4G. 4G voice service requires VoLTE but mobile operators have to whitelist phone models, the phone has to have the IMS in the internal database... all in all don't expect VoLTE to work. So voice downgrades to 3G. But 3G is being shut down by many operators and more to come. So voice downgrades to 2G, but 2G has a very low limit of concurrent calls, let's say a few dozen. So it's possible that your dumbphone won't work at all.
      - tablespoon 4y ago

knaik94 4y ago

Dumb phone cut you out of the majority of communication protocols, no whatsapp, imessage, facetime, or discord. Gen Z is one of the first hyperconnected generations that grew up using social media since they were born. Dumb phones are not on the rise, this is a terrible article. In the US, it's actually hard to get a dumb phone for certain carriers since 3g/gsm bands were turned off making VoLTE a required feature. I personally can't see myself ever choosing to get a phone with a bad digital camera.

medler 4y ago
> Dumb phone cut you out of the majority of communication protocols, no whatsapp, imessage, facetime, or discord If you have a Mac, you can access all of these on your mac. If you have any other desktop computer I believe you can still use any except FaceTime and iMessage. A friend of mine has a dumb phone but is still a part of group chats via his computer.
- berdario 4y ago
  web.whatsapp.com requires you to be already logged in the mobile app. Unless you install the Whatsapp .apk on a desktop (ChromeOS?) I don't think you can easily use Whatsapp without a smartphone
solalf 4y ago
Just get a point and shoot camera. If you also need a GPS, you can get one of those TomTom devices they used to put in cars. Dedicated MP3 players are also still a thing if you want a soundtrack for your life. Now all you need is that sweet candy bar phone, throw all this in a large fanny pack and off you go. PS: an old school wallet would also be useful, Symbian OS doesn’t have Apple Pay yet.
KeplerBoy 4y ago
Some dumb phones support Whatsapp, but who knows how long that platforms will be supported and good luck typing on that keyboard. Maybe it will be cool once whisper like tools will be able to run in realtime on it. https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-6300-4g?sku=16LIOWW1A01 https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/nokia-6300-4g?sku=16LIOW...

deltree7 4y ago

"On the rise" -- No actual figures. May be 100 units to 200 units, who knows Also, never going to happen.

josefresco 4y ago

My life is too complex for a dumb phone. I want TWO phones! One smart and fully featured (iPhone) and one dumb with just essential communication (phone/text). One telephone number, rings on both - is that so hard? I guess maybe with a "virtual" telephone this might be possible but those are increasingly not allowed IRL.

hklgny 4y ago
I actually find the smaller sized Apple Watch fills this exact need nicely. Screen is too small to leverage much beyond phone and text. Can leave the phone at home and still use the same number. Lightweight maps there if you need it in a pinch.
CPLX 4y ago
Not sure why this is downvoted it's a common opinion and one I've also thought about a lot. I am actually about to do it, I think it's actually trivially easy if you give up on the phone number being the same for voice calls. If you have two iPhones then you can still get iMessage on both. And like who needs voice calls. If you really care you could forward one to the other. The "dumb" one you set up MDM on and disable the browser if you want to really mean it. Just have text messaging, Kindle, spotify/music, and google maps. Seems like a decent compromise.
izacus 4y ago
What's wrong with just using extreme power saver on a Samsuung phone to switch between those modes? One tap, gives you exactly what you want.

gcampos 4y ago

I tried to go to a dumb phone in the past, but I quickly realized that modern life is way too dependent on a smartphone. Between using your phone gps to drive around, ordering food, unlocking doors, and check-in out kids from daycare, while not impossible, it would be very inconvenient to not have a smartphone

waynesonfire 4y ago
It might be a good idea to try the dumb phone to gradually reduce smartphone dependency. After your habits have changed, you can re-evaluate your app usage and only reinstall the essential ones. Dumb phones are cheap enough to pull this off.
antibasilisk 4y ago
When I was using a dumbphone I just took photos of Google Maps on my computer before I headed out, this once resulted in me going in totally the wrong direction for hours, not that I'm complaining since it was an interesting adventure.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

npunt 4y ago

Lots of throwback tech is in vogue with younger people, wired headphones being the most obvious. Not sure about dumb phones. r/dumbphones does have 17k subs. I think the desire is there for a less connected life experience, but some of the utility of smartphones is undeniable, as is the collective action problem around disconnecting from social media, which unless everyone in your social circle does it is tantamount to voluntary social isolation for teens.

cryptoz 4y ago
Re: wired headphones: I am so sick of wireless controllers on consoles. The switch controllers are a nightmare - constantly disconnecting, nearly impossible to reconnect. I got my first-ever xbox last month and the wireless controllers are also a pain. I would play both consoles much more if I had wired controllers - and probably also buy more games. (edit: I'm mid-30s)
- scld 4y ago
  you can just buy a very long usb-c cable and wire up your wireless controllers for xbox, btw
- vlunkr 4y ago
  I've had problems with bluetooth, but never wireless controllers. I don't miss the tangle of cords in front of my GameCube one bit.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  I grew up on wired controllers—my only wireless controller before I got a PS3 some time in my mid-20s was the wireless version of the NES Four Score (which is, technically, a wireless adapter) and I rarely used it. IR-based, just like a TV remote, LOL. Nonetheless, despite repeatedly setting them up, my ("hacked" to have a ton more games, so the content available is extensive and excellent) NES and SNES classics have seen perhaps twenty hours of play between them in (IIRC) about four years, purely because corded controllers are so annoying that every time I think of playing them, I change my mind when I think about untangling the cords and having to adjust where I sit in the room and all that. I've had nearly zero problems with any 1st-party wireless controllers since they became standard; they've been nothing but an improvement—but, I've lived in detached houses that whole time, so maybe it's just because I've been in relatively low-EM-noise environments. I do recall friends complaining about reliability on e.g. the Wavebird and other non-standard wireless controllers, on earlier consoles, but I only ever used wired controllers for those generations.

californiadreem 4y ago

I just got rid of the phone entirely. Humans did fine without them for uh, checks notes, all recorded history. I have a VoIP to use as a MFA bucket (doesn't always work). There are plenty of reasons not to go this route, which I'm sure will be in any replies I get. Yet it works for me.

colpabar 4y ago
> Humans did fine without them for uh, checks notes, all recorded history. This really isn't the zing people think it is. Not having a smartphone isn't just hard because you can't look at memes all day, it's hard because society all but requires us to have them to participate. If anything, if you are able to live in today's world with just a dumb phone, it is a luxury.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > it's hard because society all but requires us to have them to participate. I hear this sort of thing a lot, but it certainly isn't anywhere near true in my part of the US. Is this maybe a regional thing?
- californiadreem 4y ago
  If you actually define the terms "society" "require" and "participate" in a way that refers to real things, it's very likely that the majority are luxuries themselves and for those that are absolutely necessary to existence, there are workarounds that don't require you have an internet connected device on your person 24/7. Exceptions do exist, I'm certain, but the majority of people aren't part of that group.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    The Australian government used to threaten you with the police force if you didn’t scan QR codes when walking in to essential stores or locations.

sdfghswe 4y ago

Can I have one of these with just whatsapp?

r00fus 4y ago

This article contains no actual demographics of the dumbphone users/buyers. I know when my kids are old enough, I'll be giving them a dumb phone to take to school. They can buy their own iPhone if they have money or when they graduate.

imwithstoopid 4y ago

this is just a hipster affectation for a few elite kids in drama club...they just pull them out alongside their Bauhaus vinyl, walkmans, ironic parachute pants etc to look cool but they probably own iPhones too don't think for a minute that dumb phones are actually a happening thing for gen z, on a whole they are likely the most zombified generation

nickthegreek 4y ago
Agreed. "on the rise" is doing some heavy lifting in that headline. As I guess even a .001% increase technically makes the headline true.

sacnoradhq 4y ago

I deleted a bunch of apps and ignore the pocket screen unless I have a specific task to accomplish. I have too much desktop-laptop screen time with work and substitutes for true leisure.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

TheLoafOfBread 4y ago

Dumb phone is also hard to have installed spyware by overzealous parents.

segasaturn 4y ago

I remember seeing articles with this same title 4 years ago. "Digital detoxes" are definitely a thing, but probably aren't indicative of any sort of long term trend. Kids will buy a dumbphone, use it for a few weeks and then go back to their real phone so they can look at imessage and discord.

extr0pian 4y ago

There was another HN thread not long ago about the "quest for a dumber phone": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34415704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34415704 I dropped a comment there where I said that while I spent hours researching the "perfect dumb phone", there's certain features that are nearly exclusive to a smartphone or just plain work better on a smartphone, including having a decent camera and GPS/map with me at all times. IMO, I think it's easier to simply dumb down your existing smartphone by stripping it of all apps except for just the bare essentials. For example, my phone only handles calls, SMS, maps, camera, books, etc. No web browser, social media, fancy messaging app, or even an app store. Though this may change sometimes and I'll sideload F-Droid or some other app depending on my needs (like traveling). https://chuck.is/phone https://chuck.is/phone

genocidicbunny 4y ago
This only seems applicable if the form factor itself is not a concern for you. If I was to change to a dumbphone, I'd want a long (multiple days) battery life even with moderate usage, physical keys and robustness as a start. Similarly, a good camera or GPS would be features I would expect and hope are excluded from the dumbphones. There's no way to achieve these by taking a smartphone and stripping out software -- there are hardware changes needed. What you've described seems to me more a 'locked down smartphone' rather than a dumbphone, and the two are not synonyms imho.
- extr0pian 4y ago
  Correct. My phone isn't a "dumb phone", but it is certainly "dumbed down". I think that the people partially adopting or experimenting with using dumb phones are doing so to curb habits or escape something. Oftentimes, I think this can be done by simply dumbing down their existing smartphone, or "locking down" as you put it.
kzrdude 4y ago
A browser is just so useful for doing things on the fly. Regrettably, it's also a vehicle for addictive behaviour.

wanderingmind 4y ago

While its not possible to live these days without a smart phone, one thing I try to do (in Android Lineage) is to have the default user profile as dumb as possible. I install different apps in different profiles. This way it becomes harder to switch from one app to another. This also hrlps to leave apps you don't want to frequently use stowed away and a little harder to reach (that requires different pin etc). So far it has helped me to reduce my mobile screen consumption quiet a bit.

JohnFen 4y ago
> While its not possible to live these days without a smart phone That news will come as a surprise to those people living these days without a smartphone.

pjmlp 4y ago

Apparently having self control is something lost to younger generations.

xboxnolifes 4y ago
...the generation currently exhibiting self control in the article?
- pjmlp 4y ago
  Not if they need to buy a phone for it.

platzhirsch 4y ago

I have recently taking pleasure in using my phone less and less. The following helped me a lot: 1. Uninstalling apps for which a mobile web client exists. 2. Walking over to my computer instead of using my phone, even if I could do the same thing on my phone. 3. Use the freed up time with activities that reinforce this habit. For me it's taking physical notes in a notebook.

petodo 4y ago

or they could just disable mobile data and wifi without changing the phone, pretty much all appeal of smartphone is lost without internet connection and you are left mostly just with practical features

bingobongodude 4y ago

I actually miss Twitter + SMS on a dumb phone. It was a really weird time 2009/2010 where I would only use a dumb phone + SMS + Twitter to keep followers up to date concerning parties and events. I have not used either for a couple of years by now but am tied to my "smart" phone because of various services not even offering websites at times. I don't even check my mails every day... Time to ponder where I took the wrong turn I guess.

KenArrari 4y ago

I've messed around with using a dumb phone + a tablet because I didn't want to totally lose access to things like whatsapp. I liked the fact that I could be unplugged most of the time but still had access to all the apps I needed but occasionally ran into random pain points where a smart-phone was expected. Such as: QR code menus, having to use a phone to check out a propane tank. Weird stuff like that. Google maps was also horrendous on it.

ravagat 4y ago

Recommending the Sonim XP3 or XP5 for anyone looking for a dumb phone to try out. Good models and great form factor. New(upgraded/"Plus") models were released recently if you fancy a try