4 ms·

I would be tempted by something like the Light Phone if I could still use it to message people with WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. almost nobody I know uses SMS these

by bpye 3y ago

I would be tempted by something like the Light Phone if I could still use it to message people with WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. almost nobody I know uses SMS these days. I do agree that, often times, my iPhone is an undesirable distraction. Edit: I guess the Yubico Authenticator is a requirement these days as well

siamese_puff 3y ago
I bought one and it’s awesome. Until Verizon royally fucked me by locking my sim by mistake and customer service taking 12 hours to resolve it. (The Verizon store couldn’t help me either). I’d love to try and get mine reactivated again.
artursapek 3y ago
Punkt's phone has Signal support, fwiw
steve_adams_86 3y ago
Your comment made me wonder if it would be possible to develop an app for light phone, like a basic telegram client. And I found this: https://medium.com/sanctuary-computer-inc/building-lightos-with-react-native-4b6e4ad1cd7f https://medium.com/sanctuary-computer-inc/building-lightos-w... It’s totally based on React native. Bizarre! Not at all what I expected. I figured it would be running some low power board that’s cheap and abundant. But no, it runs a fork of Android on a Qualcomm snapdragon MSM8909. I think I expected something with around half the horsepower. Given the features this seems like overkill, but I suppose this made it so they didn’t need to reinvent a bunch of phone wheels.
dangus 3y ago
I’ve been seeing a lot of ads for those Gabb phones for kids, and while I don’t know if they are any good, they do look more like the right concept. They are very smartphone-like. Still, I’d say just use screen time, MDM, parental controls. Have someone else you know set the pin. Lacking access to an Android or iOS device basically excludes you from modern life.
- RalfWausE 3y ago
  > Lacking access to an Android or iOS device basically excludes you from modern life. As someone who made this transition a while ago i can only say that i enjoy the experience. Modern life - in my opinion - is a sickness.
- gregjor 3y ago
  > Lacking access to an Android or iOS device basically excludes you from modern life. No, but it does free you from some of the most noxious and time-wasting aspects of modern life.
toastal 3y ago
SMS is insecure so it’s smart to not use it. The dumbphone OSs aren’t as open as I would like to see otherwise an XMPP and/or Matrix client should have anyone covered while giving them a secure & federated/self-hostable communication option without the corporate lock-in/spying/giving data to the feds.
maxglute 3y ago
Eink phones might be a good option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZROIjvbICA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZROIjvbICA
yetanother12345 3y ago
> nobody I know uses SMS these days Pro tip: Everyone can still receive your SMS, and respond to it. Which app they'll use for that is unknown to me as I've never[0] used a smartphone. [0] Qualification seems to be needed: I've used several, and even developed apps and tested for a multitude of models. So that was misleading. Sorry. What this should have read was: "I've never used a smartphone as my own personal "daily driver" phone (only for work)"

by bpye 3y ago

siamese_puff 3y ago

I bought one and it’s awesome. Until Verizon royally fucked me by locking my sim by mistake and customer service taking 12 hours to resolve it. (The Verizon store couldn’t help me either). I’d love to try and get mine reactivated again.

artursapek 3y ago

Punkt's phone has Signal support, fwiw

steve_adams_86 3y ago

Your comment made me wonder if it would be possible to develop an app for light phone, like a basic telegram client. And I found this: https://medium.com/sanctuary-computer-inc/building-lightos-with-react-native-4b6e4ad1cd7f https://medium.com/sanctuary-computer-inc/building-lightos-w... It’s totally based on React native. Bizarre! Not at all what I expected. I figured it would be running some low power board that’s cheap and abundant. But no, it runs a fork of Android on a Qualcomm snapdragon MSM8909. I think I expected something with around half the horsepower. Given the features this seems like overkill, but I suppose this made it so they didn’t need to reinvent a bunch of phone wheels.

dangus 3y ago

I’ve been seeing a lot of ads for those Gabb phones for kids, and while I don’t know if they are any good, they do look more like the right concept. They are very smartphone-like. Still, I’d say just use screen time, MDM, parental controls. Have someone else you know set the pin. Lacking access to an Android or iOS device basically excludes you from modern life.

RalfWausE 3y ago
> Lacking access to an Android or iOS device basically excludes you from modern life. As someone who made this transition a while ago i can only say that i enjoy the experience. Modern life - in my opinion - is a sickness.
gregjor 3y ago
> Lacking access to an Android or iOS device basically excludes you from modern life. No, but it does free you from some of the most noxious and time-wasting aspects of modern life.

toastal 3y ago

SMS is insecure so it’s smart to not use it. The dumbphone OSs aren’t as open as I would like to see otherwise an XMPP and/or Matrix client should have anyone covered while giving them a secure & federated/self-hostable communication option without the corporate lock-in/spying/giving data to the feds.

maxglute 3y ago

Eink phones might be a good option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZROIjvbICA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZROIjvbICA

yetanother12345 3y ago

> nobody I know uses SMS these days Pro tip: Everyone can still receive your SMS, and respond to it. Which app they'll use for that is unknown to me as I've never[0] used a smartphone. [0] Qualification seems to be needed: I've used several, and even developed apps and tested for a multitude of models. So that was misleading. Sorry. What this should have read was: "I've never used a smartphone as my own personal "daily driver" phone (only for work)"