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iPhone dumbphone
- orliesaurus 1y agoI cant believe people have to do this...what a world! nice to have the option I guess!
- encom 1y ago>Maybe you’re at a restaurant and they need you to open a website for example. Maybe I'll open the door and leave for a different restaurant.
- hs586 1y agoCame to write something along these lines. I do this for restaurants, and sometimes for the places that refuse to take cash. But I do not have hope that such behaviour will impact the restaurants' policies: it's usually chains or non-owner-ran places that will have a "high-tech" policy and I am not sure if this kind of feedback reaches the decision makers. But these days (for now) finding another restaurant is easy. The author mentions that his gym requires having a smartphone. Now, that's a much bigger problem.
- encom 1y agoI was at a gym once that decided they wanted to do facial recognition for check-ins. I canceled my membership instantly (and told them why). Am I out of touch, or is that creepy beyond all reason?
- stopachka 1y agoYeah it's definitely annoying. Recently I was at a kiosk for Turkish Airlines, and they _really_ didn't want to print the boarding pass. They wanted to send a text instead.
- cheema33 1y agoI am assuming that if you asked, they'd give you a printed menu. You don't have to be difficult about it. I don't always need the dead tree version of the menu. Those do create extra work for the staff. And I am assuming they need constant replacement. Kids will drop food on them all the time.
- captn3m0 1y agoafaik installing a configuration profile isn't supported with lockdown mode, so you have to pick one. but neat hack. I've installed hosted-profiles (.mobileconfig) files without factory-reset, curious why didn't you go for that route? Just to make it harder?
- HelloUsername 1y ago> installing a configuration profile isn't supported with lockdown mode You can disable lockdown mode, install the .mobileconfig, enable lockdown mode again. Which is what I did with https://apple.nextdns.io https://apple.nextdns.io
- stopachka 1y ago> lockdown mode That's interesting. I didn't know about lockdown mode. Noting! > I've installed hosted-profiles (.mobileconfig) files without factory-reset, curious why didn't you go for that route? Afaik the only way to disable the App Store is to go through this schlep of a factory reset and having Configurator prepare the phone for 'supervision'.
- adregan 1y agoSo you don't have to go through the factory reset if you are fine with having the app store? Safari is the only app I need to excise, and the OS won't let me delete it.
- eigencoder 1y agoYou can install mobileconfig files without factory-reset, but I've found some settings won't "take" until the phone is supervised.
- browningstreet 1y agoWould this be good to multi-profile an iPhone for crossing borders? A "travel across borders" blueprint, and a "through the border" blueprint?
- stopachka 1y agoOh, that's a cool idea! I think that would work. You would still need to connect to your laptop twice, to switch the profiles. Outside of that it could work great! Would have to think about what would make for a good 'travel across borders' blueprint.
- nominalprose 1y agoYou can achieve the same more easily using Screen Time, and having a trusted friend or partner enter the screen time passcode. Still possible to override with your Apple ID, but this is a significant enough speed bump that it works (for me anyway).
- parhamn 1y agoI do this too, and have them set the recover apple id to their own. Been averaging ~1.2 hours per day screentime the last few months (mostly messaging apps). Basically in "downtime" mode all the time with a few "Always allowed" app. One thing is, you're phone (and it's browser) is pretty damn useless. Overtime you realize that a lot of things you need to lookup don't need to be looked up, etc but it can be frustrating at first.
- isolli 1y agoThat's how my children's iPads are too. Permanent downtime, with a few always allowed apps, and the rest on demand. And indeed, the most frustrating part is when my daughter needs to do some research for school. I'd have to allow each and every website she visits, so I temporarily un-downtime her phone instead... Edited to add: for some reason, time limits never worked for my kids (they could always override them with one click). That's why I had to opt for permanent downtime.
- parhamn 1y ago> That's how my children's iPads are too Hah! Says something about my self control! Yeah it's usually trouble once a week. I recently needed to pay for parking using a QR code had to finish it in the 1 minute I had. Another appointment asked me to fill some online form and their reaction when I said "my phone is blocked from the internet" was funny. Turns out they still have paper forms when needed.
- sixtyj 1y agoYou can block a lot of sites directly in router setup. It is password protected and almost impossible to override or hack. In case your kids hack the router you know that they have Kevin Mitnick skills :)
- LeoPanthera 1y agoIf you disable the App Store, as OP claims to, does that also stop installed apps receiving updates?
- xenator 1y agoI think it only disable the icon, not underlying frameworks, etc
- balder1991 1y agoI also searched for this and couldn’t find an answer.
- wpm 1y agoNo. Source: Used to do enterprise Apple MDM for a living.
- oever 1y agoDoes it block installing PWA's? Or are those linked to safari?
- eigencoder 1y agoI think it will block using the PWA's, unless you add their bundle id to the allow list
- indianhippie 1y agoI have App Store disabled on my kids iPad and it does disable updates. I have to manually re-enable it and install updates every few days.
- RandallBrown 1y agoI wonder what the author is doing with those 2 extra hours of time he's not using his phone. I use my phone a lot, but I never feel like it's taking away from me doing anything else.
- stopachka 1y ago> 2 extra hours of time he's not using his phone. Mostly reading. The 2 hours was a win for me, but the thing I appreciated even more was the that I feel less distracted throughout the day. I remember reading about Ozempic, and how it "turns off the background food noise" that people have. I didn't realize this, but for me I have a "background notifications noise", which this hack has helped reduce.
- balder1991 1y agoI don’t doubt it. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed with these addicting apps, I delete some temporarily and just the fact I don’t have them in my phone anymore feels like some part of my mind that was being dragged down is finally freed.
- moduspol 1y agoI just made a similar transition a few weeks ago. I just often felt like I wasn't making progress on various things I've been wanting to, that I used to do, and for which I kept telling myself I don't have time. And it wasn't difficult to tell where my time was going based on the Screen Time app. For me, I've drawn the line at endless feeds, which for me, was Reddit and Facebook. And for the first week or two, I was often catching myself in a split-second of boredom just opening up one or the other (just to be greeted by an error message). Now that instinct is gone. I don't think I was as bad as the people endlessly doom-scrolling through TikTok, but it was certainly bad enough that I felt like I didn't have enough free time to work toward life goals that were outside my work time. And it's a lot better now.
- al_borland 1y agoGoing back to reading magazines and shampoo bottles in the bathroom?
- tolerance 1y agoThe active readers counter is a trip. I’ve read and viewed graphs depicting how much traffic HN can bring to a web page, but to see it in real time is something else.
- stopachka 1y agoAuthor here: It's powered by Instant, the company I helped found. The counter is pretty easy to set up. Here's how it works on the blog: 1. You set up a schema: https://github.com/stopachka/stopaio/blob/main/src/instant.schema.ts#L39-L43 https://github.com/stopachka/stopaio/blob/main/src/instant.s... 2. And then use `presence` to write an ActiveCounter: https://github.com/stopachka/stopaio/blob/main/src/app/ActiveCounter.tsx https://github.com/stopachka/stopaio/blob/main/src/app/Activ...
- jonplackett 1y agoYour product placement link to instantdb totally worked btw (as in the one in your allowed websites not this one here)
- stopachka 1y agoHeck yeah : ).
- pimlottc 1y agoTBH, it's kind of hard to square "I locked down my phone to have less distractions in my life" with "I put a counter on my page that changes 10 times a second while you're trying to read"
- stopachka 1y agoFair point! I guess I count that as a "positive" distraction. It isn't every day that the active number there is so 'active'. As you read the post it should disappear with the scroll.
- ausbah 1y agosomewhat simpler but paid (but pricey at $10 month) solution i’ll shill for is Opal. only app i’ve used that can actually lock app, set time limits, etc w a pretty great UI and config setup https://apps.apple.com/app/id1497465230 https://apps.apple.com/app/id1497465230
- xenator 1y agoWow! It is crazy how much money people will to pay for such problems. I restrict myself from distractions by disabling hosts via custom rules in my nextdns account. It is enough and free.
- twsted 1y agoIt's strange to call a device with access to Claude and ChatGPT a "dumbphone"
- stopachka 1y agoStrangely enough, I found Claude and ChatGPT crucial to making all this work. In the essay: > Whenever I need some information, I can just ask my LLM, and it can give me a distraction free summary. It helps the long-tail of weird situations too: for example if someone asks me to take a look at a website, I can ask my LLM to scrape it and summarize the details for me. It’s pretty hard to get distracted this way.
- dylan604 1y agoor a twisted way in calling Claude and ChatGPT dumb which I wouldn't disagree with myself
- dudeofea 1y agoI find google searches distracting, I can only imagine what an AI chat must be like. I use a flip phone.
- owenversteeg 1y agoInteresting idea to use Apple Configurator, I like it! I use a combination of uninstalling any interesting apps + Foqos + One Sec + grayscale. This works pretty well for me, and the key part is Foqos, which is FOSS that allows you to disable certain apps or features with the scan of a QR code or NFC tag. I keep the QR code / NFC tag in a separate building or locked box, so there's real friction if I want to scan it to use the phone beyond basic functionality. Like the OP, I also have the issue of "semi-important" things, which is mostly email but occasionally some browser thing (often buying or viewing event tickets.) My plan for that is to use Foqos in combination with a QR code + scratch-off sticker, a sort of "break glass in emergency" option that adds some friction but not too much. Print a sheet of identical QR codes, scan it into Foqos as your unlock option, put stickers over them, cut them out and put them in your phone case.
- awaseem 1y agoWow I'm the creator of Foqos, thanks for the shoutout <3
- laweijfmvo 1y agogreyscale is a game changer. i wasn’t a believer until i forced myself to use it, but it really turns off the appeal. have you ever seen someone just staring at their phone and flipping through the home screen(s)?
- amirathi 1y agoJust uninstalling the endless scrolling apps (Twitter, Reddit, Instagram etc.) was enough for me.
- at-fates-hands 1y agoThis was a huge one for me. Remember spending so much time posting and reading twitter and insta feeds when I was in car with my wife. Totally different now. We talk and converse about what's going on with our kids, stuff at work, its way better. We both feel much more connected. I also turned off all notifications from all my apps, period end of story. My battery lasts for days and its not completely distracting. Made a huge difference in my ability to focus.
- amilios 1y agoUnfortunately some of us use Instagram specifically to keep in touch with people (IG DMs). and Meta does not seem to want to split off the messaging from the main app the same way they did with FB messenger for some reason (I would love it if they did). For Twitter, some of us need it for work as well (lots of interesting AI research published directly to Twitter). Reddit is definitely pure entertainment yeah. But there are nuances.
- madaxe_again 1y agoTwitter, I uninstalled the app and used via the browser for about a year until I finally gave it the boot outright. Similarly, I felt I needed it to “keep in touch” with people, but I ultimately decided the psychic tax was too high to maintain some lukewarm friendships when I have perfectly good ones in meatspace.
- balder1991 1y agoBut you can talk to people on Instagram from FB Messenger.
- amilios 1y agohttps://help.instagram.com/654906392080948 https://help.instagram.com/654906392080948 Doesn't seem like this is possible anymore?
- willio58 1y agoInteresting! I wish Apple would expand on "Assistive Access" mode. - https://support.apple.com/guide/assistive-access-iphone/set-up-assistive-access-devcd5016d31/ios https://support.apple.com/guide/assistive-access-iphone/set-... They made this for people with cognitive disabilities, but it also works great for older people. It just wouldn't work for me. I need Jira, Slack, and GitHub during work hours for example. But I don't want them during non-work hours. I realize I'm describing something actually doable in the interface now with focus modes and just holding myself accountable by deleting apps like Tiktok, but I do like the idea of having a way to enforce it.
- wer232essf 1y ago[flagged]
- al_borland 1y agoI tried Assistive Access and I don’t think I even made it a day. Most of these attempts to simplify things are putting idealism at odds with reality.
- em500 1y ago> I need Jira, Slack, and GitHub during work hours for example. So do I, but I certainly don't need them on my phone. For the longest time the only work app I had on my phone was some 2FA thing. Then asked them to either buy me a phone or a yubikey. I got a yubikey (and my phone complete free from anything work related).
- dkenyser 1y agoTo quote someone else in this thread: People live different lives.
- at-fates-hands 1y agoI tried this for a bunch of work apps that require 2FA. They pushed back hard enough where I was threatened with getting written up. I relented and installed MS Authenticator on my personal phone. I'm still bitter about the intrusion of work stuff on my personal phone.
- postexitus 1y agoCould this be used as an alternative to Parental Controls? Appple's implementation of parental controls is so deficient that it gives me PTSD every time I need to configure it.
- stopachka 1y agoAuthor here: I think this could work great for parental controls. A really determined kid with a laptop or the willingness to factory reset their iphone could get around it. But outside of this I _think_ it's worth trying.
- codyb 1y agoI call it Phonevorce and I've done pretty well by - Using AdGuard's pattern matching to block URLs I found distracting (news sites, youtuble) - Deleted all apps I spend too much time on (basically down to Discord where I have two or three communities I check in on) - Leaving my phones in the other room all day - Turning all notifications off except for a very small select few whose (calls only) go through - Deleting all social media (still have HackerNews (computer only), Discord) It's great! Love it. Fuck your phone. I use mine to check bank accounts, do Spanish flash cards, and occasionally to look at housing and life is calmer and nicer and I get more done.
- maxwellito 1y agoThere’s another solution, much faster, it’s to use Screen Time and have your partner own the passcode. I hold my partner’s phone passcode and it’s fantastic to control when he’s allowed to doom scroll
- jensnielsen 1y agoNot good
- modeless 1y agoI don't understand why people leave email notifications enabled. There is almost no email I get that needs instant action. The one exception is delivery notifications, so I can retrieve the package immediately, and I used a filter to get notifications just for those.
- larrik 1y agoYou can probably just use the UPS/FedEx/Amazon apps to get those notifications instead anyway.
- sulandor 1y agosuggestion to install apps in a detox thread
- serial_dev 1y agoI don’t think that delivery service apps make you hooked on your phone. It’s high value information (assuming you care when exactly your stuff arrives) that you get quickly without distractions. IMO it’s less distracting than email apps (again, assuming you care about your emails).
- ghostpepper 1y agoI would never install one of these apps (more for security/privacy than information detox) but if Uber can abuse the notification system for advertising then it wouldn't surprise me if these companies would too.
- nottorp 1y agoInteresting, because my Uber has notifications disabled but my delivery apps have them on. When I'm waiting for Uber to arrive I know it will come, because I just ordered it, so I just check my phone. Maybe I'm lucky with my delivery apps because mine don't send ads.
- moduspol 1y agoI was looking into doing something similar recently. Thanks for the timely post!
- JKCalhoun 1y agoOne of my daughters has dumbed down her phone. I was hoping it was a generational thing — the twenty-somethings are saying fuck off to phones. Me, I barely use my phone. But then I'm stuck a laptop guy/generation.
- marklar423 1y agoI've been trying to do this too - paring down distracting apps, leaving only essentials like communication, maps, uber, etc. But my problem is what to do about the browser? I feel it's too essential to the "long tail" of uses (as the author put it), but also among the most distracting apps on my phone. If anybody has any ideas I'd love to hear them.
- dpc050505 1y agoA small lock on the browser, something as simple as the math problems some people use to stop their alarm in the morning might be a sufficient stopgap from mindless browser use.
- AlecSchueler 1y agoNeeds to come back every five minutes or so.
- dsclough 1y agoinstall the browser if you need it, uninstall it when youre done
- d--b 1y agoI vaguely remember someone here saying what worked for them was to add a fair amount of artificial lag to browsing, so that loading a page would actually be painfully slow.
- asdff 1y agoI find the mobile web is doing a great job of destroying the addictiveness of the browser. I use an se2 so not terribly old. new reddit doesn't really work at all on it. old reddit just barely. Most other websites seem to hang after trying to load all the adware and never return the full content anymore. Some mobile websites just flat out don't load at all anymore, just a white screen like the phone rolled over and gave up. Hacker news is about the only website that works. But, once you find a couple threads you are interested in you are rate limited from replying before long and that frustration kicks me off it until days later potentially.
- StevenNunez 1y agoIs there any way to do this with Android? I'd wish to get a modern snappy phone with a great camera but completely locked down.
- stopachka 1y agoAuthor here: I think so! A reader shared with me that they used the adb cli to remove all the apps they didn't want, including the Play Store.
- thomasss 1y agohttps://github.com/tstromberg/quietude https://github.com/tstromberg/quietude is how I manage my Pixel phone as well as my kids; I begin with “quietude.sh disable all”, but usually re-enable maps. It takes a similar approach to the OP - changing restrictions requires a USB cable and a computer.
- partytax 1y agoOn LineageOS 22 this is what I did: * Remove Jelly browser with `adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 org.lineageos.jelly` * Disable F-Droid so you can't install another browser on a whim with `adb shell pm disable-user org.fdroid.fdroid`
- blissofbeing 1y agoandoff[1] works well. I use it to lock down DNS settings to nextdns to block all the sites I want. Then I use lockmeout[2] to lock opening andoff to change the settings. Also there is limitphone[3], but it has less settings and is easier to uninstall than andoff, but works via the same mechanism. 1: https://docs.andoff.one/ https://docs.andoff.one/ 2: https://www.teqtic.com/lock-me-out https://www.teqtic.com/lock-me-out 3: https://limitphone.com/ https://limitphone.com/
- unethical_ban 1y agoOne trick, even though it doesn't "lock it down" the same way, is to use a minimalist launcher. Check out OLauncher. It is a text-based launcher, it only has room for a few apps on the homepage, and it discourages fiddling with your phone. https://github.com/tanujnotes/Olauncher?tab=readme-ov-file https://github.com/tanujnotes/Olauncher?tab=readme-ov-file
- gampleman 1y agoIs there a way not to loose info on the phone, such as contacts?
- stopachka 1y agoIf you use iCloud, you should still be able to get back your contacts, photos, etc.
- antipaul 1y agoA more lightweight option, though easier to bypass, is to disable apps, App Store, even Safari, with "Content & Privacy Restrictions". See Settings – Screen Time. You can use a passcode to lock it. It seems primarily meant for blocking things from your kids. But it can help turn your iPhone more into a dumb phone (Blocking safari was the key, for me)
- tines 1y agoHe mentions this, says it’s too easy to circumvent.
- nominalprose 1y agoit's not though. See the thread above about having someone else enter the screen time code
- layman51 1y agoI have some issues with this guide. I find it very odd how the very first step of the guide is to “erase all content and settings” but it doesn’t really mention all the caveats around this. There really should be warnings or a separate guide about doing this safely because if some people do that, they could lock themselves out of MFA-protected accounts. Lastly, about Apple Configurator, it seems like it only works on macOS, so probably this won’t work if you have an iPhone but no macOS device, right?
- serial_dev 1y agoWe are close to the “we should put a warning label on the microwave that don’t dry your cat in it”. At some point it’s not a blog authors responsibility to make you understand that “erase all content” erases all content.
- layman51 1y agoWell I sort of feel that many years ago before MFA was suggested or required for many different sites, it was less risky for a typical person to erase all content.
- echelon_musk 1y agoSeems like way more work than learning to be disciplined.
- cheema33 1y ago> Seems like way more work than learning to be disciplined. Are you disciplined about everything you need/want to be disciplined about? Food, exercise, sleep, reading, work, family... You've got it all dialed to a perfection, yes? If not, why not? It is after all easy to learn to be disciplined.
- wickedOne 1y ago> I can only access the apps and websites I want to use not really a dumb phone is it?
- jdthedisciple 1y agoI never really quite got the motivation for this: The much more apparent issue is surely the lack of self-control, right? Which we all do at times. I'd rather feel confident I'm improving along that metric than to build guardrails for myself everywhere ...
- AlfredBarnes 1y agoI think it can be starting point for some, then slowly reintroducing the distractions when they build up those muscles.
- grep_name 1y agoI don't think self control works that way. Every decision you make causes decision fatigue, which means that the things that you encounter constantly that nag at you and take your attention have a serious impact on your day-to-day. Like, say you have the energy to make 1000 decisions throughout the day. That includes dressing well, remembering to do things, eating well, making time for side projects, etc. Say your phone provides 100 times when you have to say 'no, I'm going to make the more difficult decision and not give in to this' each day. Well, that adds up. I have type 1 diabetes, and there's studies about this on diabetics actually. There's a huge hit to quality of life and specific kinds of burnout attributed to the thousand or so extra decisions we have to make every day to manage our blood sugar. I'd love to get rid of those, but since I can't, I'm particularly sensitive to bullshit that takes my attention or willpower like that. In my experience, people don't live on a spectrum where "I have self control" = Everything that happens to me I make the right decision even if its hard or "I have no self control" = I always make the bad decision. There's always a pool of decisions, and the further you get into the onslaught of decisions the more you're beaten down and the worse your self-control is. It is perhaps possible to attain a monk-like state where your will is absolute and you never make any compromises (although I doubt it), but since 99.99% of us will never get there, I think there's a lot to be said for cutting out things that nudge us in the wrong direction constantly
- nphardon 1y agoBut this is an act of self-control, op is the 'self' setting up the system. The primary target is not compulsive instinct, but time on the phone, but the beauty is that this in turn, will remove the compulsive instinct, because it's brittle. It's like their analogy to eating healthy in the post.
- lifeinthevoid 1y agoI have more issues with self control on my computer than on my smartphone. Anyone's got any tips for that one?
- apwell23 1y agopomodoro
- sixtyj 1y agoThere was K9 Web Protection but it was ended in 2019 by Symantec. It was perfect because after setting up password you had to wait one week to unblock it back again :) You can try LeechBlock. It works as plugin in all browsers. First thirty seconds are the worst for will :) So it is better to ask a relative/friend/parent/spouse to set up a password for you - then you cannot unblock the sites back again without them.
- L0in 1y agoI tried LeechBlock and others but even when i enable the most extreme options, i just press right click and remove extension. Bypassing everything.
- dylan604 1y agoAre you using a desktop or laptop? I used to carry my laptop around with me to use whenever wherever as designed, and found myself always using it. Setting aside a dedicated desk space where I limit the use of the laptop made it much easier to just think of it as desktop and less mobile. Now, using it feels like I'm at work, and it is much easier to walk away from it. Finding other things to do when bored instead of opening a browser is key. You're going to fill the time with something, so you have to find the something else.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Jaxan 1y agoWrite your own hosts file and block all websites you don’t want to visit.
- crinkly 1y agoI would use mine as a dumb phone but the apps are useful. I don’t have any social media apps on mine though. That’s what kills you.
- teeeeeegz 1y agoYep that is half the job done already!
- roxolotl 1y ago> It’s common to rack up 4 hours or more of screen time a day on your phone. Here’s one way to see the cost of that: every 20 years, you lose 5 years of your waking time looking at your phone. This is interesting because I suspect most people use their phone while doing other things. I’m in a meeting commenting on this article with my phone. I’ve got maybe 15min a day of “I’m only paying attention to my phone” but I have 4-5 hours of phone screen time. Maybe I’m unusual though.
- jerlam 1y agoSeems way too common. People pull out their phone at every commercial break, lull in conversation, or stoplight. People's attention span is cooked.
- jefozabuss 1y agoYou also accumulate screen time if you are using navigation while commuting, etc. I easily rack up 2 hours daily just from driving to my workplace and back home, so there are definitely some "passive" ways to increase those numbers. I think focusing on numerical stats here is also a bit of a problem and while making these guardrails might help some people but the main issue should be addressed (overconsumption/addiction). I wonder by reducing the screen time of the phone, how the screen time of the other devices (computer/tv/etc) changed.
- npteljes 1y agoSame here. I also "watch youtube" while doing chores, and the screen is on all the time, because while I mostly listen to the voice, sometimes they show things that I want to see immediately. A second use is that I'm monitoring something using my phone, so it sits around as a second screen basically. So really, the phone is often a "second monitor".
- glial 1y agoMy wife and I put parental controls on each others' phones. I turn them off for travel (in case I need something unexpected) and then back on when I get home. It sounds crazy but it works great.
- erikig 1y agoHaving an accountabilibuddy definitely helps establish and maintain compliance.
- LatexWriter 1y agoWe do the same and it works well, and its a fun time for us when the other person asks for more time for an app, mostly instagram.
- Gee101 1y agoI do the same accept I created the parent account that is stored on my computer. The friction of having to go to my computer to grant access to my apps on the phone is enough to keep my off social media.
- devonsolomon 1y agoThanks! Great idea to use configurator. Turning my iPhone into a dumb phone has been one of the best things I ever did. My relationship with my phone was weird (using it for distraction from anxiety, zoning out on it etc) and all this has gotten way better, I’m finding I can focus again. (I’ve set something similar up using an ad blocker app, but it was a bit of a hack.) I’d highly suggest installing Dumb Phone (dp) from App Store to simplify your home into a monochromatic list, to top off this excellent guide.
- stopachka 1y ago> Dumb Phone (dp) from App Store to simplify your home into a monochromatic list I had no idea this was even possible to customize! Thank you.
- teeeeeegz 1y agothanks heaps! more info here: https://dumbphone.so/ https://dumbphone.so/
- teeeeeegz 1y agoWow thanks for the shout, I'm the maker of Dumb Phone! Always super nice hearing how much that set up has helped improve their relationship with their phone / tech in general and be more present every day. Thank you!
- sneak 1y agoIt silently surveils you and uploads your usage data to the developer (and Google).
- javier_e06 1y agoThe best use I have for dumbphones is install VLC to access the NAS music server or your favorite music stream service (I use radioparadise) and play on the stereo.
- snide 1y agoFor those that are looking for something more advanced in the Android space a friend of mine built https://limitphone.com/ https://limitphone.com/ to handle something like this. It requires a reset, but comes with a lot more options.
- kwanbix 1y agoLooks very interesting. The price is not good. I mean, we have to do it for 4 fones, that is 120 dollars per year, which is a lot of money, not in it's own, but it ads up with other subscriptions. The trial is too short, i think a months will be better.
- efreak 1y agoRequires more setup, but you can use ownDroid to do this manually. Though it can't filter apps it doesn't know about (no smart filters) https://github.com/BinTianqi/OwnDroid https://github.com/BinTianqi/OwnDroid
- cwoolfe 1y agoYeah! Tech Lockdown makes this easy. https://www.techlockdown.com/apple-config-generator https://www.techlockdown.com/apple-config-generator
- gruez 1y ago>"Dumbphone" >installs e-reader apps, password apps, ridehailing/rental apps, music apps, gym apps, dev apps, home apps, "Your Internet Provider" apps (?) ??? I get that some of these are essential, but including home automation and gym apps is really pushing the definition of a "dumb phone". It just sounds like the author wants to avoid installing tiktok and games when he's talking about a "dumb phone".
- stopachka 1y agoAuthor here: Ultimately all of these apps were essential for me. "Your Internet Provider" is a funny one -- for some reason XFinity kept failing to charge my credit card. I would come home to find an angry girlfriend without WiFI. I had to install the app to keep some tabs on it, until their autopayment bug was fixed. One thing I like about this setup is that you can decide which apps are 'essential' for you.
- gruez 1y ago>I had to install the app to keep some tabs on it, until their autopayment bug was fixed. There's no web portal? If so, having the app might make the experience more pleasant, but it's hardly "essential".
- stopachka 1y agoYou know what, fair point. I deleted XFinity from my phone, and removed it from the essay. I originally did this because the negative experience of losing the internet was really high, but on reflection I think I'll have other warning signs. They did try to call
- giancarlostoro 1y agoA dumb phone should really be like... 3 retro style games, calculator, sms and calling. I'd argue you can just stick to default iPhone apps and be fine.
- herrh 1y agoThe author says screen time limits are too easy to ignore. That is in a sense true. I "solved" that problem though by using a password to unlock the app. I however don't know that password, only my wife does. So whenever i need to use the browser, facebook or something i ask her to unlock it for me, often for like 15 minutes.
- dado3212 1y agoI ended up doing this with Screen Time, but not knowing my own passcode. Having a partner or close friend is generally the approach I'd recommend, but you can also do this with iPhone Mirroring — I wrote up a how to guide in https://blog.alexbeals.com/posts/setting-an-unknown-screen-time-code https://blog.alexbeals.com/posts/setting-an-unknown-screen-t....
- darrmit 1y agoI've tried so many things like this over the years and considered Configurator, but my only Apple computer at this point is a corporate Mac that blocks USB access to my phone. It's a great idea, and I'm glad to see it documented. That said, the biggest shift I encountered in my own phone usage was when I got an Aro box [1]. It's expensive (I got one refurbished), but pretty, and functional, and it has made a HUGE difference in my phone habits. I no longer keep my phone in my bedroom and when I catch myself ignoring those around me in favor of my phone, I can hard cut that off by putting it in the box. I like the idea of simplifying your phone with software tweaks like this, but I have found the physical separation to be the most freeing, and encourage that if you're interested in freeing yourself from the screen. [1] https://www.goaro.com/for-families https://www.goaro.com/for-families
- jaysonelliot 1y agoBefore installing all those apps the author listed, I'd recommend this exercise: Let the battery die on your phone, and live one week without it. Cold turkey. Tell people in advance if you need to, give them an alternate way to reach you. Replace your phone for that week with a small notebook that fits in your pocket. During that week, every time you want to do something that requires a smartphone, jot it down in your notebook. Then, fifteen minutes later or so, write down what you did instead. After a week, you're ready to start using your smartphone again and turn it into a so-called "dumb phone." Read your notebook and think honestly about which things you really needed to do, and which ones weren't such a big deal after all.
- stopachka 1y agoI'm curious, have you tried this? Would love to learn what you jotted down.
- nancyminusone 1y agoI just have all notifications turned off permanently. "But what about..?" Yes, even that.
- dijit 1y agoI do this, but be aware that peoples expectations are that you reply quickly, especially the younger generation. They will perceive your lack of response as you not prioritising them. This has cost me a relationship. (it was long distance to be fair).
- brailsafe 1y ago> This has cost me a relationship. (it was long distance to be fair). Tbh, (imho, having tried it) in normal circumstances it would be a miracle to make anything really work like that, but at present you're just fighting a losing, nearly irreconcilable battle, unless you're both wholly on the same page about infrequent synchronous communication. If a relationship relies on immediate responses to async, unpredictable, text-based communication, and what you want is a sane lifestyle, it's going to be a tough situation. I just tell people that need my attention how to get it. Call me if it's important and/or time sensitive, otherwise I'll just check when I check based on the implied nature of the platform. Instagram is super casual unimportant brainrot usually, Messenger for coordinating plans with older millennials and Gen X family, Whatsapp for younger millennials sometimes, SMS or RCS is slightly more important and I'll get visual but not physical or audible notifications. I make it clear that if it's a group chat, I'll turn notifications off unless I'm specifically tagged, or maybe check in once a week if it's for a specific purpose, but otherwise I hate them. Signal for some things that aren't time sensitive, no notifications, no read receipts on any platform.
- kccqzy 1y ago> I tried Screen Time but it was too easy to ignore. My spouse and I set passcodes on each other's Screen Time. Make sure you also check the option to block at end. Problem solved.
- awaseem 1y agoLove this, I created Foqos which is FOSS (free & open source sw). The idea is to use physical switches like QR codes or NFC tags to block apps. Its free to try and just requires an install. Worth checking out if this doesn't work out for you.
- zoba 1y agoI would love to be able to turn off Instagram Reels on iOS like is apparently possible on Android.
- ryanisnan 1y agoI'll shout out Clearspace[1]. They're YC W23[2]. I am in no way affiliated with them. I find the app is very useful. I do find it still takes some discipline, but it adds enough friction into accessing pointless apps, that it makes a real dent in my doom-scrolling. It isn't cheap, but it works well enough that at the current price point, I will pay. [1] - https://www.getclearspace.com/ https://www.getclearspace.com/ [2] - https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/clearspace https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/clearspace
- samhclark 1y agoI really like this setup. I think it balances friction and usefulness in exactly the way I've been aiming for. Still, I have a couple questions about it, since I don't own an iPhone but am considering buying one soon. 1. How does this affect backup and restore? Could I still restore from a backup on a new phone, if needed? I've lost my phone while traveling before and buying a replacement was pretty seamless. 2. Is the ability to disable the profile bound to the Mac you use Apple Configurator on? I don't own a Mac, but if I could use a friend's Mac when I need to make changes this could maybe work. Great writeup, thanks for posting it!
- eigencoder 1y agoI've been using the same setup as the author for about a year, I can help some. 1. I don't know, never tried this. I do know iCloud backups still work, because I've used them after wiping my phone. But I think you must plug the new phone into your computer and set it up as a managed device before you load the backup, or else parts of the profile might not take. 2. No, it's not. I traded in my old macbook pro for a mac mini back in May. I was able to use Apple Configurator on the new mac mini to change the profile on my phone. There is one caveat though -- the phone is still technically supervised by the old mac, so you have to confirm the profile by going into the phone's settings. Using the original, you just have to plug the phone in and unlock it.
- samhclark 1y agoThanks for the reply, appreciate it. Both of your answers sound workable for me! Even if I couldn't restore the whole profile from backup while traveling (which seems natural), at least it's still possible to restore some data. Which should be enough in the short term. And that's perfect that I could manage it from a different Mac. That totally works for me. I worried there would be something which prevented that. I'm imagining a parent using this for parental controls, but then the kid disabling it at a friend's house who has a Mac. Works better for my scenario though!
- eigencoder 1y ago
- dwedge 1y ago> Consider email. I still need to have access to email, and I want to have notifications enabled so I don’t miss something truly important. But 90% of the emails I get aren’t important. I was at a talk at FOSDEM this year and they were talking about how most emails now (over 90%) are transactional in nature and not personal. Things like password resets, offers, 2fa, shipping confirmations. This was a lightbulb moment for me - for years I'd been trying to fight email by using sieve to filter away the most annoying senders and subjects but they're right - almost all email doesn't deserve your immediate attention. I switched my method to whitelist. I created a folder called Transactional and everything goes in there. Then I started whitelisting certain email addresses to let them get to my inbox. I have around 20, and for the first time in years I'm at a point where I could have notifications for my inbox. I still don't, but they'd be useful now
- CGMthrowaway 1y agoGmail has ben doing this for years, automatically. And it works very well. I think a lot of people don't know the feature exists, though
- ASalazarMX 1y agoAlthough it really does, the algorithm is outside your control and scrutiny. An artisanal white list is totally under your control, and fully portable. Break the shackles.
- black_puppydog 1y agoExcept gmail pretty unexplicably filtered away stuff like a direct response from my boss, to an email I specifically sent to him half an hour ago. After a couple of these hiccups, plus hours spent trying to locate emails that I knew existed and even knew the right keywords for, I just disabled any and all of their filtering (which is, unsurprisingly, not just a checkbox...) and access gmail exclusively through Thunderbird. It's inexplicable to me how google, of all companies, can be so consistently shit at search across all their products.
- const_cast 1y ago
- _jsmi 1y agoAlternate solution I haven’t seen anywhere else: 1. Screen time to disable browser, App Store etc. 2. Type random 4-digit passwords until you forget. 3. Use your own Apple account as reset. 4. Remove apple password from password manager. Store in “Notes” app or similar on computer. 5. Lock this app storing password behind mandatory typing of gibberish using Cold Turkey on desktop. Works well for me. I will mention that as a younger person who grew up with internet access, I get the feeling that the “just be disciplined” comment often comes from people who didn’t have these addictive habits seared into their minds from an early age or have fought them off and forgotten what it’s like to literally lose control of your actions, especially when its normalized around you. I’ve noticed a lot of older people don’t see the internet as a threat in the same way as I do, and I envy that. Living with phones like this is completely unnatural.
- parallax_error 1y agoCan’t you click the “ignore limit” button when trying to open a restricted app though?
- _jsmi 1y agoNo, the password sets a strict block.
- Aerbil313 1y agoDude... > I get the feeling that the “just be disciplined” comment often comes from people who didn’t have these addictive habits seared into their minds from an early age I had the exact same mentality as you. I wrote the exact same stuff right here on HN, you can check my older comments. I did the same stuff, the lengths I went to lock down my devices... That's not the case, older people are not immune because they grew up with less tech or anything. It's (probably) just you. Turns out I actually objectively had far worse self-control than other people. Turns out I was living life really in hard mode while everybody else were coasting with ease. Turns out I had undiagnosed ADHD all my childhood, nobody noticed because my school grades were mostly fine. Go get checked. My life turned over completely with treatment.
- homefree 1y agoThe configurator is interesting and something I haven't heard of before! It's a double edged sword because the amount of time I spend online (X) has been directly responsible for the most valuable opportunities and generally knowing enough of what's going on to leverage that for big financial and career returns. It was pretty easy to drop all non-X social media though (all meta) and just avoid short term video generally. I've been tempted to try the lightphone 3 though - theory being if I have a separate hardware device that might be enough to help because I can leave the iPhone at home. In theory the Apple Watch could do this, but in practice it hasn't. Another thing I think can work is committing to avoid using it for one day a week - you get a lot of the benefits, it's more doable, and the downside is minimized.
- levl289 1y agoLiterally got my current job through a mufo on X, so I feel obliged to stick to it for the same reasons. That being said, I’ve curtailed a lot of my time on it and other social media. The results have been positive.
- inshard 1y agoYou could also just ask a spouse or family member to set your screen time pw and disable safari. Install parental controlled browser like Spin Browser. And also disable image loading in the settings of Spin Browser. This was a small but significant factor in screen time. Just the images on websites! No more limbic over stimulation!
- junglistguy 1y ago[dead]
- dnlzro 1y ago> Maybe you’re at a restaurant and they need you to open a website for example. You may end up having to bug some people around you for their phone. It can be annoying but I haven’t found this to be too troublesome. I have been using a profile-based restricted iPhone setup for about 6 months now, and this has been the biggest holdup for me. I've pretty successfully blocked almost everything distracting, but I'm pretty good at finding ways to bypass my restrictions. e.g., I'll find an alternative Reddit client (like Redlib) to bypass my Reddit blocks. The obvious solution is to use a whitelist instead of a blacklist, but then you completely lose the ability to scan QR codes in the wild. I'm thinking of building a browser designed for this purpose. Your browsing can begin at certain pre-defined entrypoints, like a news aggregator or a QR code, but you can't manually enter arbitrary URLs or use search engines.
- stopachka 1y ago> Your browsing can begin at certain pre-defined entrypoints, like a news aggregator or a QR code I would definitely use this.
- laweijfmvo 1y agoThey have menus. Every place I’ve been to (post-Covid) that tries to force the “use-your-phone” thing brought me a menu when I asked and said I didn’t have my phone.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- m463 1y agoI can't believe how much stuff he configured on a "dumbphone" why not: - phone app - messages - calendar - clock - notes - reminders
- Anechoic 1y agoIf you're going through the hassle of reseting your iPhone to set with Configurator, you should think about pair locking your phone while you're at it: https://reincubate.com/support/how-to/pair-lock-supervise-iphone/ https://reincubate.com/support/how-to/pair-lock-supervise-ip...
- hnst1 1y agoNot really on the topic of the post, but I love the active reader count on the top.
- nullbyte808 1y agoBetter to have a limited data plan like Roamless(data doesn't expire) and stock up on epubs. Then when your away from wifi all you can do is read books.
- JSR_FDED 1y agoThe only problem I see with this is that you can’t update your app if you disable the App Store. My bank updates its app annoyingly often, with no grace period - which is bad when you’re in a store and need to pay for stuff.
- bitwize 1y agoSo "dumbphone" now means "runs only a preselected by me set of apps"? I thought it meant "phone with no app functionality whatsoever, only capable of voice, text, and other basic cell network services"?
- Humphrey 1y agoThe Apple Configurator seems like a great tool to setup a phone for your children or tech illiterate elderly parents. Many of us would have people in our lives who might actually understand how to use their phone if the only icons on the home screen where messages and phone. I could imagine ChatGPT would be a good option for them to be able to look up information in the real world.
- dangus 1y agoI did a CRTL+F for "Jamf" in this thread and didn't see it mentioned, but I would say if you're going through the effort of Apple Configurator then it makes sense to go the next mile and get some kind of MDM software that will make future updates and policies easier to apply. As a bonus, if you're a parent and have kids it'll be very useful for them.
- eigencoder 1y agoI have been doing this exact same thing for about a year, this guy is basically me! I love it so far. One difference with his setup, I also set up my Configurator profile so that I can only navigate to whitelisted websites, and I haven't whitelisted anything. This means I have no browser whatsoever (even the in-app ones, like in Maps or FB Messenger, don't work).
- pmarreck 1y agoMy idea to give my son a dumbed-down phone one day was to only install a terminal on it, and maybe chatgpt. And give him access to a server via tailscale. Then he could do whatever a terminal could do, except without the audiovisual or socialnetworking dopamine fixes. And retain all the basic phone functionality.
- teeeeeegz 1y agoUsing iOS 26 with the glassy-reflective elements feels like a storm in a teacup with making people even more addicted to their phones the moment they pick them up, observing all the shiny effects with a slight tilt of their wrist. I wish Apple would open up customization capabilities to properly kick the addictive elements from the phone, like Android with custom launchers... I've also experimented with Apple Configurator many months ago but unfortunately it's too tedious for most people wanting to enforce a simplified phone, but its beauty is in its level of power of creating a bespoke iPhone experience. fwiw I'm the maker of the Dumb Phone app (dp) that somebody mentioned below and what's mostly kept my daily average screen time to 1-2 hours is getting rid of the addictive elements from the home screen. No more color, icons, fancy wallpapers, just a simple single-colored text-based list of my most essential apps that open when tapped. Zero social media. We live in 2025 and as much as i'd love to experiment with a nerfed feature phone, I personally need a high quality camera each day, maps of course, banking apps, authenticators, etc. Kicking that dopamine hit has helped me use my phone as a utility again, otherwise I put it away. I have an Apple Watch too with all alerts turned off except for calls, texts - so another reason to keep the phone down. Since I also run a business I do need to leverage mobile social apps, so these now all live on a "separate" iPhone which stays in a drawer until I need to perform a particular task with it, then it goes back in right away. Genuinely feels good to have my phones work for me now rather than the other way around, and I see a lot of common sentiment when I speak to people who have also done the same thing to their phones. Highly recommend cleaning up your Home Screen as a good starting point, and purge your notifications. edit: I also begrudgingly installed Beeper last week to keep in touch with an important group chat on FB messenger on the main phone, but it's bliss only seeing a list of group messages vs the long list of story buttons along the top in the main app, green and red dots, so i'm not inclined to tap around afterwards.
- ycombinete 1y agoOne way to achieve this is to set the interface to monochrome. Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size -> Color Filters -> Monochrome It becomes instantly less appealing.
- throwawayq3423 1y ago
- whoamii 1y agoWhat’s wrong with Screen Time and having your spouse define the PIN for it? I can request an additional minute myself, but after that only my spouse can grant me an exception.
- littlecranky67 1y agoYou can also use an online time-lock service such as lockmeout.online to store the PIN for ScreenTime or assistive access (even better as it dumb down the UI).
- Aerbil313 1y agoYears ago I had this problem, but I didn't know about these services, so I had to keep the PIN data myself without being able to access it on a whim. I developed timelock for this purpose: https://github.com/rayanamal/timelock https://github.com/rayanamal/timelock
- andhuman 1y agoWell, you need a spouse.
- throwaway290 1y ago> blocks social media because too addictive > allows llms
- miika 1y agoThis is how I cured my social media addiction. I turned my iPhone into pure utility device by uninstalling all the entertainment apps. I only allow music and podcasts as those don’t require my active attention. Then I have an iPad mini at home which has all the entertainment and social media stuff installed. However I don’t have many opportunities to use that device during the day.. After maybe a week of having this arrangement I found myself being less and less interested in grabbing that iPad. It’s been few months now and I only check my socials maybe twice a week. Also since I deleted Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube and TikTok from my phone the battery life almost doubled. It was eye opening to see how much these apps drain battery even when the device is left untouched.
- pj_mukh 1y agoSorry basic question. You can still access all the social media from the browser eh?
- CalRobert 1y agoThis is my weakness. I really miss leechblock since changing to iPhone
- adamors 1y agoI use Burnout Buddy, it can block both apps and websites, you can set up custom rules, time based, usage based or triggered by Shortcuts (for instance I have one set up to block Reddit when I enter the gym).
- that_guy_iain 1y agoI love how we spend hundreds on a computer in our pocket and then spend a large amount of time trying to reduce the amount of value we get out of it.
- octatrack 1y agoI often leave the house without my iPhone. Here is my full stack: - Ask wife to set up screen time passcode and not tell me - Block social media and other distracting websites in Screen Time - Set a 1 minute time limit on distracting apps - Keep the phone in the garage as much as possible - Get an Apple Watch cellular so that I can still communicate with people, make payments, get directions etc when I am out and about Not a perfect dumb phone but this has helped me reduce usage tremendously.
- nmlt 1y agoApple actually finally managed to allow 0 minutes as a time limit. Screen Time really needs to be finished by Apple, with a few more features, like more allowing certain apps at certain times (not just disallowing one set of apps at a certain time).
- akuji1993 1y agoThing is, Apple's not really interested in you using your phone LESS, so they don't really have an incentive to make it easier for you.
- Aerbil313 1y agoYes, this was added a couple months ago! And to top it off, in iOS 26 (Beta) you can set time limits for websites too! One feature I (and I'm sure many others) were waiting for since forever.
- pjmlp 1y agoI don't understand the addition, and the gimmicks people come up not to check their phones. Maybe it is because I was already an adult, when the very first generation of mobile phones became affordable, those that only did calls, SMS wasn't even part of it. I can easily go out and leave phone at home, or don't feel the urge to check it every 5 minutes.
- CalRobert 1y agoThat’s great! Genuinely. We all struggle with our own vices. I loved when I worked in a place with a beer fridge -chilling out on a Friday afternoon when it was sunny in Dublin was great - but for any alcoholics around it probably was hell. On the other hand, I hate it when places have free lunch and snacks because I am a compulsive eater.
- -t0mm 1y agoThis is very cool to see. I've been playing around with the idea of getting an old iphone just for car play and dumbphone purposes. However, I always discarded the idea due to the lack of control iOS gives you in restricting and customizing certain things. But now, this Apple configurator gives me a bit more motivation to make that jump, even though I probably wont be able to use it for all my specific needs. I also ended up experimenting for a few months with the Samsung G1650 which runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. I was able to get apps like Termux and other utilities on it which made my experience what I wanted while also not compromising on having no modern messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal. It wasnt a complete dumbphone per se, but it was almost impossible to doomscroll or browse the internet on that phone. In the end I stopped using my G1650 due to the fact that it was too tedious waiting 5+ minutes for poorly optimized apps like Spotify/Taxi apps to load. Also, the phone became expontentially slower with more storage being used, which is expected since wasnt really made to storage gigs of message and media logs.
- sleepychu 1y ago> It’s common to rack up 4 hours or more of screen time a day on your phone. Here’s one way to see the cost of that: every 20 years, you lose 5 years of your waking time looking at your phone. If you spend 4 hours/24 hours on your phone then every 20X you'll have lost 3.33... X. I think the author is using year and waking-years but it doesn't parse well for me because you don't get close to 20 waking-years for every 20 years.
- Astro-Domine 1y agoIn the fight against "Weapons of Mass Distraction" I went to a Qin F21 Pro and used ADB to remove everything distracting. This might be a way back to the iPhone for me though. I strongly identify with the author's feeling that their phone had a kind of "gravity" before removing these apps. I described mine to somebody as the sense I was carrying around the ring of power in my pocket. It felt heavy. If you are in a room full of people and you close your eyes, you still feel the presence of those people and your self-consciousness is thus mobilized. There is something similar going on when I have a phone full of apps. Even when it's off, I can still sense their presence and some part of me is still online, idling and using resources to account for that.
- klabetron 1y agoI’m in denial about needing to curb some pretty bad habits so won’t comment on that. But! I have a fairly “smart” home for controlling my lights, etc. I control it with Siri and the Home app. When friends/family with iPhones stay with me, I just add them as a guest. Just left town for a few weeks leaving my home & dog to a sitter… with an android. I’ve got an old iPhone that I ended up doing all of the Screen Time/Parental Controls hacks to lock down to must a smart remote. I didn’t love the result. I’m looking forward to using the OP’s post to guide me in making a better dumbphone/smart remote. Thanks!
- d_theorist 1y agoI just block what I don't want with screen time. My wife sets and knows the passcode. I don't. So I can't override.
- neya 1y agoI took an easier path. I carry two phones - a smartphone and a dumb phone. The smartphone is usually turned off, and is only charged once every 3-4 days. It holds its charge. The dumbphone is actually a second-hand Sony Ericsson Walkman phone which I really love. It has basic web browsing, some very basic utility apps and excellent sound quality, which I care a lot about and bluetooth too. This physical, non-software based friction is what helped me cure my addiction. If someone wants to contact me urgently - they drop a regular SMS or simply just call me. This also helped me separate my personal life and work life really well where clients can reach me on WhatsApp or elsewhere only when I'm on my laptop. Other times, if it's an emergency, they can always just call me. I don't use Facebook or other social media on my laptop anyway, so it's nice to have when I need to access something (like marketplace). But other than that, the peace of mind is truly worth the hassle of carrying two phones.
- SwtCyber 1y agoReally like how you've drawn clear lines between personal and work life
- neya 1y agoThanks! It was the only way I was able to convince clients too.
- Lord-Jobo 1y agoI had a two phone lifestyle as well for different reasons: I needed car play but don't like iOS, and also needed to know Android and iOS quite well for my job. One iPhone that was wifi only, had my entire music library local, used for car play and a few exclusive apps. One android with a sim that had my communication apps, social media, and some custom tinkering stuff that doesn't exist on iOS. I did this for about two years. The main takeaways: -I 100% could have just had the iPhone with a sim for communication apps and been fine. The social media was just annoying enough to swap to that I never felt that draw and barely used it on 2phones. -even though I despise how little customization iOS lets you do, without social media or game apps, the only actual pain point with it was the nightmare of managing notifications/alert/vibration/screen wake settings* -god it made me miss small phones so much. The android was a pixel 4a, the last real phone with real hardware that released at the actual ideal size for my hands(that has an unlocked bootloader, I really can't do the Samsung hellOS experience again). Now Im on a pixel 8 only, with Glider for this site and no other social media or games. It's fine. Phones too big, car doesn't have AAuto, and Google is trying to rot the foundation of android, but for now it's fine and better than the two phone experience because it's less juggling.
- eatbitseveryday 1y agoI found screentime does work - I activated it for my spouse and only I know the PIN. It limits her social media and YT time to 45m/day.
- Fokamul 1y agoToo bad iPhone is a dumbphone fromt the get go :D
- cwoolfe 1y agoIt is possible to supervise your phone AND keep all your data. I've done it to my phone. https://www.techlockdown.com/guides/restore-full-backup-supervised-iphone https://www.techlockdown.com/guides/restore-full-backup-supe... When you do it, be sure to Disable Stolen Device Protection and "Find my iPhone" on both devices.
- Timpy 1y agoI think this guide is nice, and having a variety of articles like this is great so everybody can look at the different ideas and find what's right for them. I would urge people to consider going a little bit further than this guide, consider not using your phone as a reading device. Imagine deciding to sit down with a physical book, but keeping your phone nestled on the opposite page as you read. It would be a lot nicer to read without interruption, without being exposed to notifications at all times. Sure there are going to be use cases where the phone is more convenient, but I think sacrificing convenience is worth it.
- Nextgrid 1y agoOne thing to keep in mind is that supervising via Apple Configurator (without a hosted MDM server) means you lose Activation Lock protection.
- blokey 1y agoYou can create and install a profile to (re)-enable it. Just by default unless a profile (or MDM) solution allows "User Linked" activation lock (via Find My), the default is only to allow "Org Linked" activation. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/depf4ab94ef1/web https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/depf4ab94ef...
- RobertEva 1y agoI did a “soft dumbphone” too: a Focus that only allows Phone/Texts/Maps/Camera. Screen Time has a passcode my partner keeps, and an automation re-enables the Focus if I toggle it off. Keeps utility, kills the slot-machine pull.
- BobBagwill 1y agoIf smartphones were real computers, instead of expensive little closed portable TV's with cameras, we could run multiple VM's, each with their own network ID's, accounts, apps, etc. Maybe these sexy AI LLM's can help us root all these closed devices and OS's, instead of being used to write yet another stupid web app faster?
- radeck 1y agoThe built in iPhone time limits work well if you have a partner - simply have them set the password and keep it secret. You want to spend more time scrolling on twitter? Fine, muster up the courage to ask your wife for it while she preps school lunches for the kids.
- herpdyderp 1y agoI'll have to remember this when I next get a new phone so I don't have to wipe my current device.
- SoftTalker 1y ago"you can actually disable the App Store! This is a marvelous win." I thought this one was weird, personally. The App Store is among those I use least on my phone. I only open it when there is a specific new app I want to install (which is rare; I have maybe a dozen apps installed that didn't come with my phone). I easly go months without opening the App Store. Are there people just browsing the App Store daily?
- ozkatz 1y agoI think the idea is that you do not install time wasters (social media?) apps before disabling the app store. This way, even if tempted, you won't be able to doomscroll on Instagram because you cannot install it.
- jagaerglad 1y agoWell if you disable App Store you cannot re-install apps you find distracting that you have removed. I actually remove Play store from my android through the debug shell for this exact reason. And yes, it happens that when all other apps are gone, things like Ebay, Foodora, App store etc are scrolled mindlessly, it's a hierarchy of stimulation, you remove one and move on to the next best one. Congratulations that you don't have adhd, it's hell
- flanbiscuit 1y ago> So far the only real unsolved issue I have are related to “semi-important” apps. Consider email. I still need to have access to email, and I want to have notifications enabled so I don’t miss something truly important. But 90% of the emails I get aren’t important. > I am not sure what the solution is to these kind of apps. Maybe I can find a special mail app, that only shows you important emails. If I had something like this I think I would just be over the moon with this setup. I have always had email notifications turned off and I was always missing important emails, especially from people I cared about. I finally figured out the solution. In Gmail (only tested on Android, can't speak for iPhone) I created a label called "notify". I then created filters for specific emails and words that apply the label. You can turn on notifications in Gmail (for Android at least) for specific labels. That's it! Maybe someone else can confirm that this can be done on the iPhone Gmail app? or something similar
- k4rnaj1k 1y ago[dead]
- skarz 1y agoOP is using LastPass still, oof...
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- ivanovm 1y agoone underrated approach more and more people are finding success with: apple watch ultra as a primary device (optionally with a case for a more phone-like factor) you can do most things an iphone does, but you can't doom scroll. you don't have to eject out of apple ecosystem, you get payments, 2fa, navigation, notifications. your iphone can remain as a backup that's always in sync for when you need it (e.g. traveling)
- highonl1fe 1y agoI'm on the exact same journey as OP but I think I have a solution that is a little easier to setup. Simply use Apple's Screen Time but lock all of the Screen Time settings behind a pin. Have a friend or loved one create the pin and keep it secret from you and voila. With Screen time you can have an "Always Allowed" list and if you use the "Downtime" setting it doesn't actually let you set limits past a one minute exception per app. You also have to make sure that the downtime setting is 24 hours of downtime. *Edit: seems like a lot of people are suggesting the same exact thing.
- j45 1y agoIt's ironic what's useful is making the phone effectively into a Palm OS phone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_OS Perhaps focussing on productivity and helping users like these devices did/had to instead of being consumption devices is a way to explore?
- wao0uuno 1y agoOr just enable Screen Time and ask another person to set up the pin for you. No need to install any software and play with profiles.
- foofoo4u 1y agoWell shoot. I just ordered a Mudita Kompakt (minimalist smartphone) to help tackle my phone addiction. Seeing the Apple Configurator allows me to define what apps can be installed and the ability to remove official apps such as Safari or the App Store, now I'm wondering if I just want to stick to my iPhone and do this or use my Kompakt when it arrives.
- titanomachy 1y agoThanks for this. I'm setting it up now, works for me as advertised. My screen time jumped a lot in the last couple weeks and my mental health has declined in proportion. I use Freedom, but it's a bit glitchy and too easy to delete the app if you really want to cheat. I'm waffling a bit on the default-deny approach to websites. I think that might cause serious headaches since e.g. scanning QR codes to interact with businesses is pretty common. But I will give it a try. Update: it took me a couple hours to get everything set up the way I like it after resetting the phone, but so far this is fantastic. I also massively restricted notifications, which had gotten a bit out of hand.
- Aerbil313 1y agoCongratulations! I myself independently arrived where the author is over years of self experimentation, but I think you'll get used to it in no more than a month. I even use a whitelist (i.e. default-deny) for websites on my work laptop these days. I have ADHD though, YMMV.
- titanomachy 1y agoI think anyone desperate enough to attempt this probably also has ADHD!
- snaky2929 1y agoHere's what worked for me - after trying screen limits, nokia phones 1. Remove all social media apps from iPhone 2. Use Opal in deep focus mode to block apps and websites (I can't exit the deep focus mode - but I allow myself a 2 hour window when deepfocus isn't active) 3. Keep my phone inside my bag - out of sight out of mind 4. Remove "tap to wake up" in settings - you'll have to click the side button to see the screen 5. Deleted slack and email - was hesitant about missing important notifications, but decided to try for a week and realized it made no difference to my work
- Aerbil313 1y agoThis is what I do as well. I actually see so much interest for this sort of "dumb smartphone" in some demographics that I seriously intend to start a company selling configured iPhones at some point. Shout out to TechLockdown (not my company) for making this sort of setup much easier to accomplish.
- rahul342 1y agoFor me, I can push through and not install the social media apps. I have noticed I'll start doing some other screen time activity like browsing HN more, or news site. The usefulness is higher but still am unable to trade off total screen time.
- NuclearPM 1y ago> getting the right setup takes a few weeks, and you may need to rely on others. Lol
- Reply2me 1y agoHave a s23 ultra, iPhone is for people who just follow others. To be honest, android has better specs anyways. Android team whos with me?