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Show HN: Dumbphone – Turn your smartphone into a dumbphone
- funkyy 12y agoPretty nice idea. I wish there would be an app, where you would pay for example $1 and other persons phone would get blocked for 1 hour - and they would got this $1 as an incentive. This would solve a lot of social issues with people reaching for their phones when out with friends while still provide incentive for people to actually install app.
- digitalsushi 12y agoI think that really patronizes both people. The person buying the time for a dollar now knows their time is worth a dollar, and the person getting the dollar knows they can be bought for a dollar. Invert this idea, do a 'swear jar'. You put your phone into dumbphone mode, and if you have to break it, the other person gets a dollar.
- funkyy 12y agoMost people that are a--holes enough to pull out their phones and play on apps while with their friends wont mind $1 lost imo. Unless they are really on budget.
- u124556 12y agoWell one could just set the price they want for others turning off their phone. If the other party thinks its worth it, then they do it.
- TeMPOraL 12y agoI've seen an interesting 'swear jar' implementation when I went to a bar with friends last time - someone suggested everyone put their phones on a pile, and the first person who touches his/her buys a round for everyone. Cost me a bit of money, that time.
- personlurking 12y agoAn app 'swear jar'? Interesting. Soon, a real app swear jar that listens to you to know if/when you swear. Or a Causes swear jar app that donates a small amount for every swear word.
- soccergee 12y agoOr you could just buy a windows phone. I kid. I kid.
- taude 12y agoHaa..you joke, but I bought a Nokia 521 running Windows 8.0 for $50, unlocked. It still does a ton more than a dumb-phone, though. Just enough internet to be useful, scan emails, check out twitter, but not as slick to make you want to waste a lot of time using it.
- soccergee 12y agoBut will it blend?
- chris_mahan 12y agoI don't think that's the narrative Microsoft was going for.
- anishkothari 12y agoThis is a pretty good idea, actually. I might have to try it someday! :-)
- soccergee 12y agohttp://gph.is/1nzQD2V http://gph.is/1nzQD2V
- anishkothari 12y agokudos on the Zach Morris reference
- soccergee 12y agomaybe this is unrelated, but I've always thought that the Winklevoss twins looked like grown up Zach Morris.
- sinwave 12y agoI like this. Just switched back to dumb phone about a month ago. I wonder if there would be a market for a touch screen phone with a really nice and simple interface, but no apps; just call and text.
- allegory 12y agoIts called a Nokia Asha and no data connection (because Nokia S40 OS is a pain to set up data on).
- personlurking 12y agoSome basic stats for anyone curious http://i.imgur.com/jdkGpb3.png http://i.imgur.com/jdkGpb3.png
- greenwalls 12y agoWhy did you switch to a dumb phone and what dumb phone did you switch to?
- sinwave 12y agoWhen I had an iPhone, I couldn't bring it to the library to do (school) work, because of the risk of bullshitting on the phone for who knows how long after receiving a text or something. So I would leave my phone at home every day and always miss everyone's calls. My family was not a fan of this, nor was my girlfriend. I bought a used LG flip phone from around 2007.
- misingnoglic 12y agoIs there an option to install java applets?
- dangayle 12y agoThis is great. I recently ditched my iPhone for the cheapest samsung phone T-Mobile had, and I regret it about 50% of the time. I like having it when I actually need it, but the rest of the time I feel my life slowing slipping away.
- bnejad 12y agoExtreme power saver mode on the HTC One M8 does this essentially. You can only Call/Text/Email/Calendar/Calculator while in the mode and you get some crazy battery life as well. Not my screenshot: http://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/styles/large_wm_brw/public/article_images/2014/03/htc-one-extreme-power-saving.jpg http://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files...
- DocG 12y agoAh, I might have a use for it. If one could also only disable the status bar and lower android buttons. It would be perfect for my family older generation. Big screen, big nice colorful buttons, super easy interface. They would love it.
- bnejad 12y agoMight be able to find a launcher that fits your needs. Quick google search turned these up: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tbeasy.largelauncher https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tbeasy.lar... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.kunes.android.launcher.activity&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=name.kunes.and...
- boobsbr 12y agoAlso on the M7.
- rasz_pl 12y agodefine crazy, dumbphones last 30 days (simple nokias, samsung solid)
- blklane 12y agoI've had the idea for a while to allow users to own a dumbphone and smartphone and be able to switch them back and forth easily to receive your main #. Smartphones are so expensive and I don't need the functionality over 50% of the time so it can cut down the risk of breakage by just bringing the flip phone instead.
- dpeck 12y agonot trying to be a smartass here, but a sim card?
- blklane 12y agoBy taking out a sim card you don't remove the risk of physical damage to your phone. By replacing a $10 phone with a $600 phone you can eliminate the risk.
- lbearl 12y agoI think the idea being presented is to physically own both devices, and simply swap the SIM card from device to device as needed.
- zokier 12y agoI'd imagine that swapping (micro)SIM cards gets quite old quite fast. Heck, just rebooting phones all the time would be annoying imho.
- gohrt 12y agoSIM cards/trays are not physically accessible and sturdy enough to make that practical as a daily activity. A "family" plan across both phones is more likely solution.
- blklane 12y agoWas unaware that is all thats needed to transfer a number. Thought about porting a number to Twilio, then to have 2 phones which one would have to pay for and just switch the call forwarding. I'll check out the sim card solution, thanks for the info!
- StavrosK 12y agoIt just keeps saying "Please don't open apps" for me, even though I'm not even touching it, and I can open all apps normally.
- anishkothari 12y agoCool idea, I'll give this a try. I switch my Android phone for an old Nokia candy bar phone about every 6 months for a few days. It helps me clear my mind and not check my phone all the time for notifications. But it's pretty terrible for text messages so I switch back when I get fed up with the keypad.
- hayksaakian 12y agoReminded me of a dumb store for all phones http://www.dumbsto.re http://www.dumbsto.re
- n0body 12y ago"I have no self control" "there's an app for that"
- igetspam 12y agoI love this idea with one caveat: I'd like my phone to almost always be dumb but still allow me to stream music. Since it immediately crashes on my N4 (CM11-M7), I don't know what will and won't do. Presumably though, making a phone "dumb" would me merely a matter of disabling cellular data and turning off wireless networkwing.
- wiradikusuma 12y agoMy SIM card is damaged, and since it's registered under my ex and I need her to get replacement (and she's busy), I've been without GSM connectivity for 2 weeks now. At first I felt really clueless, like an addict craving to check email and nothing to bury my head in while waiting for train. But then I start using my "new" free time to let my mind wander and brainstorm for ideas, or simply close my eyes and nap. I feel more in control. I'm not entirely disconnected though, I still use the Wifi at work/home. Obviously I still need a SIM card. I can't do internet banking since they always send SMS verification, and I can't use Uber since the app doesn't allow me to attach notes to the driver (they always call me right after I book to pinpoint my location). Having this experience makes me realize how a smartphone can make you dumb (or, at least, make you always occupied).
- cr3ative 12y agoIf it's useful: if you're in the UK, most of the networks here will provide you with a blank SIM, and perform a SIM swap, without account holder verification.
- tootie 12y agoThis is as brilliant as it is moronic. Basically, I don't know what to feel.
- graeme 12y agoI do something similar, and highly recommend it. Here's what I did: 1. I don't have data on my iphone 4 2. I removed Safari, and blocked the icon using Jailbreak 3. Ditto for youtube, gmail. I have none of those apps. I use my phone for the following: calls, text, calendar, occasional notes, Facebook messenger The calendar syncs with gcal when I am on a wi-fi network at home. FB messenger is because a lot of friends message me this way and it avoids my having to check Facebook online. --------- Before talking about the benefits, I'll address the three major objections: 1. What about google maps?! Without a map on my phone, I'm forced to learn how to get around my city. If I'm in a new city, I'm forced to learn that street map. Doesn't take long. I was just in Victoria BC and NYC. Within a day or two I knew my way around both cities. I have mental maps of a couple dozen cities sitting in my head. 2. What about important email? I can safely say I have ZERO emails that can't wait 2-6 hours for me to get home. If something is truly urgent, I'll get a text. Maybe your situation is different, but for most of you it probably isn't. 3. What about reading stuff on your phone? I don't like reading stuff on my tiny phone screen. I'd rather read things on my full screen at home. When I am out and about, I either bring a book, observe things mindfully, or talk to people. -------- I feel much more calm when out and about. There's no need to use willpower to avoid checking my phone, because my phone doesn't do anything. I've been doing this for three years, and have had zero problems. Whatever use case you're thinking of, I can assure you that either there's a trivial workaround, or it doesn't actually provide much benefit (for someone in MY situation – perhaps yours is truly different).
- frogpelt 12y agoI am interested in why you decided to do this originally? As an aside to my question, I find the cycles/fads that society goes through fascinating.
- graeme 12y agoI read the four hour workweek, where he talked about batch processing, and realized that it was inefficient to check things constantly. I run an online business, so there's lots of things I could check. But none of them depend on timely input. So it didn't make sense to look at things as they came in.
- andybak 12y agoEnhancement request. Please give it the UI of a Nokia 3310.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- Poiesis 12y agoWhat I could use is a way to add an iphone as a dumbphone to a shared data/minutes plan. I have a spare iphone 4s (Verizon US), unfortunately, and I want to be able to have my son use the phone without data without paying the $40/mo that adding the iphone to the shared plan would cost.
- mkingston 12y agoFor some time now I've wanted a dumbphone with a good radio. Basically an old Nokia brick capable of 3/4g and wifi+hotspot. This way I could use my phone as a phone the bulk of the time, and when necessary carry a separate laptop/tablet to use for internet/navigation.