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Dumber phone

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Re: Dumber phone

#231

Post by JepZ »

Actually, I use my smartphone since a while with a focus on usability (only top 5 apps on the home screen). So no annoying, attention catching, tracking, adware apps. Just pure focus on what I need:

- Adaway (Adblocker; just in case)

- Address Book

- Browser (long term Chrome user, but the new Firefox mobile feels very nice)

- Chat Client (Conversations)

- Clock

- Connect Bot (for SSH connections)

- Dav-Droid (Sync client)

- Email client

- F-Droid (app store for open source software)

- Calendar

- Camera & Gallery

- KDE-Connect (e.g. for desktop notifications)

- Nextcloud client

- Omsand+ (Google Maps alternative)

- Play Store

- Phone

- Spotify

- Termux (a shell that is actually usable on a smartphone)

- Text/SMS

- Titanium Backup

- Xodo (nice PDF viewer and annotator)

With that setup I can sync my data with other devices, communicate (voice, text, email), enjoy basic entertainment (Spotify) and use some cli if it is required, while not having all that attention stealing crap on my phone.

Re: Dumber phone

#232

Post by cryptozeus »

peacetreefrog wrote: post #125

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts,…

Newport talk about the same approach in the book DeepWork. It has really opened my eyes, I have removed all my social media apps from the phone. I do not use it as an entertainment object.

Re: Dumber phone

#233

Post by romwell »

abawany wrote: post #214
nabla9 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are describing new Nokia 8110 4G (aka "the matrix phone" reincarnated) * 25 days on standby, 8.5 hours LTE voice calls * removable battery * WiFi hotspot functionality * 4G network connectivity * KaiOS will have basic apps (Google maps, FB, Google assistant and reportetly WhatsApp in near future) https://www.nokia.com/en_in/phones/nokia-8110-4g

I was very excited by this phone but KaiOS seems worrying though hopefully I just misread: they seem to be quite closed-source even though they are based on FirefoxOS [1], the app store is closed and carrier controlled [2], and the hotspot functionality also seems to come with carrier control [3], which given the lack of openness and root capability, means that it may very well be disabled if you buy the phone throug…

If you want a dumb phone, why would you even care about locked app store? You aren't getting it to use the apps.

Same for root capability; either WiFi hotspot works with your carrier out of the box, or you don't buy the phone. If you have to fight your carrier on that, hacking every device you use on the network is not a solution anyway.

And a closed-source OS doesn't mean it's not hackable. Back in the day, you could mess a lot with Symbian.

Re: Dumber phone

#234

Post by arglebarnacle »

e40 wrote: post #229
peacetreefrog wrote: post #125

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts,…

I'm older than most of you here. I'm constantly amazed at the lack of self control related to phones. I do exactly as you said, use my phone as a tool. Walking to work and think of something I don't want to forget? Whip out the phone and write myself an email. At home on a weekend and I'm in offline mode? DnD turned on until the alarm on my phone the next morning. I never feel like my phone is controlling my behavior…

The age discrepancy in phone addiction probably has a lot to do with younger folks getting more value of social media on average, though I don't want to discount the idea that older people have more self mastery. Brain development is pretty much done by age 26, but I know way more 30-35 year olds with smartphone addictions than 50-55 year olds.

Re: Dumber phone

#235

Post by abawany »

romwell wrote: post #233
abawany wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was very excited by this phone but KaiOS seems worrying though hopefully I just misread: they seem to be quite closed-source even though they are based on FirefoxOS [1], the app store is closed and carrier controlled [2], and the hotspot functionality also seems to come with carrier control [3], which given the lack of openness and root capability, means that it may very well be disabled if you buy the phone throug…

If you want a dumb phone, why would you even care about locked app store? You aren't getting it to use the apps. Same for root capability; either WiFi hotspot works with your carrier out of the box, or you don't buy the phone. If you have to fight your carrier on that, hacking every device you use on the network is not a solution anyway. And a closed-source OS doesn't mean it's not hackable. Back in the day, you coul…

True. The thing is that under the covers, this thing is kind of a smart phone and as such, the lack of control bothers me a bit. Your other points are valid though - one could just get this device for hotspot/call functionality and be happy.

Re: Dumber phone

#236

Post by romwell »

ImJasonH wrote: post #183

I made a simple tool to help me break my bad social media habits: https://quit.social/ I uninstalled Twitter and Facebook from my phone, and replaced them on my home screen with Safari bookmarks that looked like those apps (using favicons). Any time I would try to open those apps, it would deliver a "mild shock" in the form of a big red shame warning telling me how many times I've recently failed to stop using the ap…

The discussions on successfully quitting social media pop up weekly on HN.

The irony is, of course, that HN is social media. Personally, I clock more time here than on FB and IG taken together.

Re: Dumber phone

#237

Post by white-flame »

dasyatidprime wrote: post #180
driverdan wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Because then FOMO takes over This is the real problem, not the phone or its apps. You need to eliminate FOMO from your life. You'll be much happier for it. I don't have a recommendation on how to do that. For me I came to the realization and acceptance that there is always more. More work, more knowledge, more news, more parties, more potential friends, more opportunities, etc. It never ends and it's impossible to…

You'll be much happier for it, but can you afford it? If you've got the kind of social life and communication you need, great. And I agree that many people who are in an accidental too-much-FOMO situation probably didn't need all the extra tweets and whatnot flung their way and it's mostly junk. In that case, just turning most of it off is a reasonable idea. But if you're in a position where the communities you need…

Are these some sorts of business communities where you're actually working for a tangible reward to further your career? Even if they are, this sounds really crazy and wrapped around an axle to me, if this is your steady state level of interaction, especially if this is multiple communities you're talking about. If you're bootstrapping yourself as part of a marketing or sales push, you can dedicate a time slot to working it, or consider this level of intensity as a short-term effort until you've established a more self-perpetuating network.

If that's not the case, are you really sure that you need to be doing any of that? Especially "get a word in on something important" is awfully similar to https://www.xkcd.com/386/ .

Re: Dumber phone

#238

Post by tomaskafka »

I noticed that I get uncomfortable even feeling the physical presence of the phone (we are wired so that the body reminds us of things, it serves as a state memory).

What helped was putting the phone into the bag instead of having it in pocket.

Re: Dumber phone

#239

Post by adhambadr »

coryfklein wrote: post #224
adhambadr wrote: post #122

Checkout our phone www.blloc.com . I think its exactly what we thought of, dumbing down the smartphone to the bare essentials without missing out too much. we don't have it perfectly communicated (working on it), but we're trying to find the middle between a "smartphone" and full blown detox. We got inspired from some of our friends who went "dark" and didn't work out; we were as product designers sick of snapchat, g…

What does the percentage figure visible on the app tiles convey?

energy impact

Re: Dumber phone

#240

Post by adhambadr »

TinyPants wrote: post #184
adhambadr wrote: post #122

Checkout our phone www.blloc.com . I think its exactly what we thought of, dumbing down the smartphone to the bare essentials without missing out too much. we don't have it perfectly communicated (working on it), but we're trying to find the middle between a "smartphone" and full blown detox. We got inspired from some of our friends who went "dark" and didn't work out; we were as product designers sick of snapchat, g…

I really like what y'all are working on. I echo some other comments about the legibility of your body copy, I'd increase the contrast. Will your phone be available for purchase/use in the US?

thanks a lot! yeah we have to fix that. US is pretty complicated with different bands & carrier restrictions we're focusing on EU this year.
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