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iPhone dumbphone

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Re: iPhone dumbphone

#111
post #93

I 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.

Pro-tip: On iPhone, iPad, and macOS, you can shut off email notifications for everything except VIPs. https://www.idownloadblog.com/2018/08/28/add-senders-vip-mai...

Yeah, this is the way. And then be super parsimonious about who gets to be a VIP.

Email from my boss, my wife, my sister, my mother, and like 2 best friends produces a notification. Nothing else.

And if any of those folks were too chatty, I'd make a different choice.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#112
The 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.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#113
post #97

Interesting! I wish Apple would expand on "Assistive Access" mode. - 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…

> 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).

I 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.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#114

I 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.

Email and chat apps are just about the only notifications I keep. I "archive" any unwanted email right from the notification screen, I report as spam anything I don't like. I hate people who have 4 digits in their email bubbles.

I really wish Apple/Google would do something about notifications, use AI for something useful.

"Hey you haven't read any of your 3454 emails, should I disable notifications for Gmail?"

"Hey you're drowning in notifications with your son texting you 2 hours ago, 4 pages down. Should I prioritize him maybe?"

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#115
post #105

>"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".

Author 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.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#116

I 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.

> There is almost no email I get that needs instant action.

Different people get different e-mails.

Also, some people just don't check e-mail otherwise. Why would they? Notifications tell them the 5 times a day they get a new e-mail, so they don't need to manually check their e-mail 2-3 times a day. It actually makes a lot of sense. Notifications mean you never have to check your e-mail.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I don't get a notification for something, there's a good chance I'll forget to check emails/texts/etc for weeks at a time.

WAT.

...do you check for texts if you don't have any text notifications telling you to?

I certainly don't.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#118

Interesting! I wish Apple would expand on "Assistive Access" mode. - 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…

As of iOS 18 you can add any app you want into assistive access now! It has been going pretty well with Beeper on my end.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#120

Just uninstalling the endless scrolling apps (Twitter, Reddit, Instagram etc.) was enough for me.

This 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.

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