Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

iPhone dumbphone

stopa.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 403 posts

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#231

Post by eigencoder »

samhclark wrote: post #160

I 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 t…

I'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.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#232

Post by eigencoder »

jdthedisciple wrote: post #70

I 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 ...

I totally get that, but for me I'd rather put in controls that make it easy to do the things I want, a la Atomic Habits.

Like, I want to eat healthier. I can try more self-control to not eat the Oreos in the pantry, or I can stop putting Oreos there. Putting guardrails on my devices is just easier to help me live the life I want.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#233

Post by jonfromsf »

pmarreck wrote: post #230

My 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.

He needs uber. He needs google maps. Mostly it's not just about looking up information, it's about functionality.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#234

Post by teeeeeegz »

devonsolomon wrote: post #96

Thanks! 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)…

Wow 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!

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#235

Post by teeeeeegz »

jonfromsf wrote: post #233
pmarreck wrote: post #230

My 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.

He needs uber. He needs google maps. Mostly it's not just about looking up information, it's about functionality.

And convenience too, to an extent

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#236

Post by teeeeeegz »

ismokedoinks wrote: post #125
willio58 wrote: post #29

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 like Assistive Access, but my biggest issue is that you have to click like 100 times to read any notification. No option to just be able to read a text from the home screen. I found it was even more friction (for my use) to unlock my phone constantly than the regular format.

This. The I feel the significant nerfing of important functionality in the Camera app (as an example) suggests assistive access isn't geared toward the general folk like myself.

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#237

Post by eigencoder »

marklar423 wrote: post #41

I'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.

I've been doing what the author did for about a year using Configurator. I have the browser blocked completely. I found that I could still get around it by sending messages to myself in apps like Messenger and using the built-in browser.

So I ended up using an allow list for internet traffic with nothing allowed, which stopped that. What do you find you need the browser for?

Re: iPhone dumbphone

#240

Post by eigencoder »

captn3m0 wrote: post #2

afaik 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?

You can install mobileconfig files without factory-reset, but I've found some settings won't "take" until the phone is supervised.
Post reply on HN