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The Quest for a Dumber Phone

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Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#71

Post by ploum »

AstixAndBelix wrote: post #29

I've realized there's a single simple thing that makes these dumb phones useless: closed source . That's right, closed source services. If we were able to write our own minimal Messenger, Whatsapp, Signal, Viber, etc. clients without fear of getting a cease and desist letter from a trillion dollar company we could easily sideload them into any phone with an internet connection. Phones are meant to be used for communi…

Exactly that. I’m also worried to see KaiOS phones featuring proeminent Google apps. I don’t want Google in a minimal phone.

That’s why I’ve really big hopes for Mudita: they open-sourced their whole OS (I didn’t checked the code but it seems to be fully on github).

My biggest problem with dumbphones is that, in Belgium, nearly all banks now require you to use their app. (my solution so far: keeping an old smartphone with broken screen in a drawer, only for banking purposes).

Also, I realized that my use is completely different while traveling: I’ve an app for belgian railway, I synchronize PDF tickets to my phone and I also need the companion app for my bike GPS. My solution so far: using the Hisense A5, with eink screen. No google, most apps don’t work but bike GPS works great. Problem is that Firefox and Protonmail also work great, which is not a minimal phone anymore.

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#72

Post by SoftTalker »

setgree wrote: post #16

I long for a dumber phone, but I’ve been thinking about all the supplementary devices I’d need to buy to make up for it — basically a printer (+ ink) for tickets and a GPS device with car ride services and google maps built in for getting around. I _feel_ as though I need those things, at any rate.

You can have a tablet in the car for maps and use the phone's hotspot feature to connect it (or download the maps in advance if you think about it).

But that's still two devices instead of one, which ends up being more complicated, not less.

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#74

Post by titanomachy »

andrew-dc wrote: post #69

Having not used a smart phone for ~5 years now, I can say that it is totally a workable solution - however, there are, of course trade-offs, and several persistent annoyances. Rather than get into a list, I will present the one thing that I find the most frustrating: Our society expects you to have and use a smart phone for nearly everything. This might be less annoying if it meant only new functions or supplemented…

Calling a smartphone a "luxury item" if you live in America (or similar) is a bit disingenuous. Anything that has 85% market penetration is by definition not a luxury item.

In some countries this could be an accurate description, though. And I agree with the overall sentiment, I would like it to be easier to get through my day without using a smartphone.

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#75

Post by Nextgrid »

AstixAndBelix wrote: post #29

I've realized there's a single simple thing that makes these dumb phones useless: closed source . That's right, closed source services. If we were able to write our own minimal Messenger, Whatsapp, Signal, Viber, etc. clients without fear of getting a cease and desist letter from a trillion dollar company we could easily sideload them into any phone with an internet connection. Phones are meant to be used for communi…

> without fear of getting a cease and desist letter

Seems like the problem is the law and legal system being abused to prevent adversarial interoperability. The official clients being closed source doesn't change anything.

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#76

Post by SoftTalker »

You don't need a dumb phone, you just need decide who's in charge. I used to want a dumb phone, but there are a few things (mainly maps/navigation) that I find genuinely useful that dumb phones can't do.

So I decided that it's my phone and I'm the one who decides how to use it.

I have a reasonably new iPhone. I spend maybe 15 minutes a day on it (excluding navigation), total.

I have removed apps I don't use. I disabled Siri, FaceID, most notifications, and location is turned off unless I'm using maps. I have one page on my home screen and there are maybe a dozen apps on it (and that still includes a few I have never used so I could pare down further).

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#77

Post by lastofthemojito »

titanomachy wrote: post #74
andrew-dc wrote: post #69

Having not used a smart phone for ~5 years now, I can say that it is totally a workable solution - however, there are, of course trade-offs, and several persistent annoyances. Rather than get into a list, I will present the one thing that I find the most frustrating: Our society expects you to have and use a smart phone for nearly everything. This might be less annoying if it meant only new functions or supplemented…

Calling a smartphone a "luxury item" if you live in America (or similar) is a bit disingenuous. Anything that has 85% market penetration is by definition not a luxury item. In some countries this could be an accurate description, though. And I agree with the overall sentiment, I would like it to be easier to get through my day without using a smartphone.

Yeah, even as a smartphone owner, I find it annoying how some places just assume you're able (and willing!) to install some arbitrary app to do business with them, etc.

That being said, it really doesn't have to be all that expensive. Sure, if you buy the newest iPhone every year and get a high-end Verizon plan, that'll cost some dough. But you can get a used or low-end smartphone and a cheap plan - they're out there: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-cheap-cell-phone-plans,rev...

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#78

Post by throwaway4aday »

titanomachy wrote: post #74
andrew-dc wrote: post #69

Having not used a smart phone for ~5 years now, I can say that it is totally a workable solution - however, there are, of course trade-offs, and several persistent annoyances. Rather than get into a list, I will present the one thing that I find the most frustrating: Our society expects you to have and use a smart phone for nearly everything. This might be less annoying if it meant only new functions or supplemented…

Calling a smartphone a "luxury item" if you live in America (or similar) is a bit disingenuous. Anything that has 85% market penetration is by definition not a luxury item. In some countries this could be an accurate description, though. And I agree with the overall sentiment, I would like it to be easier to get through my day without using a smartphone.

It adheres to the definition. The problem with the phrasing is that nearly all people in America and many other countries are inundated with luxury items to the point where we view them as basic necessities. That doesn't make them necessities, they are still lifestyle choices that while more affordable than ever are still superfluous to our existence.

In other words, we're all spoiled brats ;)

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#79

Post by throwaway4aday »

SoftTalker wrote: post #76

You don't need a dumb phone, you just need decide who's in charge. I used to want a dumb phone, but there are a few things (mainly maps/navigation) that I find genuinely useful that dumb phones can't do. So I decided that it's my phone and I'm the one who decides how to use it. I have a reasonably new iPhone. I spend maybe 15 minutes a day on it (excluding navigation), total. I have removed apps I don't use. I disabl…

I'm glad you're able to resist temptation so well. For others it can be more of a problem. For some it is equivalent to an alcoholic carrying around a pint of vodka that also happens to make phone calls.

Re: The Quest for a Dumber Phone

#80

Post by neogodless »

kibwen wrote: post #45

I recently "upgraded" to a new phone, not because I wanted to, but because my prior phone was too old to receive security updates. The new phone, despite being newer tech, is abjectly worse at being a usable device: the fingerprint is in a worse location and has terrible accuracy, scrolling or zooming anything is a stuttering nightmare, it's too heavy and wide to be comfortably used one-handed, and so on. It's so muc…

What research and shopping criteria should one employ to ensure they get an objectively worse phone?
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