The dumbphone boom is real
newyorker.com
The dumbphone boom is real
1–10 of 70 posts
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#2I've seen the light phone or phones like it.
I think the biggest thing about the smart phone is important apps like on-call, office reimbursement/receipts, chat applications such as WhatsApp or GroupMe, and the camera. Were it not for these, I might switch. Also I do light reading/research on my phone, which I would miss.
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#3My love for the dumbphone has nothing to do with disconnecting from distractions. I just want a small fucking phone again.
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#4My love for the dumbphone has nothing to do with disconnecting from distractions. I just want a small fucking phone again.
i love my iphone 12 mini for this very reason. It's still small enough to fit 'mostly' comfortably in my pocket, even a shirt pocket. I hate how large most phones are now and everyone i know that sees my phone makes fun of me/it. I just don't get why (or how) one uses such huge devices as their phones now.
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#5My love for the dumbphone has nothing to do with disconnecting from distractions. I just want a small fucking phone again.
>I just want a small fucking phone again.
Foldables are now the best of both worlds now if you're open to this relatively niche tech and some of the compromises it brings.
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#6My love for the dumbphone has nothing to do with disconnecting from distractions. I just want a small fucking phone again.
My daily driver is a Unihertz Jelly Star: full android 13, but on a 3" screen and it fits in a watch pocket. Probably not for everyone, but I love it and maybe you would too...
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#7Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#8I tried a dumbphone but it was a frustrating experience.
I recently bought myself a cheap old Android device and installed LineageOS on it. I then removed the play store and browser, and installed a handful of apps that are useful and that I don't get sucked into (personal email, whatsapp, maps, kindle). If I need to (e.g. for a trip) I can load the browser and whatever apps back on
It's the only thing that has worked _for me_ to stop randomly scrolling through rubbish when I'm bored, after having tried parental controls etc. on an iPhone
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#9I had a dumbphone for two years, it was fine.
For the past two years though, I've been using just an Apple Watch, which I was able to connect my old phone number to. It has maps, texting, calling (works best via bluetooth), weather, heart rate monitoring, alarms, email, sports scores, and some music apps. When attached to my wife's phone plan, it costs me $5 per month for all service.
I think the unfortunate reality of dumbphones is that of the folks searching for dumbphones, we all have fairly specific ideas on which features we want and which ones we don't, but there are only like 5 reasonable options available, and most don't hit the mark for many of us. If you want good maps, that rules out many. If you want a camera, that would rule out the watch like I use. If you want reasonable texting ergonomics that isn't speech-to-text, that rules out pretty much all of them
Re: The dumbphone boom is real
#10My love for the dumbphone has nothing to do with disconnecting from distractions. I just want a small fucking phone again.
>I just want a small fucking phone again. Foldables are now the best of both worlds now if you're open to this relatively niche tech and some of the compromises it brings.
What about durability? I've heard a lot of "one speck of dust gets in the wrong place and the screen self-destructs" stories.