When I came to upgrade back in February, I was this 👉🏼👈🏼 close to getting a dumb 4G Nokia because my addiction to my apps was killing me and I wanted an out. I already use a Kobo for reading, and have a couple of classic iPods for music, so I was kinda set.

But when it came down to it, I realised that I’d have been offloading an awful lot of tech admin to my wife, and that I’d have to start remembering to take my wallet everywhere, and to have cash for car parking and that. On top of that, my wife bought me an Apple Watch for Christmas, so I’d have needed to keep an iPhone around for syncing that anyway, and for using as a GPS when driving anywhere unfamiliar. I thought about getting an iPod touch instead, but ultimately that just seemed like it would be stupid.

So in the end I got an iPhone 13 mini, on the basis that the smaller screen might make me less inclined to spend hours scrolling. And that seems to have worked for me, somewhat. Also, the mini is a fucking beautiful little handset, with a lovely camera, and it only costs me £30 a month.

I bought one last year, but it’s a camera/music player and not something I use to talk to people nor browse the internet. I have times during the day in which I can be contacted, but otherwise I face minimal interruptions from what I’m doing at any given moment.

I don’t see the point. Sure, smartphones can be bad, but I have adhd and an addictive personality and I can limit myself if I set up boundaries. Remove apps that waste time, set app time limits, but still have a gps/camera/computer in my pocket if I need it.

I’m interested to see what responses you get though.

Smartphone? I don’t even have a cell phone. No signal out where I live, and Im not paying to take calls while Im at work.

I use VOIP for my phone at home.

I’ve had periods where I’ve been using dumb phones, or 4g dumb phone with limited functionality.

I’ve always reverted back to a smart phone because the friction without one becomes so huge. Getting on a bus, transferring money to friends, your 2FA for bank services… It all needs your phone or else you need cards and dongles and whatnot. I was hoping that a 4g dumb phone with KaiOS would be a good compromise, but I’ve landed on that for me to be able to participate in society I need a smart phone. So I turn off all notifications, and have chosen to use an iPhone for the sake of simplicity. It just works. 🤷‍♂️

I’ve been thinking about building my own semi-dumb phone out of a pi and a colour e-ink screen, I just want something that is FOSS (unlike KaiOS unfortunately) and has a few smart functions like internet messaging and maps. I’ll probably still carry my Android phone (running LineageOS MicroG) for the few Android apps I really need but it’d be nice to be able to keep it in my bag with my PSP and Kindle rather than in my front pocket at all times!

I tried and tried again. Even had time Punkt phones. Tried a new (at the time) KaiOS phone: it came with bloatware and 3 months in was no longer supported for upgrades. Plus, the software was clunky and battery life was similar to a smartphone.

Why would I want FB and Twitter and demos of non-free games on a feature phone?

The Punkt had Signal, but messages were delayed by up to 2 hours.

The Mudita phone (which I didn’t try) has not received any rave reviews.

I wasn’t asking for much at the time. 4G, no bloatware, calls, text, contacts… Luckily I was able to resell all of the devices and recoup some cash.