I’ve been using a flip phone as my daily driver for a while now. The smartphone is still around, but it mostly sits in a drawer until bureaucracy or banking apps force me to use it.
For me, the benefits are clear: less distraction, more focus, better sleep. But I know for many people it’s not so easy. Essential apps, social pressure, work requirements… these are real blockers.
I’d like to start a discussion (almost like an informal poll):
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If you thought about switching, what’s the single biggest thing that holds you back?
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Is it banking? Messaging? Maps? Something else?
I’m genuinely curious because if we can identify the main pain points, maybe it’s possible to work on solutions or even start a small project around it.
So: what would need to change for you to actually give a flip phone a try?
I personally dont think you need to switch to a dumb phone to get those benefits, smartphones themselves arent what’s causing issues its what you’re using. You want less distraction just stop using those apps or turn off push notifications.
I wholeheartedly agree with this perspective.
I started on a privacy journey because I didn’t like that I’m being tracked (by basically everybody) and feel that the technology that I pay for should be service to me, not me as a service to it (and its related parties).
Anyways, along the way I did a few things. Namely, I turned off mail notifications (this was an inadvertent feature since my mail service couldn’t send notifications without google services that I removed). I also removed my sim and use data only via a hotspot, to which I don’t always have on. These sound like crazy things, and admittedly they aren’t for everyone, but the resulting mental shifts are exactly to this point.
Just because I have a device that let’s me be available to anybody in any place at any time, doesn’t mean I should be, or even need to be, available unless I want to be.
Now I protect my time, and the mental clarity that comes with it. I never was a doom scroller, but even now that concept is even more reduced. The phone is my tool, and I use when needed.
Right, absolutely. I use almost no apps for anything, I just use my phone’s browser for the web sites I want, and have a specific few non-privacy-invasive apps for other things (Voyager for here, Signal for messaging, password manager, etc) and have zero reason I would ever want to give up that functionality to do what, make CALLS? I don’t do that shit. Text message? Nah.
I really hate when people are like “just stop” like everyone has impeccable self control and executive function.
What self control? Just delete the app and find a different addiction. Right now I’m on Lemmy 😜
Agreed. Also, there are important applications that I wouldn’t do without. Like Google Maps, my Garmin watch app, My security camera app.
Who even makes phone calls today? Not me. I need a device that does everything but phone calls more than I need a device that only does voice.
Construction workers, for sure. I miss PTT from NEXTEL (Motorola radio built into the phone) that shit was awesome.
There are both open source and commercial apps that do PTT over internet. It turns phones into radio, it even has the capability to have central radio operation rooms for companies and such. It’s all automated.
I can’t get these people to use Signal instead of SMS.
But nothing internet dependent will turn a phone into a radio. We are in places where even 4G doesn’t reach sometimes and if there was a Motorola repeater onsite it’d be great. I’ve got our company trying it out and the SL300 has been a game changer for our communication on site.
There are devices like that. For example the iPod touch.
I still need internet service and the iPod touch was discontinued years ago.
Sony still makes an Android equivalent.
I know someone that has been trying out all of the mp3 players and has yet to find something that works as well as an iPod classic.
But then why would I need one? It’s all on my phone.
I’ve seen a few devices go by recently trying to capture that use case. Some have looked promising but I still have a Zune.
I don’t use the phone part of my smartphone much, so thie idea of a dumbphone has no real appeal for me.
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i don’t want my phone to be dumb, I want it to be open source, front to back! The issue of smartphones isn’t that its “too smart”, instead we should talk about why the control of our phones aren’t within our grasp, but on the palm of corpos and govs.
you want to use your smartphone while keeping it simple? Install less apps and disable ALL telemetry (this is where being open source comes in).
You may as well ask me to throw away me phone entirely. I don’t carry a smartphone to make phone calls. I hate phone calls.
95% of that is spam. And an old dumbphone won’t even have auto spam detection.
I use my phone to take pictures, send those pictures, look for restaurants, navigate to those restaurants, listen to music, etc.
So what you’re asking for is to make the part I hate about phones worse, while removing all the functions I actually use my phone for.
yeah my phone is not a phone, I fucking hate the phone. it’s a computer
I’m closer to carrying around a cyberdeck than a dumbphone.
I don’t like either sms or phonecalls.
Precisely. I’d be more likely to switch to one of those pocket “hot spot” devices. Just a thing in my pocket that gives devices I control internet access and maybe has a shitty web interface I can log into for basic SMS when absolutely necessary. No microphone, no camera, no GPS, no access to my actual computing environment. Only 2 downsides are maintaining battery charge in multiple devices and the fact that those hotspots are generally hot garbage, and so unreliable.
Maybe, a flip phone if one existed that was 1) a full-time good quality internet hotspot (i.e., good battery), and 2) lacked a GPS and camera, and hardware disconnected the microphone when closed. Now that I think about it, that would be a fantastic device… if it existed.
All my parking meters require an app, and all of my work logins require pressing a confirmation in an app.
Maybe not a dumb phone but I would love to use a phone with an e-ink screen. I know there are some projects about this or some Chinese phones but I haven’t met an e-ink phone that I can install a custom ROM yet.
That would solve most of the issues others have brought up. It’s probably fast enough for navigation and definitely fast enough for banking, MFA, RCS/Signal, etc…
Try the HiSense A9 Pro. I don’t have one personally but from what I have seen and read, it can run Lineage OS quite well (actually better than it’s own Android OS). I am considering it eventually but haven’t made the move yet. Currently on Moto Razr 2024 which I am using with mostly FOSS apps and no social media whatsoever. I used to have a Pixel 9 Pro running Graphene OS which I truly enjoyed but it died on me and the warranty was not applicable due to me having installed that unsupported OS… So yeah, shit happens and I got myself this Razr for good price urgently since I was travelling when it happened.
Thanks for the suggestion, seems actually nice with all the ability to install a custom ROM. Sadly, it’s not practical for me to get it from abroad because of our government’s horrendous regulations about buying anything from outside of the country unless you are a trader. Even if I manage to buy it without any problems, there is also IMEI unlock fee which is almost the same price with this phone. My best bet would be, get this phone via a friend who comes from abroad and change the IMEI to my old phone. So, not soon but maybe some day.
Signal.
I’d like to be able to use Signal.
I don’t like talking to people.
A flip phone/dumbphone would sort of be mutually exclusive with my use case. I use my smartphone nearly exclusively as a lightweight mobile computer for web browsing, SSHing into my server, and messaging over internet (not SMS). I rarely use the “phone” features of my phone, i.e. phone calls and SMS. So I’d be losing out over the features I do use, in favour of features I don’t use.
If you’re being distracted by your phone and a dumbphone works for you, good on you. I think most people are like me and use their phones as a small mobile computer rather than a phone though, in which case distractions are best handled with one of the many apps/browser add-ons/etc that block websites or apps.
I’ve lived through the cell phone invention, to flip phones, to smartphones. They were terrible back then and I doubt that’s changed now.
Now, I do understand the reason why you moved back to one. For me, I just got aggressive about notifications and turned off most of them. I stopped social media tied to friends and family and am selective about what I’m on and for how long. Takes more personal willpower (or whatever) but you do get used to it in the long run and feel better.
Being forced to use a stock google android or iOS would be what drives me to use a dumb phone.
As long as I can install a custom ROM like LineageOS or GrapheneOS, I’m good.
What phone are you using?
Pixel 9 pro
