Ask HN: Want to move to use a "dumb" phone. How to make the switch?

For me it's mostly about your awareness and motivation, and you can test both with almost every phone on the market (well at least on Android).

Just use the "ultra" power saving mode your current phone has. It's not a fully universal advise, but usually it will make your screen turn grayscale, disable background services, replace your launcher with a much simpler one and then allow you to add 3-5 apps to use. On my phones it's configurable (like, you can keep colors, etc).

You can still use 5G and read email, use an IM. But you have to prioritize and your notifications are severely limited.

I personally consolidated all mail to Thunderbird mobile which checks mail every 3-4 hours only and it had zero impact on me (I can always refresh manually if I need to confirm login email etc).

A take on this to add - the absolute ease of this might depend on your social enviornment.

Make a list of mobile apps you use. For each of these, identify the web or other substitute soluti9n.

If there is no substitute, you might need a smartphone. Is the solution to 5his keeping one in a box, for example.

bruce511 · a month ago

I presume you mean web-on-desktop? Since a dumb phone doesn't have a browser?

I came late to phones, resisting them till 2013. Up to that point I could function with desktop alone. Today, it's not possible (for me.)

Authentication is a big part of it. My (web) access to my bank demands a selfie photo on my phone. Plus endless other systems.

Outside of work, all communications is via WhatsApp. I pretty much don't even read SMS's anymore. They're 99% spam or scam. And it's not just person to person, all social activities from church to sport to band etc are all on WhatsApp.

I use maps only a couple times a year, but when I need it, I really need it (cause I'm not where I expected to be.)

I don't do social media, or email, on the phone. Both if which frankly lead to problems in some situations.

I'm traveling this year and the number of tickets (train and museum) that can only be used from a phone is impressive.

I applud your desire to remove the phone from your life, especially if you are distracted by it. But you may find that it's hard to do. I'm not interested in "work arounds", I want to get stuff done, not fight everything about my life.

So I recommend, get a dumb phone and use that. You'll quickly discover what's missing every time you have to reach for the smart phone.

- Low-res photos are perfectly fine for my purposes - I don't need Google Maps when I'm on the go - Quick fact checking is not important - One day, I ripped off the band aid and migrated all auth keys to Yubikey - Tethering is occasionally useful

szszrk · 25 days ago

allinonetools_ · a month ago

I tried it for a few months. What helped was keeping a basic smartphone at home on Wi-Fi just for authenticator apps and maps planning before heading out. The key is not going fully offline — it is removing instant access during the day. The friction actually makes you more intentional.

rekabis · a month ago

As a note: there are almost no true dumb phones in existence anymore. Almost all flip phones are smart phones in disguise, with either a cut-down version of Android (with all the data collection that entails) or KaiOS under the hood.

At this point, you might be best served by obtaining a Rotary Un-SmartPhone (https://skysedge.com/RUSP/index.html ) once they start production up again. Now that is a true dumb phone.

barbazoo · a month ago

What a beautiful little device

7777332215 · 25 days ago

For why? Get a pixel, install graphene. And use the utilities that serve you. Text/voice communications, GPS, MP3 music player (if you listen to music), a web browser. Maybe google translate and your banking apps (or use a browser for either).

There is no place for garbage like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube on your phone. It's a device for utility, not entertainment consumption.

throwaway5465 · a month ago

runjake · 24 days ago

This question gets asked quite a bit.

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=dumb+phone

My take is: don't. There's very few dumb phones to choose from anymore, they are mostly slow, laggy, and insecure. The older classics are no longer compatible with existing cellular networks.

If you have no self-control, it's better to use a smart phone with the apps removed and the device locked down (give the "key" to someone you trust).

oneearedrabbit · a month ago

Cold turkey. More than seven years ago, on my way home, I stopped at T-Mobile and bought a random flip phone. I still own that same phone. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21929194

Just a few minor updates to my original post:

Edit: some things never change--I still haven't learned how to format a bulleted list here.

mrKola · a month ago

Uninstall all the apps. Turn data off.