The Beauty of a Dumbphone
There is much to consider when thinking about how frequently you look at your phone and respond. It is directing your life, not you determining what you want. That should make you think.
10/8/20241 min read
It has become a trend lately for those tired of the endless barrage of alerts on their phones to seek an alternative. Admittedly the abilities our our phones are impressive since it does everything but feed you. But phones will also give directions to people who will.
Just like anything new, it loses the appeal after a while. That is because as humans we are initially curious and then once we have conquered that mountain, we get easily bored and sometimes annoyed since every piece of tech has its downsides.
Enter the dumb phone with all those noisy capabilities still available if you so choose but not in your face 24/7. Sounds peaceful doesn’t it? Keep what you want enabled like the photo taking or anything else you find mandatory. It is an enticing story right?
I also came across an article recently on Wired with a post by David Nield Gear dated September 13, 2024 entitled: ‘How to Turn Your Smartphone Into a Dumb Phone’ which offers directions to do this.
Here are his instructions as per an iPhone or Android device: “For the iPhone, download the app called ‘Dumb Phone’. It creates a text-based launch menu for just your most essential apps while hiding everything else—including icons and notification badges—from view.
Pricing starts at $3 per month (you can also pay yearly, or $25 for a lifetime of use), but there's a seven-day free trial available so you can see if you like it first before spending any money.
Then, you need to add the dark Dumb Phone wallpaper (Wallpaper in Settings), switch to dark mode (Display & Brightness in Settings), and turn off home screen animations: From Settings select Accessibility > Per-App Settings > Add App > Home Screen & App Library, then tap Home Screen & App Library and Reduce Motion, and set it to On.
With all of that taken care of, you need to hide other home screen app shortcuts, which you can do by pressing and holding on them, then choosing Remove App and Remove from Home Screen.
Check out his post for more.