Dumbphone 2
38 points
8 hours ago
| 10 comments
| dumb.co
| HN
sthuck
1 hour ago
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The maximum battery save mode on Samsung (or maybe on all android devices?) does just that - you can set the limit on which apps can be opend. Turn the display to greyscale. Homescreen only shows like 8 apps.

I think for most people, just putting an extra step between you and whatever toxic app(s) you have can be enough. It mostly works for me, and as an added bonus you get insane battery life. I would try that before buying a new phone.

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aqme28
1 hour ago
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Different people need a different number of steps inbetween. I know for myself, I'll just end up disabling the battery saver mode.
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sthuck
37 minutes ago
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Fair enough, I probably wrote most people just as an automatic phrase when it should be "some people"
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johmue
1 hour ago
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"Just say no"
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user_7832
52 minutes ago
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This is more like "just increase friction". For some people it's more than enough, for others it's barely anything. Personally speaking, I've found that just the act of removing the reddit app from my home screen makes it fairly less likely to be opened, as now I need to open my app drawer.
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sthuck
38 minutes ago
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Check my math here, but 1 is larger than 0.
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mm263
2 hours ago
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A subscription dumbphone? Sounds dumb, I can just buy a better dumbphone
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huhkerrf
2 hours ago
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The subscription is for the phone service. Though it is true that you can only use this with their service.
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tristanj
2 hours ago
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I bought a cheap Android "dumbphone" specifically for going to the gym. I was constantly getting distracted responding to messages / browsing the internet while working out, so on this phone I only have my workout tracker and Spotify installed. I disabled the Chrome browser though an app restriction tool. The phone has a cheap data-only SIM. My regular phone stays in the car.

I noticed this made a huge difference, I'm much more focused on training and my gym sessions finish a lot faster.

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smokel
55 minutes ago
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Do you swap SIM cards all the time? This seems to be the biggest blocking issue for me.

I tried switching phones once a week, which was heavenly. Might try that again, it requires some discipline.

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rwl
2 hours ago
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I love the idea and wish I could get something like this in Europe. The main reason I "need" a smartphone over here is that EU banking regulations make it nearly impossible to do online banking without one. Anyone know of similar projects over here that would satisfy that need?
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Svip
1 hour ago
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"Europe" may be a bit broad there. In Denmark, I can get by without a smartphone; I have to carry what they call a "MitID code display" to gain access to online public services (though the device is entirely free of charge), but I also carry keys, so it's not a big hassle.
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lowdude
54 minutes ago
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There was a comment a couple of days ago that mentioned using MDM to lock down their iPhone. So essentially, dumbing down a normal smartphone to whatever your essentials are and removing the web browser. That may be an expensive way of going about this, but I find it an interesting approach. Android probably has similar solutions, anything outside that duopoly will get tricky again w.r.t. banking.
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mschild
1 hour ago
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Depends on your bank.

A lot of banks in Germany still offer photoTAN generators. Effectively, a physical device that generates 2FA codes for your login. You can then use the website as usual and use the codes from this instead of phone confirmation. This is one example from ING.[0]

That way you can effectively use most feature phones as your daily drivers. HMD (Nokia) still manufacturers some of them that even come with GPS, etc. There are some feature phones that even run Android but I don't know what app support for things like Spotify is like.

[0]https://genostore.de/ING

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Semaphor
1 hour ago
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At least in Germany, many banks still offer alternatives. You’ll need to buy dedicated hardware like a chipcard reader.

Alternatively, keep a cheap smartphone around with nothing but the banking app on it.

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kennywinker
2 hours ago
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Like all dumbphones, it suffers from the same problem. Specifically, your set of dumb apps isn’t my set of dumb apps. Idgaf about uber, but i need Signal and Slack. You dgaf about those, but you need facebook messenger and google maps. Etc.
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xdertz
1 hour ago
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I think the solution is not a dumbphone but a full android e-ink phone. Horrendous for everything that involves video but runs every app and can be used as an ereader.

Unfortunately I have to found one that speaks to me, as they are all from Chinese manufactures with questionable quality.

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knz42
54 minutes ago
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What do you think of the minimal phone? https://minimalcompany.com/
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elxr
31 minutes ago
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Insane price. I really should get into this "stripped-out phone masquerading as a crafted minimal phone" space.
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jorisw
2 hours ago
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A hardware solution to a personal behavioral problem.

I've seen people use Screen Time on iOS to help them 'adjust' their behavior. There was a thread on this just the other day: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312443

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sermah
1 hour ago
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I see nothing wrong here. You cannot fight several teams of customer retention (no idea how it’s called) when you are already deep in their hands. Sometimes the best way is to remove or limit their products.
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jorisw
1 hour ago
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> customer retention

I suppose you're referring to engagement maximization algorithms (my words) of socials?

> already deep in their hands

If a person observes they're sensitive to these, do they really need an additional device to disrupt their reactive behavior and be a little bit more deliberate in what they do?

> remove or limit their products

Is deleting the apps or using them in moderation[1] really so hard?

[1] One form of moderation I've found is to disable notifications for those (if not all) apps. Again, seizing control instead of being reactive to whatever some platform/app/device decides to shove down your throat at any given time.

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johmue
1 hour ago
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it's not personal if most people are doing it
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jorisw
1 hour ago
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You're saying DumbPhone is a potential mainstream product?
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starvar2
1 hour ago
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I broke the website with 3 clicks, wow.
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HelloUsername
3 hours ago
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Modified TCL Flip running KaiOS?
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martheen
1 hour ago
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Which makes me wonder how they claim to support WhatsApp since they no longer support KaiOS. Maybe it's an Android fork instead.
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josteink
3 hours ago
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I don’t see why it ships with a SIM + a forced plan.

That limits the ability to use it (or buy it) in any «unsupported» country.

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camillomiller
2 hours ago
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Probably to avoid the accusations of selling burners?
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RandomGerm4n
2 hours ago
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Why would that be bad?
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dmfdmf
7 hours ago
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> we made the intentional decision to not include email on the dumbphone 2 to stay aligned with our values. we created a communication device with essentials that help guide you off your smartphone screen, while still being able to operate in the modern world.

I'm looking for a dumb phone and this looked promising until no email. Email is underrated as a time saver, if you aren't getting hundreds of emails daily which is a choice. Email is not as urgent as text or phone calls and its main advantage is that it separates the sender/receiver schedule or timezone.

People need to learn to guard their time and schedule like a hawk and not operate in chronic reaction mode, i.e. someone else setting your priorities for the day.

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sandcat_
5 hours ago
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> People need to learn to guard their time and schedule like a hawk and not operate in chronic reaction mode, i.e. someone else setting your priorities for the day.

Why not just use a smartphone if you’re able to guard your time effectively?

I feel like the main reason people are interested in dumb phones is because they’ve identified that they personally can’t, for whatever reason. (Certainly that’s why I’m intrigued by them.)

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rgovostes
1 hour ago
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Once upon a time, or perhaps in an alternative universe in which the iPhone did not take over the world, there was Peek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peek_(mobile_Internet_device)
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jlund-molfese
3 hours ago
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Plus, email access is assumed for identity verification these days. Whether that's porting a number out from a wireless carrier or any service that has your email but not your phone number.
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jeroenhd
1 hour ago
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> Email is not as urgent as text or phone calls

I receive emails that need immediate attention and texts that can wait a day or two. The only urgency attached to these communication methods is the urgency you assign them.

The limited communication options and the frankly weird choices for what to include and what not to include (no email, WhatsApp and Uber are included?) make this a very weird product in my opinion.

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