Today I powered on my iPhone for the first time in just under a month. Since the start of the year I've been using my dumbdroid as my full time phone. I've set up the phone pretty much as it comes out of the box, apart from the addition of WhatsApp, and I have disabled the app store and browser. It came with an open source maps application called Organic Maps, which I have been using just fine to get around London. I plan on making a more thorough review, but here are my thoughts for now:
People find the phone extremely interesting and almost everyone who sees it during a conversation will bring it up. While most people think it's a crazy idea at first, around half of everyone I've spoken to has been very curious and ends up saying they will think about getting one. It's been eye opening to me to see how many people want to improve their 'digital health' and instantly resonate with a desire to get some space from their phone.
In almost every conversation about my phone I am asked "why am I doing it?". My reasons are varied, and I'm finding that 'the point' is revealing itself to me through time, but here are a few reasons:
The creators of the phone point out that given how small the screen is, and the relatively awkward keyboard, you might not need to put any additional restrictions on the phone to improve your screen time etc. I wanted to go a step further and actually lock the phone down so it's a true brick phone. Currently the only way that seems to be supported is by typing in a pin code, but if you know the pin code then that kind of defeats the point. You could have a friend do it, but instead, I pasted in a sequence of numbers I had not memorised and now the phone requires reinstallation in order to change the app controls.
My current setup:
I like that this is super minimalist but if I were to do it again I would consider installing:
I used to almost exclusively use Apple Pay, but have gone back to using bank cards and cash. I have had zero problems with that so far.
My right pocket used to be for my iPhone, it's now for my dumbdroid and a tiny ereader called the xteink x4. If I reach for something to pass the time when I'm out and about I now only have the options of contacting friends or reading a book. I really like that choice. I find these devices go very well together.
I have also been experimenting with keeping my laptop in a locker in my office, which means when I go home I have zero internet connected devices. This has introduced some challenges, including an extremely tedious weekend in which I wanted to do some admin but was locked out of the office, leading to unplanned mini digital detox. Overall I find this a really nice way to check out after work and make doom scrolling of any kind impossible. It happens to work well at the moment because I have this separate working space, such that I do not need to do any work at home, and I'm not sure how one could achieve this otherwise.
I will absolutely be keeping my iPhone 11, despite rarely using it. Until I reinstall my dumbdroid and add my banking apps, it's my only way of doing internet banking. I will also certainly use my iPhone in certain situations like managing digital forms at airports, and might even start using it in the office as a 'mini-iPad' but not putting it in my pocket or bringing it away from my desk.