All I need is phone calls, texting and the ability to take photos/video. I have 3 younger kids and the convenience of being able to record their nonsense has been wonderful for my wife and I. We have a "family movie night" once or twice a year where we roll through old footage and laugh, reminisce and (of course) hold back tears. I don't want to lose that. But all the distractions that some with smartphones I would like to be done with.
And no... I'm not carrying around a separate camera wherever I go.
Thank you in advance.
-Hog
You can buy a no data plan,
https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/best-no-data-cell-phone-plans
Have someone change the wifi password and not tell you
When the word 'smart' is used within terms such as smartphone, smart cities or smart homes, it comes from the acronym S.M.A.R.T., which initially stood for 'Self-monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technologies
whats distracting about your phone?
it can take a bit of know-how to wrangle them into submission.
but for other things its just self discipline.
i quit the facebook scroll cold turkey like 8 years ago.
still use messenger to keep in touch, but that's it.
and blocking certain notifications is an essential skill.
https://takemy.money/the-best-minimalist-phones
Guessing you aren’t a fan of the Unplugged phone.
I do remember hearing about one a while back that was supposed to be a similar privacy based phone, not just minimalist, but from someone I had a lot less sideeye toward.
Actually, that one is pretty pricey - about 1,000.00. IIRC that was Erik Prince's creation.
Pricey yes, but is it actually secure from unintended watchers and non-s.m.a.r.t.
That's probably the best of the lot if OP wants to drop a K on it.
I wonder how a phone gets around the EMEI number, as that’s what allows the towers to route signal back to the phone.
A flip phone is all I have, or need.
Just buy a good camera and get an old Nokia cell phone.
I just went thru a period of not having a phone . Everyone should practice this once a month. It becomes glaringly obvious how dependent we've become on these satanic little devices. You can't Google directions, you can't access your emails, you can't call a tow truck in the middle of nowhere. Quite liberating I must admit
I was actually looking in to this myself, last night. Check these out: https://www.thelightphone.com/lightiii
I had asked my husband this past Christmas for a nice digital camera (I’m thinking like what I had in 2010-2015) so I can capture better videos and pictures of our first born. What he found was unless you’re paying thousands of dollars for a nice bulky digital camera, there’s pretty much nothing on the market anymore because the most basic smartphone has a better camera than just the cheap digitals out there. I had a basic iPhone and the quality was very poor especially on the videos.. We chose to purchase a 15 because it boasts of a quality camera. I’m very happy with the decision, but if you’re wanting to “dumb” your phone down there are ways to set it up where things are deleted/locked so they aren’t accessible.
I've thought about getting an old Razr flip phone. Would be so nice to have something that fit easily and unobtrusively in a pocket again.
I know those had limited text capability - don't recall if they had cameras. They also had external antenna jacks which would sometimes come in handy for me.
What's kept me from them is that I need a smart device for MFA for work, so I'm basically stuck with one.
That’s also the other kicker: work. I need to be in the loop on a consistent basis. Emails would be important as well
That's kind of a problem.
If I had a solution, I'd be using it.
About the only thing I can think of is uninstalling any apps that are distracting.
I would suggest buying a flip phone, and then just buying a decent camera (a real one, like people used to use.) That way you can retain the ability to take high quality pictures and videos. I'm not a camera guy so I don't what a good quality camera is or what price point is reasonable, so do your own research.