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
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
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
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.