from Hacker News

The science behind an iPhone dumb phone

by hbroadbent on 7/16/24, 11:57 AM with 72 comments

  • by robertlagrant on 7/16/24, 12:48 PM

    I've uninstalled all social media, which is the main notifications hook. I really think the power of apps is in notifications, and it's best to cut them out. If I want to see a Tweet or a Facebook post, probably because someone I know on Whatsapp sent me it, I'll use the website. I don't want to be dragged in by notifications.

    Anyone else the same?

  • by shinycode on 7/16/24, 12:39 PM

    When the tool is too powerful for our capacities of self-control, maybe some people should roll back to the was things were before.

    - a simple phone with SMS

    - a desk computer in the living room for internet and email, shared between everyone

    - a camera

    - an ebook reader (or just books and newspaper)

  • by volatilecarbon on 7/16/24, 12:52 PM

    The grayscale suggestion is pretty interesting. I was skeptical it would make any difference, but I tried it and my home screen instantly felt more calming to look at at. It seems like we really underestimate how much visual complexity exhausts us.

    Not sure how long I'll keep it like that, but I think I'll leave it for now as I've been trying to minimize my phone for a while now (biggest difference was removing social media apps and disabling most notifications). If you're a busy person with a lot of demands on your attention, I highly recommend it.

  • by em500 on 7/16/24, 1:30 PM

    There is no science behind this, and the article spends far too many words for something that's very simple to accomplish:

    1. Hard reset your iPhone

    2. Remove Safari and AppStore (via Settings -> Screentime restrictions -> Content & Privacy Restrictions) and have someone trusted set a Screen Time password.

    That's all. You still have weather reports, agendas, alarm clocks, maps, translators, phone+messenger, email, a music player, a camera, but zero time wasters. With this setup you can give an iPhone to a 6 year old with zero anxiety about "screen time" (which in reality is really internet time: disable internet access and they're bored with the phone in less than a day).

    Pretty much everything that we tell ourselves we really need instantly are lies: almost nothing is really so time sensitive that it can't wait till you're behind a desktop/laptop.

  • by cocoflunchy on 7/16/24, 1:01 PM

    I have in my backlogs of projects (one day I will have time for them...) an extreme "dumb smartphone".

    I want to have maps, whatsapp, chatgpt, a document scanner, my banking app, a guitar tuner... these are tools.

    So I need both an app whitelist (there are only so many apps that I actually use on my phone) and a website blacklist (no more HN, reddit, twitter, facebook, news websites, etc). I can use those on my computer but it won't be a mindless scroll whenever I have 5 minutes.

    Unfortunately I don't think this is feasible on iOS (I have tried Opal but it was so buggy I gave up). A custom Android launcher seems promising, but I have not found how to install a system wide firewall yet. Maybe creating a custom Android OS is the only way to have enough control?

  • by skadamat on 7/16/24, 1:12 PM

    For me, there was a hierarchy of habits I had to kick.

    1. Being pulled IN to apps and my phone through notifications

    Solutions for me:

    - Disabling notifications mostly (minus important ones like Uber arriving)

    - Customizing Personal focus mode so only family can reach me and keeping phone in this mode by default

    2. Being bored in line or while waiting somewhere, so I open Mail or Safari app to click common news / community websites.

    Solution for me:

    - Clearing history / browser cache from time to time so I have to manually type in these websites. A bit more friction.

    - Deleting YouTube or other unlimited content websites but keeping high quality leisure apps (Kindle or Podcasts)

    For me, grayscale didn't work

  • by weinzierl on 7/16/24, 12:38 PM

    For years I had a 50% grey background on all of my devices. People asked me if I am depressed (jokingly) but in fact a calm clutter free background makes me happy.

  • by nunez on 7/16/24, 2:36 PM

    This is great advice but mostly ineffectual without addressing the root of the problem here. Phone apps are designed to be addicting, and that addiction has been socially normalized (I.e. it's totallly normal to momentarily zone out and browse Instagram on your phone while out with friends).

  • by tines on 7/16/24, 1:15 PM

    I found that Android was better for dumbing down. If you have enough technical sophistication to run adb over a USB cable, you can run a single command to uninstall any app, including the built-in web browser app. Super nice for getting exactly what you want on your phone.

  • by breck on 7/16/24, 1:17 PM

    I ditched my smart phone 2 years ago. Huge life improvement.

    I'm on the computer or iPad a lot, but when I close the lid, I'm in the real world, like the old days. Highly recommend.

    (It does help to have burners though, because you do require them on occasion)

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  • by dash2 on 7/16/24, 12:50 PM

    I've really enjoyed having greyscale on my iPhone. I have some apps (maps, photos etc.) automatically go into colour using a Shortcut automation.

    You can set up greyscale in the Accessibility settings.

  • by pcdoodle on 7/16/24, 12:56 PM

    Why is it impossible to reduce color saturation on all apple products? I still like a slight hint of color context but don't want these CASINO looking MacOS and iOS experiences.

  • by seba_dos1 on 7/16/24, 12:57 PM

    iPhone is already dumb. It's a toy that's not within the control of its user, and Android is only marginally better. I'm using GNU/Linux on my phone and while it offers me the power of a full unrestricted computing device in my pocket, it only ever distracts me with things I explicitly opted into. Despite of some of its shortcomings, it really ends up being a much calmer and more usable experience overall.

  • by cryptoboy2283 on 7/16/24, 12:40 PM

    I'd also add:

    - writing everything in lowercase - helps reduce depression and anxiety