Technology

I don't like talking to people.

My understanding is that flip phones only do calls and sms ?
So I never call or text.. Only thing I use is an XMPP client, web browser, youtube music (until I replace that with selfhosted) and would use maps (but right now I broke the GPS on my phone so not that ...)

So I don't think I could use a flip phone, mostly because none of these applications except maybe music work on a flip phone ? Webbrowser needs a full sized screen...

My smartphone isn't a phone with "extra" features to me. My smartphone is a portable personal computer with extra sensors, a GPS receiver, and wireless internet, which also happens to have a phone app. I don't want to carry an extra "dumb" phone. I would prefer my smart watch to be the communication and identity hub for me and my devices: holding the SIM card, acting as a wifi hotspot, routing calls and internet to my handheld brick or laptop, etc. Instead of acting like a third party add-on, it would be a mostly distraction free core. Let me use a smartphone, laptop, steam deck, cobbled together cyber deck, or whatever else have you as my local screen, storage cache, and/or proper desktop. Then I can put the screens down or leave them behind without feeling cut off or potentially stranded in a world that practically requires it to navigate with any ease. I want a smart watch that enables me to leave the house without car keys, driver's license, and credit cards; essentially with nothing but my watchphone. I want to be a cyberpunk Dick Tracy. What I want, with the freedoms and open standards I want, with the privacy I want, without being locked into a single monopoly walled garden, is probably a pipe dream. I want what is probably the next evolution of the "year of the Linux desktop". But a kid can dream.

I might switch to a flip phone if it had gps and maps.

That's simply the killer app for smart phones, at this point it's a necessary part of my life. Without it I need a separate device just for that, and that device is actually less useful.

Edit: now that I'm reading other responses I have to agree, secure messaging and 2fa are really important too.

I could live without everything else, but to be honest, I don't use much else. A few games, Lemmy, music apps, audiobook apps. Of those, Lemmy is the app most likely to leave me feeling upset, or like I want to doomscroll.

I think limiting the apps I use is the biggest thing I can do to not make the phone a negative influence for me. But to be clear, if that starts happening, Lemmy is the first to go, I already don't use any other social media.

Speaking as someone who never has carried a smartphone, there are a bunch of tradeoffs. I do my banking in person, for instance, and that can be mildly inconvenient. I don't take a lot of photographs (when I do, I use an old-style single-purpose camera). "Portable media" is a CD player, and I carry a paperback book if I think I might have to wait somewhere for more than ten minutes or so. And so on. Just continuing to live the same way as I did a quarter-century ago.

I expect, however, that it's a lot easier not to miss what you never had in the first place.

Doesn't really make much sense for me to switch to a flip phone unless it was specifically built for privacy/security. SMS and regular voice calls are insecure, it likely could connect to fake cell towers uninhibited, it likely doesn't have hardware switches to disconnect various features e.g. modem, microphone, or camera.

All of that, plus the benefits of having a good pocket camera to carry around - spontaneous photography is my thing and having a good camera phone solves that equation nicely.

And before anyone says "get a real camera", I have real cameras and there's no way they can be carried in my pocket the same way a smartphone does lol. That and the smaller they get, the further image quality worsens to the point where you might just use a (good camera) phone instead.

I grew up with dumb phones, and you couldn't pay me enough to go back to using them - they suck!

I am more curious about this section:

bureaucracy or banking apps force me to use it

Does it actually happen? How so? I never had any bank or anything else force me to use a phone, so I am having hard time imagining that. So I am genuinely curious about this portion of your message.

Can I ask how old you are OP? A range is fine

There really isn’t anything I couldn’t replace my phone with a tablet that stays in the house for, and it has been a growing thought to switch back to a dumb phone.

Camera is probably the first obstacle. I've got a kid, and I really want to have good documentation of her growing up. If there were a dumbphone with a legit camera, that'd be a big deal for me.

After that, probably maps is the next most important thing that I want an actual smart phone for. I remember getting my first smart phone, and probably the main thing I was excited about was always being able to navigate directly to where I wanted to go.

Almost everything else is tertiary to my needs.

MFA is the biggest hurdle. I literally could not do my job without it.

My job, mostly.

I use Uptime Robot to tell me if anything goes wrong, and I need to be able to VPN into my work network and restart services if they go down. A flip phone can’t do that.

My banking apps, I don't feel comfortable spending money when I can't see my accounts in real time. Had a bad experience with BoA when I was younger.

navigation, and living in a country where it's really hard to find books

WhatsApp is non optional

I for one would go flip from Japan, Korean, manufactured phone. That could tether, mini tablet for maps or email or lemmy

All I really need is calls, sms, a solid browser and some more robost messaging apps like signal and matrix/element - I'm a prime candidate for PostmarketOS if we ever get a stable piece of hardware. I have an old oneplus 6 that I've played with it on, its so close. If a flip phone could master that today, sure

I do use tap to pay, but meh I dont think I would miss it and android auto in my car could easily just be a bluetooth audio connection

well functioning linux phone

I dint do calls often at all, so a flip/dumb phone doesn't appeal to me much. However, i have been very tempted to upgrade my existing smart watch to one with LTE connectivity and skip the smart phone completely.

The Apple watch, for instance, with LTE can do maps/directions, calls, texts, etc., without needing a smartphone near by. It would be much less to carry, less distractions, and way more convenient.

The big thing it can't currently do, however, is MFA for my job. It can do Authy and many others, but the one we require doesn't work, I've tried many times, so I'm stuck carrying a smartphone around if I want to remain employed.

Maps is a big one

what would need to change for you to actually give a flip phone a try?

For me to start using my phone as the main way of my computing needs and entertainment needs. Which I don't. I only use it to send messages and read when my laptop is not in my hands. So I essentially have a not-so-smartphone, not-so-dumbphone.

My first cell phone was a flip phone, and I'm not gonna lie, I've considered revisiting my teenage days again and getting one. But I feel like, right now, my smartphone use is very light.

I avoid Meta apps, I don't play mobile games, my biggest vice was reddit which has now become a shithole of bots and censorship so I don't go on there anymore. I read the news on here, chat a little on Discord, check my birdfeeder and that's pretty much it besides occasional use of google maps as needed.

On top of that, this phone is from 2018 so its battery life these days is not great. I think that helps too.

Maybe for those hesitating to get a dumb phone, perhaps start with an older smartphone to whittle your time down?

Literally just having a hotspot built in is keeping me on android. The lappy goes where I go, and that means as long as I have internet access I'm as connected as I could ever want to be.

Basically everyone has wifi, usually available after. I might just go out and get an unlocked dumbphone this week honestly.

Edit: yes I know about the mp02, its on the wishlist. I haven't had a job in over a year so I won't be getting it yet.

The apps 100%

The best setup in my eyes would be :

Dumb phone to take with you for calls / text messages and a non Sim card smartphone that would have apps on it but be hotspot over using the dumb phones data. Basically wifi only

That way if I were just doing errands on the weekend, just take the dumb phone. And then take the smartphone for onsite job trips and whatnot.

Smartphone would be degoogled. Remember, 2fa authentication doesn't need mobile data to work, its time based

I know exactly what I need my phone for: music, maps, banking, messaging, books and sometimes traveling. Anything else I have is a distraction that I'm addicted to have.

You know what keeps me from binning it? The FOMO, and not being able to hold conversations with friends and coworkers because I'm would not be tuned to the latest trends and happenings, and that sucks.

I would not give up the smartphone for a dumb phone, primarily for the superior security and privacy smartphones provide that dumb phones just do not have technology for.

This conversation has a tone of settling for inferior technology to do the work a well-designed smartphone experience should.

The smartphone can be made pretty "dumb" - the user experience has more to do with the software (apps) added to it than the hardware (the smartphone) itself.

Aside from the apps the platform bundles, I only have Signal (for text and voice), email, a browser, calendar, a note taking app and a FOSS music player. I have disabled all sound and visual notifications and removed all apps off the main screen.

Of late, I've moved the SIM-card onto a secondary phone that resides in my bag, which is only switched-on for navigation or if I need WiFi in a snap.

It has not always been this way for me and I am sure my setup will continue to evolve as my needs change.

nothing would stop me and honestly if I could find a decent and new one similar to my old Sprint/Nokia phone from like 2001 I'd use it. I can't stand smart phones, I never liked them.

Eh, I see no reason to switch to a dumb phone, because I don't think I'm that bad with my current phone. My main User profile on GrapheneOS is pretty minimal when it comes to apps, it's mostly messaging, banking, navigation, workout and music (I should probably move Lemmy and Pixelfed to a different profile, but they both have pretty little potential for scrolling for too long since the new content is naturally limited).
The only game on this profile is the one I'm developing as a hobby project lol

All the annoying Apps (Secondary Email, Amazon, Aliexpress, Linkedin, Smartlife, Grocery store coupon apps etc) are banished to a secondary profile that has no permission to run in the background or send any notifications.

I think it definitely depends on the persons needs. I use my phone for maps when I am going somewhere I am unfamiliar with. I use it for pod casts and audio books all the time. I use it for checking my bank account. Could I use something else to do these? Sure, but do I have access to all of the secondary devices to accomplish all of the above, not always. So yeah, the smart phone did become the catch all for a ton of daily processes, and I don’t have to carry 10 devices anymore.