There is a bit of a technology fad nowadays that might best be described as Anti technology A fad, embodied in products like the Light Phone III and the Minimal Phone.
The idea is that a less capable, less compelling smartphone will allow us to do the basics without getting addicted to our devices. But although I like the concept and aesthetics, most who tried it quickly found that they had spent hundreds of dollars on something more frustrating than soothing…
Even Apple admitted in 2018 that smartphone addiction is a problem. Most of us spend a lot of time staring at a small glass screen instead of looking at the world around us, and a device that is meant to make our lives easier seems to make our lives more stressful. Instead of our iPhone serving us, we can easily feel like we are responding to its demands.
The company introduced a number of features aimed at reducing our use of our Pocket PCs, and has since added more. But there’s not much evidence that any of it made much difference.
Smartphone fad
A small minority of people have given up smartphones completely, switching to dumb phones. Others found themselves drawn to a modern alternative: the non-smartphone.
There are a number of these products on the market now, e.g Third phone light And the Minimum phone. (I’m not linking the Wisephone II, because it’s really just a Samsung Galaxy A15 with a custom launcher that they happily sell for a lot more than the original.)
The thing is…they don’t work very well. In effect, they replicate the original smartphone experience, a device that promises a simpler life, but actually creates a more annoying one. MKBHD experience Seems pretty typical:
So, okay, let’s say I’m in the studio and I have an event on the calendar in an hour in the city and I want to get around there. I can actually put a location in the calendar event, but I can’t click on it to navigate. So, you might think, “Okay, just copy and paste it,” but apparently this phone doesn’t have a copy and paste feature either.
So, you should go ahead and manually go to the Directions app and then start typing. And good luck, because there’s no autocorrect either, so you’ll need to double-check and get that address exactly right (…)
I have a bunch of conversations going on in other messaging apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, and Slack. I can’t have any of those conversations here. I also happen to use Spotify for my music. And so I’m not really trying to manually move all of my playlists and all of those songs into this app.
He goes on to give other examples of why this phone can’t be used as a daily driver, before concluding that adding all the things it needs it to do is basically just turning it back into a regular smartphone.
Cooling down your iPhone is a smarter idea
Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on a device that lacks functionality, and is more likely to create a coronary artery rather than a Zen-like state of mind, my strong recommendation is to instead wind down your iPhone.
It adopted this approach in 2018, just two months before Apple acknowledged the issue.
I first decided to try the Notification System – which significantly reduced the number of apps allowed to send me notifications. But when I started browsing the list in Settings, I realized that I also had apps that I never use. I chose to expand the plan to include an “app diet” as well. I’ve also turned off badges in most apps (…)
The result of all this? My phone feels like a quieter part of my world. It doesn’t constantly flash alerts. I don’t have a long stream of notifications to scroll through the lock screen when I take it out of my pocket. I don’t have a lot of apps that have those little red dots that all require me to look at them.
It’s as if it’s now what it should be: a device that exists to serve me, not the other way around.
Seven years later, I’m still using it. If you want to try it yourself, here’s how.
First, choose one The messaging app is your primary app for the important people in your life. Let people know that this is the app to use if they need to contact you urgently. For all other messaging apps, turn off notifications.
Second, turn off most other notifications. Ask yourself the question, “If I don’t receive this notification right away, could it cause me a big problem?” The answer for most applications will be no.
Third, turn off most app badges. These increasing numbers distract you and create stress. For example, I don’t need to know that I have 47 unread emails, I just check them periodically.
Fourth, set up focus modes to determine what is allowed to interrupt you and when. Some people create several different items – personally I find that two are enough.
Fifth, cull your apps. Delete any screen you never use, just to reduce screen clutter (and the number of screens you need). With the apps you use, ask yourself if any of them are honestly just a waste of time and unfulfilling. Digital “Does it spark joy?” exam.
Finally, if there are apps you want to be able to use occasionally, but don’t want to be tempted into overuse, remove them from your home screen (i.e. go to Delete them and then accept that option when it’s offered). You’ll still be able to find them via search, or in your app library, but there’s more friction than when they were just a click away.
You’ll also probably need to arrange and reorganize your home screens once you’ve finished selecting an app, so below are two short videos with helpful tips on speeding up the process.
Some people go further, using icons or single app tints, but my experience was that while I liked it aesthetically, the usability quotient was very high. Colors greatly speed up the process of locating the icon on the screen.
If you’ve done something similar, or are thinking about it now, please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
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Image: 9to5Mac A composite of images Light phone, Minimum companyand Lavi Perchik
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