My phone is an ereader now

I've been searching for dumb phones these last weeks to avoid using my phone too much. But it comes with issues:

- my bank requires a smartphone

- whatsapp desktop requires a smartphone too

This smartphone could be an alternative: no videos, you can still use third party applications, perfect for reading.

Thank you for sharing!

The WhatsApp thing can be worked around now. If you have one compliant device logged into WhatsApp as the main device, you can access that account and messages from any other device, including smartphones. I have a WhatsApp device that just stays at home.

You are allowed to have more than one phone.

Have you tried turning off all notifications on your existing phone?

From the original article: "I feel like the vibration on the phone is a tad aggressive. Not every vibration is, though—Facebook Messenger notifications feel like the right level. ".

It looks like the article author makes the same mistake. Changed the device but kept the notifications on.

On Whatsapp web you can now log in with your phone number via a 2fac text, no camera required.

  > whatsapp desktop requires a smartphone too

Just so you know, I don't use WhatsApp and find that today, everyone knows Telegram and many already have it installed. Moving to Telegram is completely feasible.

The Telegram desktop app does not require an active smartphone.

You're right, but I don't appreciate to be enforced to.

That's good to know, but you still need a smartphone to handle the connection. Having a dumb phone wouldn't work, if I properly understand how this works.

Who is forcing you to do anything? You can do what you please.

Notifications aren't the culprit, they're already really limited on my phone.

I also appreciate the fact that I could use a simpler phone that really fits the original need: staying in contact, instead of doom-scrolling.

But you need two devices, and this seems overkill. Without this limitation you could have only one phone.

I totally agree with you, but asking my friends to move to Telegram isn't easy. And multiplying the channels is a complex thing. Nowadays I have iMessage, Messenger, WhatsApp—I deliberately omit Slack and Discord—and sometimes I wonder "where is the discussion with friend X?"

If I want a dumb phone for my daily needs, I have to keep a smartphone at home to stay in contact with my friends that are using Whatsapp. I don't really feel free here.

Seems like you are very oppressed no matter what. If you want to eat some yoghurt, but have to use a spoon to not get it on your hands, I assume you're oppressed as well.

not in Europe - everybody uses WA here, work group chats, friends, parents, etc. My dad sometimes uses iMessage because he can’t see the difference between the icons but apart from that you’d get strange looks if you mentioned Telegram/Signal etc

Right. I also need 1Password, full access to docs and notes while traveling, and the list starts to go on.

Ultimately, technologists with cash to burn buying limited devices doesn’t actually address the big problem. What we really want is for mainstream devices to be less frenetic.

No one thing is the culprit, but notifications are one of the biggest. Surely Android has similar capabilities, but on iPhone "Reduce Notifications" (uses AI to silence unimportant/time-insensitive notifications) and Focus Modes in general are a great way to manage distraction.

No, the idea is to turn them all off and make phone checking a conscious act instead of notification induced.

Whoever needs you now can call on voice.

What makes that difficult is when you have a legitimate case for time-sensitive notifications and the app owner mixes in marketing spam with no way to disable them. It's either accept marketing spam OR lose a valuable notification. Looking at you, LG.

I leave notifications on because o only use them for things I need to be notified about. Largely, medical stuff.

Since Whatsapp isn't a public utility, the people who designed it are free to make it for a certain type of device, with a so-called smart screen. That you feel oppressed because they didn't cater to your very specific need to have it work on a button phone is pretty weird. "feeling free" isn't about having any random whimsy catered to. It requires realistic adjustment to the world of others and their efforts.

Depends on where in Europe :)

Some parts use Telegram by and large.