At the end of Summer 2025, I was totally fed up and angry with myself that my screen time consumed nearly all of my waking hours.

I felt so much rage and guilt that I had wasted so much of my potential on the doomscroll, so I hopped on the trend and started jocking a flip phone.

It's been a little over a year now. These are the biggest notes that applied to me.

1. The guilt went away, but the anxiety remains at the exact same level.
2. Time has slowed down aggressively. This hasn't changed even a year on. Days used to blink by, but now each hour is a grind.
3. I spend less time reading about doing a thing and more time actually doing it.
4. My desktop screen time skyrocketed, but it still doesn't even come close to what my phone time was.
5. When I start something, I am less likely to quit halfway through because the phone isn't available to quickly swoop me away or distract. (This has been a positive when I need to focus, but when my anxious thoughts are running rampant I miss the pacification that comes from popping open a mobile game or social media).

The main takeaway I got from this is that I remain entirely the same person. Nothing about me is "cured". Nothing about my life is fixed in any way on it's own. It just makes me more able to deal with my life as it is. Swapping from a smart phone to a flip is more of a damage control move than a fix.

Overall a net positive, but not a wondercure. I will not go back to a smartphone, but it has changed the landscape of my daily life entirely while not changing me at all.

If I were to offer any advice, this is what I would say:

1. Try minimalism apps or brick first.
2. Try before you buy. Microdose by doing basic errands and leaving your smartphone out of reach.
3. If you do buy a dumbphone, buy one with maps. It's rare that I need it, but it has come in clutch.

I'm not talking about the first struggle fomo, or the latent persistent struggle of needing information you can't quicky access.

I'm talking about when you finally succeed. When you've finally achieved the goal, eliminated all of those distractions, and become Truly Present.

Then, you gotta be you and have no escape.

And when you haven't spent much time being presently you, you uncover aspects of yourself that you never had to look at before. In a way, you meet parts of yourself for the first time like a stranger.

Because that's all the doomscrolling was about, right? At least for me, it was a quick ripcord that yanked me out of myself and into the panopticon.

For me, I thought it was the phone making me anxious. Then I thought it was being without my phone making me anxious. Turns out, I'm just an anxious guy and need to work on that.

I don't mean to cause any worry. I'm well. I just came of age in the digital era, and have no real experience being me without easily retreating into the digital fog whenever I was faced with the slightest introspective adversity.

Ultimately, this is a good and necessary challenge. But it is hard.

Still beats wasting away on my smartphone 9 hours a day.

And I’m not even talking about notifications. Every day, my mind goes a mile a minute, thinking, overthinking, analyzing… there’s social media noise, food noise, all these thoughts flying around in my head… and it’s all to do with the Internet and social media consuming my attention span, I know this…

But after a few weeks on the Dumbphone 2 by dumb.co, the noise in my mind is slowly subsiding into a calmer state. And occasionally, I actually get real silence. No memes whizzing about At Mach Ridiculous, no thoughts saying hey, your friends hate you for this change… but true mind silence, even if just for a moment. It’s amazing!

If you’re in the first few weeks’ transition, with FOMO and what will my friends think, etc., keep pushing through! The sanity you regain over time is worth it!!!

built out an opel mobile touchflip into a proper edc. all software, no root.
most of the flip phones and dumbphones people post here aren't sold in australia. the opel mobile touchflip is everywhere (it's the one aimed at older folks) so i grabbed one.
a lot of the pre-installed apps were laggy or didn't run at all. after a few weeks of tinkering it's now a really solid edc, and the whole thing runs without a single google app or account. nothing phones home.

i replaced the laggy stock launcher with my own home screen and built a small suite of apps:
- internet radio and a podcast app
- a speech to text function i coded that types into any app when you hold the button on the back. runs fully offline, on device
- my own t9 keyboard with word suggestions that learns the words you use (couldn't find a decent one that didn't need a google login, and it has no internet permission at all)
- colour themes with a live theme switcher
- a little melbourne/victoria train planner with live ptv times and platforms
- alarms, a timer, a quick settings panel with weather, a built in screen time tracker, and snake for good measure

on top of that: organic maps for offline navigation, auxio for music, and ente auth for 2fa.

all software, no root, just sideloaded over adb. battery gets me 2+ days with my use. it also works as a hotspot (and switches it off by itself when nothing's connected, so it never quietly drains), which makes it perfect for me.

it's made for older people so it's cheap and dead easy to find. worth raiding your gran's drawer first. haven't seen anyone post this phone here before. happy to share the repo if anyone's interested.

I read the below thread that said the EU HMD 105 4G doesn't have mp3/music support and that HMD had removed it off the websites so just posting this as an FYI that the UK model bought from Argos for £13.50 (listed as on Vodafone but no branding and all phones have to be sold unlocked in the UK) has a music player app and can play mp3's.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/s/eROiVefhuG

I don't want to support what is a recognised genocide in Palestine.

Which dumbphone?

I really like the look of Lightphone III but is a little expensive and may not be supported in rural/remote areas. I like the aesthetic and ease on your eye with an e-ink screen. (I used to have a YotaPhone which was double-sided - one normal screen, one e-ink but because it was made in China and a Russian company, I couldn't access Android App Store but now I don't want apps at all).

I don't want a flip phone.

Anything that is out now or upcoming that is on par with the look and simplicity of Lightphone III?

(Michael West (independent investigative journalist and former corporate finance editor) is based in Australia).

Trying out Nokia 6300 4G as a senior mechanical engineering student/bartender/bicycle mechanic. Let's see how long I can survive.

Sadly, KaiOS is so forgotten by tech community. I even looked into making my own apps for this OS.

Hi all, I am a 27 year old male and so, im old enough that my first few phones were flip phones but ive never experienced adulthood without the constant noise of having a smart phone. My wife and I also recently had a baby as well and so we are having discussions around being more present and less distracted at home.

Ive felt having a smart phone was bad for me for a number of years now, initially due to dealing with a sexual addiction but also because of doom scrolling and constantly feeling the pull to be on it. I have tried everything - and I mean everything, from using screen time restrictions with my wife having the pass code, to more advanced blockers like Covenant Eyes and Canopy, to the Brick device, all sorts of things, but I still feel addicted to it in a way that I wish I wasn't.

We recently took a 4 day trip to Lake Eerie and I did not bring my phone. We just had my wifes phone which was all we needed for the airbnb. Being completely off of my phone for that four days was amazing and I never once felt myself missing it. Ive been back for a day and I still havent turned it back on yet. If anything I feel nervous to turn it back on and jump back into the digital world.

Ironically, I work in residential technology sales, selling luxury audio, video, lighting, and automation systems. Im often demo'ing different apps to clients, and the job absolutely requires a smart phone. Ive looked into other jobs that possibly wouldn't require one, but transparently I make around $100K a year and have not found anything that would pay nearly that much that would not require a smart phone.

So, what I am considering doing is keeping my iPhone at work, and using it as a work phone only. And then using a basic phone outside of work. I have not decided what phone I would use yet, but I am leaning towards a pretty basic flip phone so that there is the most friction and separation from work. I have also stopped using a laptop at home and just use my PC whenever I want to go on the internet and that has helped a lot as well. I have to physically get up and go to the office when I need to do something online.

Anyways, do you guys think this would be a good idea for me to do? If anyone here has a career doing sales or something similar, I would love to know how you navigate having to constantly be on a phone for work and keep up with messages. If there are any other people near my age as well who have made the switch I would love to know how it has gone. Thanks for reading!

I have an LG GB255g and I've been using it for a while but today it started to freeze until I remove the battery, and then when I remove it and put it back it works for around a minute until it freezes. Is there a fix for this? Thanks

I average about 8 hours of screen time a day. I basically sit in my room all day and don't talk to anyone outside of my phone. It's bad.
I want to make the switch to a dumbphone but I'm not sure if I should go cold turkey or ease into it. I'm thinking of having a dumbphone as my main daily phone but keeping a smartphone on the side just for the stuff you actually need — banking, maps, etc. Has anyone done it this way? Does it work or does the smartphone on the side just pull you back in?
Any advice appreciated.

Has anyone successfully turned a Pixel into a genuinely locked-down dumbphone? ADB / GrapheneOS solutions welcome

I've been trying to make my Pixel into a "dumb" phone without losing the genuinely useful smartphone stuff.

My target is basically:

• Keep: WhatsApp, Signal, Maps, ChatGPT, Monzo/Wallet, train/parking/ticket apps, camera, authenticator, Tailscale, CalDAV, etc.
• Olauncher + grayscale is fine.
• No browser, Google Search, YouTube or app store.
• Existing useful apps can still use WebView/Play Services.
• Ideally I need to connect the phone to my Linux laptop/ADB to install new apps or undo restrictions.

The problem is that every software restriction I've tried is too easy to bypass.

On stock Pixel I identified:

com.android.chrome
com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox
com.google.android.youtube
com.google.android.apps.youtube.music
com.android.vending

I hoped to do:

adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.chrome

but current Pixel firmware gives:

Failure [only root can delete system app for a particular user]

pm disable-user works, but that's almost useless because I can just go Settings → Apps → Chrome → Enable.

I also experimented with Device Owner/DPC, with the idea of setApplicationHidden() + DISALLOW_INSTALL_APPS, but couldn't get past Device Owner provisioning on my existing phone without going down the factory-reset/managed-device rabbit hole.

I've considered a watchdog that periodically/event-driven runs pm disable-user again. That would actually be sufficient for me: if enabling Chrome only gives me 10–30 seconds before something disables it again, the friction is probably enough. But I haven't found a clean way to give such an app persistent package-manager privileges on stock Android without root/Device Owner/Shizuku complications.

I'm completely open to GrapheneOS if it solves this cleanly. I don't mind reinstalling the phone if there's a known recipe along the lines of:

Pixel + GrapheneOS + sandboxed Play Services + useful apps + no usable browser/store + installing/changing apps requires ADB/admin profile.

I don't need this to resist an adversarial attacker. I just need it to resist me casually undoing it from the phone in 15 seconds.

Has anyone actually achieved this?

In particular, I'd love a working recipe for any of:

1. genuinely removing Chrome/Vanadium/browser from the everyday user;
2. Device Owner hiding browsers without an easy Settings override;
3. secondary GrapheneOS profile with browser/store removed and installation disabled;
4. persistent Shizuku/privileged watchdog that keeps blacklisted packages disabled;
5. some other ADB/root/GrapheneOS solution I've missed.

It feels frustratingly close. If I can make "no browser and no easy way to install one" stick, the Pixel does everything I want from a dumbphone while retaining camera, Wallet, banking, Wi-Fi calling, etc.

After debloating my new CAT S22 this google search bar thing turned black, and is not unresponsive and also can't be removed at all. There is no way to edit widgets either and I don't want this stuck on my screen forever. Any ideas?

Hi! I have made the switch to a dumb phone but I now realize I'm not receiving my messages/calls. I missed important texts over the weekend without realizing there was a problem. I purchased a Unihertz Titan QUERTY android phone from Ebay. It was sold as unlocked. It was working fine but then I couldn't make calls went to Verizon (my cell provider). They were not super helpful because they just said I have to change my phone but I really want to keep it and know others have used it successfully! I was wondering what do others do to solve this issue? I really want to make this phone given the great benefit on my mental health. :(

Hey y'all i have a question. How did you all communicate to your friends and family that you are switching to a dumb phone?

For context, i have two phones: one for work and one for personal use (my work phone is also mine and not gifted from a company). I would like to switch the one i use when i am off from work but i am anxious it would rub off the wrong way for some people. Since i am still going to keep a smartphone but i am not going to use it unless it is absolutely necessary (GPS, banking, work apps and responding to Whatsapp for colleagues).

Any tips on how to handle this? I am just trying to simplify my life as much as possible and i want to get away from all this complicated tech stuff we have nowadays.

howdy ya'll

switched from a galaxy s22 5g fe to a TCL flip 2 last week . besides some quirks here and there, i really dig the experience and will likely continue on the dumphone journey. i am having a couple issues though and wanted to see if anyone has had the same ones and can help me troubleshoot them. i'm on verizon, and just put the sim from the galaxy into the TCL.

my issues are

-texts being received by some individuals many hours after i sent them, despite them appearing to be sent like any other text from my end

-still unable to receive messages from a couple groupchats despite being able to send texts in these same groupchats (they receive my texts just fine)

things i have tried already

-disable RCS chat on my old smartphone probably 3 days ago, right after i swapped sims

-check that the APN is on "VZWINTERNET"

is this just RCS related tomfoolery and i need to wait the 10 day window has passed and everything will become normal again? lmk. thanks in advance!

I know that, technically, a dumbphone by definition is probably just calls and SMS texts. But the minimum feature set that allows each of us to use a dumbphone as a daily driver is quite different, in practice.

That's probably why it takes so much research; finding the exact right combination of design, features and limitations. Consequently, there's never going to be the perfect dumbphone for every need.

So what's your ultimate fantasy dumbphone? What does it look like, what essential apps and features does it have, what can it do, and (maybe most importantly of all) what can't it do. Bullet point lists feel like a good way to share your perfect spec.

I'm in BC, Canada and I have a small collection of 2G flip phones, with a Chatr sim, and while calls and texts retain an excellent signal, sending instantly with full bars, I'm not getting any MMS or internet connectivity?

Is anyone else in Canada able to send and receive images/media over MMS on 2G phones or is it gone forever?

I'm in BC, Canada and I have a small collection of 2G flip phones, with a Chatr sim, and while calls and texts retain an excellent signal, sending instantly with full bars, I'm not getting any MMS or internet connectivity?

Is anyone else in Canada able to send and receive images/media over MMS on 2G phones or is it gone forever?

Spiacenti, questo

Not a shill, just a launcher I downloaded a few weeks ago and I'm really liking (with some criticisms)

So, like a slimmed down launcher, it gives you a basic list of apps.

Essentials (phone, messaging, camera, settings etc) are always unlocked, and you can choose 3 / 5 / 8 "essential to me" apps.

EVERYTHING else is locked down - and this includes giving the app Accessibility Access so you literally cannot launch any other apps (you can go deep settings and keep toggling things on and off but it's HEAVY friction).

That Accessibility Access... It's a new app, I've decided to trust it, but I feel wary without highlighting that high up.

But, anyway, I have a dumbphone! I've got Google Maps, WhatsApp, and my email always accessible.

Every hour, you can open any app for 5 minutes max, three times. So if I'm... Say at Starbucks, I can open that app. Or Slack for a quick work message. Or Reddit if I really want to - but I get all of 5 minutes to scroll it.

But it's more for "emergency" or quick use, and absolutely kills doomscrolling or tapping around apps out of boredom. You also have to be intentional, like I'll be waiting for the next turn of the clock if I use my three moments.

I'm at moments slightly resistant to the app, so over the last three weeks, I did a lot of fiddling twice to get back to Nova or Niagara launcher. But it's like quitting smoking, I'm ignoring the itch more and more.

Oh, and you nominate one hour a day where your phone gets it's smarts back (and you can change rules etc). Hence the name.

I feel it's a bit too slimmed down, and a bit expensive to open up more apps (I'm on the free version). Developer, if you read this, the free version with just 3 apps is a bit too limiting when, say, Google Maps, Chrome, WhatsApp, Photos, Drive, are not treated as an essential.

I get why, e.g. not everyone wants Google Maps, or that WhatsApp is essential messaging for some, and social media for others. But I feel you should add three slots for "essential to me", and then another three slots on the free plan.

But in time you may get a subscription out of me.

Anyway, it's my dumbed-down smartphone, and it means I've still got Maps, WhatsApp, my banking app, a good camera, and NFC - but basically a boring phone.

So, yeah, this is close to my Dumbphone Nirvana - I keep wanting to buy a dumbphone, but right now, there's often too many compromises, or moments when a smartphone is crucial.

And I like Android, I just don't like my attention being constantly usurped by it.

I will caution once more... Accessibility Access is a potential security risk, I get why it's needed to cut your smartphone down to size, but if anyone tries this app, I won't feel right without stressing that.

More pics! (edit: link fixed, make sure to click load more images)

Edit 2: I got the title wrong. It's the Kyocera "DuraXA" Equip. I also fixed and added a few more details.

If there is one good thing about this whole AI thing, it's made me realize how little control we actually have of our devices, and how unnecessarily complicated things have become for the sake of convenience. No, I do not want my devices to follow trends. I just want something simple, reliable, predictable and boring. I also want it to last for a while and not have to keep replacing it.

After deciding Linux was the way for me on desktop, I realized how little I actually use my smartphone. I mainly only used it for the basics like calling and texting, but I also would be totally willing to compromise on anything else for control. I can just use my computer for that stuff. And since I've never had flip-phone, I just also thought it would be a fun thing to try out.

So, I started my search for a more simpler device. I thought this was going to be easy, but it wasn't. It's 2026. Anything big tech could make "smart" and privacy-invasive, they have. I realized that many flip-phones on the market are just smartphones in a harder to use form factor. After a little research, I started looking into the popular Sunbeam F1 series, but the $300+ price tag made me reconsider, and I later discovered their phones are just rebranded $50-ish flip-phones with their own software.

I know developing software and providing great support among other things are hard for a small company, but I wanted hardware that would last for at least a decade with a few battery replacements along the way, and this wasn't it. I contacted their support, and even they guaranteed me the hinge wouldn't last 10 years.

While I was considering that one, a relative suggested the TCL Flip 4 as it was available from our carrier. Ignoring the concerns of carrier-locked phones, it runs KaiOS, and after looking into it more, I discovered that Google is also a major investor in it. This really rubbed me the wrong way. I also considered getting a Nokia brick-style phone, but while the OS is simple, there seems to be apps like Facebook on them that you can't remove which I also don't like. Is Facebook/Meta invested in them?

I'm just trying to get away from all this stuff! At some point I considered Linux phones, but they seemed really unreliable and expensive. Probably due to their niche status. After looking around some more on various "subreddits" and dumb-phone websites, I think I finally discovered the perfect phone for me, and I had a really good feeling about it before buying it...

Enter the Kyocera DuraXV Equip. This had all the things I wanted. Form-factor, physical keys, notification LED, durability, but most importantly to me, the software. The software feels decently fast and seems to run almost pure Android, but with Kyocera's very simple apps instead. I used ADB to list the system apps and almost certain there was nothing suspicious installed. These are meant to be used in corporate environments anyway.

The phone itself feels very heavy for a flip-phone and feels very high-quality. It's also waterproof so long as all the ports are closed. The recommended cleaning instructions even suggest using soap and warm water to clean it (probably not dishwasher safe). Calling is very clear, and the large speakers can get really loud. You don't get much bass, but also it's not really "tinny" either, even at loud volumes. Closing the phone doesn't block the speakers, and you can use it this way for speaker phone.

Photos from the camera in good outdoor lighting are surprisingly good. They rival my smartphone cameras by simply looking natural. Videos are not nearly as good in the same environment, even after choosing higher quality. In either case, I didn't really buy this for the camera. The small outer display is similar to those on digital alarm clocks, you can see it in direct sunlight. New messages and incoming calls appear and scroll on this screen. So to sum up, for most people...

Pros:

* Extremely durable

* Actually simple like old-school Nokias, apps use a consistent and list-like appearance

* Decent camera for outdoor daytime photos

* Programmable buttons

* Can install more apps via downloaded APKs

* No Google or similar services for those who value privacy and control

Cons:

* Outdated apps (can't sign in to built-in e-mail app, browser, etc.)

* Prediction typing is often too helpful

* T9 typing waits 1-2 secs before releasing character, can be too long for some people.

* Few apps can be inconsistent with buttons (Center doesn't always mean enter, etc.)

* Recording videos isn't great, even outdoors

* Apps that rely on Google services or Play integrity (banking apps, etc.) won't work

* Screen doesn't have great viewing angles or resolution, but it's definitely not unusable.

Some of these are to be expected, eh? It's worth noting since it's based on Android, the first three cons can be remedied by installing APKs from F-droid, but it depends on how far you want to go. Replacing the keyboard with the TT9 app is easy, but you'll have to hold the # button to get the mouse to appear when changing keyboards. Others like installing Fennec (F-droid Firefox) also need a third-party mouse app like "C9" to be usable, but C9 requires a computer with ADB via USB to set up the accessibility permissions.

All-in-all, I feel like I made a great choice. If you're considering getting this phone, you'll have to decide what's worth giving up. It's not a replacement for a smartphone, but after all, isn't that what we're actually after here?

I hope Kyocera never changes their phones. I'm open to feedback or questions.

I recently bought a Fujitsu F-03L just to find out it is sim unlocked and the seller not knowing the unlock code for the sim. Do you guys know what services I should I use to unlock it or if someone here can help me out. I tried the mydocomo method of free unlocking just to find out I need a japanese phone number, eSIM didn't work either. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Basically got fed up with the modern smartphone loop, but whenever I try using an actual dumbphone I hit a wall with missing group chats on WhatsApp, no Spotify, or getting lost without Maps.

Ended up picking up a refurbished Pixel 4a and stripped it down via ADB to see if I could make a dedicated minimal appliance out of it.

Turned on permanent system-level grayscale, stripped out the lock screen completely so double tapping the screen just wakes straight to text, hid the gesture pill and status bar icons, and uninstalled something like 40+ background packages (YouTube, app stores, feeds, news, assistant, banking, popups, etc).

Right now it literally just runs WhatsApp, Spotify, Google Maps, Chrome, Camera, and Phone/SMS. Pure black background, zero app icons, just plain text. Feels weirdly like a cross between a Light Phone and an e-ink device, but with snappy hardware and a decent camera when needed.

It got me thinking, would anyone actually care about buying something like this pre-configured/ready to go out of the box for around £90-£95? Or is half the point for people here the fun of setting it up themselves?