[Closed] Got rid of my smartphone

Free pube too!

Welcome to the dumb-phone crew 8) I never left dumb. I stuck just before they went smart, so half decent camera etc.

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nd has snake

Hello aching thumbs 😀

I don't know as I'd want to give up my "smart" phone, but I'd cheerfully swap it for something, well, phone-sized. This arms race for ever bigger "phablet" devices makes my shit itch. Give me something with the power of my HTC One but the size of a 3310 and I'd be all over it.

There's absolutely zero chance of my getting rid of my smartphone, I have far too many things I use it for, in particular as my satnav for work, as well as camera, ebook reader, etc; but as a balance it can sit unused in my pocket for long periods*, unless I've got a long period waiting around, at which point the 640-odd books I have in iBooks alone come in very handy, as happened this morning when a car I was expecting to pick up around 7.30-ish didn't turn up until 11.00!
I don't bother with earphones while working, I've got a BT earpiece in, and I need to be able to hear what else is going on.
*In particular regarding social media!

I think that's a big part of the problem. It's not the device, it's people exercising self-control. I've seen people scramble like the building's on fire when their phone rings. I carry a phone for my convenience, not everyone else's.

I've got a smar****ch now which relays alerts to my wrist. At first I worried it'd make me more "dependent" on the tech, but the opposite has happened; I get an alert, can simply go "oh, it's Facebook, I'll read that later" but can respond quickly to things that are actually important.

I find myself far too distracted by my smartphone. It's an iPhone 5s, it's pretty and it does LOTS of stuff, but I reach for it all too readily.

I miss the days of my old Nokia 6310. That thing was amazing, the battery lasted about a week with normal (calls and texts) use. If there was something like that that did email (text-based, at least), could do basic text www access for Google searches while out and about, and could deal with Whatsapp messages in some capacity, I think I'd probably revert. Maybe if it also had a half-decent camera too...

But CZ, you can take the moral high ground, and be a hero. 😆

@Cougar, have you set up different sounds for different alerts? (Can you?)

I find if I get the new email sound, or the new generic app notification sound (Twitter, mainly, but most other apps make the same noise), I tend to think "I can leave that 'til later" but it's only if I get the Whatsapp ping or my new SMS / iMessage sound that I think "I should probably check that".

I think that's a big part of the problem. It's not the device, it's people exercising self-control.

[quote=Cougar ]I don't know as I'd want to give up my "smart" phone, but I'd cheerfully swap it for something, well, phone-sized. This arms race for ever bigger "phablet" devices makes my shit itch. Give me something with the power of my HTC One but the size of a 3310 and I'd be all over it.

Get a "compact" phone then. I sometimes wish mine was a bit bigger, but with good eyesight and small fingers I cope. It's great to just have a normal phone size lump in my pocket though. OK, so it's a bit longer and wider than a 3310, but half the thickness which more than makes up for that. Sony Z1C here - other makes are available, but Sony probably do the best small phones (Samsung compact phones seem to have lower spec).

As discussed above, there's no real advantage to a dumb phone apart from battery life (though I suspect if you use a smart phone like a dumb phone that would also be OK) - just turn off the alerts if you don't want to be disturbed and stop playing with it.

Im still using a Nokia 3310. People laugh at me, then after I tell them I charged it up a couple of weeks ago they stop.

Someone also mentioned that I must have loads of free time as Im not constantly distracted by it.

I am not into/on social media so my smartphone doesn't distract me that way. I'd never give it up now, the ability to look up anything at anytime is far too handy, the camera is more advanced and capable than I'll ever need, and the gps is a godsend.

@Cougar, have you set up different sounds for different alerts? (Can you?)

I haven't tried, TBH. I usually just have the phone set to vibrate, I got bored of custom ringtones and the like.

Get a "compact" phone then.

When I last looked, all the "compact" phones were crap. Granted, it was about three years ago when I got the One (M7). They did a One Mini at the time, which was about half a centimetre smaller and half the tech spec.

I was put off Sony because, again, "at the time" they seemed to be poor at pushing out OS updates.

This arms race for ever bigger "phablet" devices makes my shit itch

One of the main reasons I still use an iPhone 4S. Good size for me. I'd go to the SE at a push.
Really don't need anything bigger. (Extra battery-life would be good though)

[url= https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-3310 ]The New Nokia 3310[/url]

As above - self control. My phone gets used for all sorts of cool stuff, that I actually like.

BTW do you guys know you can turn off FB notifications?

I'd not want to give up my smart phone, that said it's pretty much always on silent and I've set it so most apps don't have permission to give me notifications.

I use it mainly for surfing the net, Google maps, camera, texts and calls, but it's a full on mobile computer when I want it to be.

[quote=Cougar ]When I last looked, all the "compact" phones were crap. Granted, it was about three years ago when I got the One (M7).

Well the Sony ones weren't crap then (I think mine's older than that) - same tech spec as their larger ones, which in general is pretty excellent. Granted there may be other reasons to dislike Sonys, and OS updates is certainly one of them - no official Marshmallow release for mine, though I seem to be surviving on Lollipop.

edit: though it appears your M7 is also still on Lollipop!

I never went 'smart' in the 1st place, don't need it. 🙂

Cougar - Moderator
I think that's a big part of the problem. It's not the device, it's people exercising self-control.

Yeah, I do agree with this. I'm not saying dumb phones are [i]better[/i]. Just better for me.

I fully admit that I don't think I could be trusted with one. And I'm not even on social media. I'm bad enough with a laptop, carrying it from room to room, constantly on vice/stw/wikipedia/youtube. If I had a smartphone I'd be doomed. It'd be like giving up smoking but carrying round a pack of twenty in my pocket. And tbh, judging by the amount of people glued to the things, they're a pretty powerful addiction. Recent road-trip with a friend: might as well have gone on my own as they were staring into their iPhone for 350 miles (I was the driver).

BUT, I do still like the battery life, the cheapness which means I'm not precious/worried about it. The size which means I can shove it in my pocket to irradiate my ballbag. And most of all, I NEED real buttons 🙂

[quote=jambourgie ]Recent road-trip with a friend: might as well have gone on my own as they were staring into their iPhone for 350 miles (I was the driver).

Thanks for clarifying what wasn't necessarily a given!

and we wonder how trump got voted in... 😆

edit: though it appears your M7 is also still on Lollipop!

It is. I've not found anything that it won't run yet though, and when I do I'll probably hit XDA.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one/general/marshmallow-roms-international-htc-one-t3378023
https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one/general/nougat-roms-international-htc-one-m7-t3524060

constantly on vice/stw/wikipedia/youtube

I have a mate who boasts about not having a smartphone 'I can text and make calls, why would I want anything else' he says, then asks me to bring up the football scores on my phone.

I think there is an element of it being an issue with me/my personality. I do find it compelling.
I'm also a bit younger than most people on here, and the people I spend time with do almost everything through phones. I get about 250 messages a day through various chats etc

I think the saddest thing about that confession is that you've counted them.

I have a self-control issue with mine, I can't leave it alone.

I've thought about a digital detox, but it's not practical. The closest I get is the few hours a week I'm on my bike - yeah it's in my bag ready to call for help (never happened in 12 years) and doing the Strava thing, but I leave it the hell alone for a couple of hours.

OP will be living in a mud hut and hunting animals with a stick whilst wearing a rabbit skin in no time at all.

I use 2 phones. I take the smartphone when I know I'll be away from other sources of the internet for a long time - train journeys, working away etc.

I take my dumbphone (JCB) with me always - it's my 'phone'. The smart phone is an entertainment device - I don't even know the number.

Annoyingly I have yet to fathom how to get rid of the Facebook app off my phone (not logged in) Play and Facebook both tell me gleefully when the app has been updated!

frustratingly it seems it is an intrinsic part of the Sony build for my phone.

Otherwise I like, Whatsapp, weather updates (ahem) Strava... the Camera and a few other odds and sods as well as the calling bit (to phone mum)
At home I try leave it alone.. doesnt always work..

If it was preinstalled you can't (easily) uninstall it. I have the same issue with 7music (whatever that is). You can disable updates for it though.

You don't want a smartphone, you play music, but you miss the camera and whatsapp, yet you can still get on the web and you want people to FB message you?

Maybe you should stop trying to be STW-luddite-lite and just admit that you quite liked your smartphone? 😉

While Smartphones are great, [url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-technology/nokia-with-broken-screen-is-best-phone-of-all-time-2013040464681 ]this is very true[/url]

So, that MobiWire phone - when you text, do you have to press the buttons multiple times to get the right letter?
Like 44-33-555-555-666 6-88-6 for "hello mum"
😆 I'd soon be stamping on my 79p purchase.

I carry a phone for my convenience, not everyone else's.

Nicely put

Personally I'd quite like to go back to some sort of feature phone style. Something like a touchscreen T28 running android (well, ideally Windows phone but let's keep this realistic!) but with a physical keyboard on the lower half - I'd buy that and so would a good few dozen others.

Can't think why it hasn't been done...

So, that MobiWire phone - when you text, do you have to press the buttons multiple times to get the right letter?

I would assume - hope, even - that it had T9 at least.

Personally I'd quite like to go back to some sort of feature phone style. Something like a touchscreen T28 running android (well, ideally Windows phone but let's keep this realistic!) but with a physical keyboard on the lower half - I'd buy that and so would a good few dozen others.

Count me in. Get thee to Kickstarter.

While Smartphones are great, this is very true

True story: my wife's old nokia fell out of her pocket on a ski holiday, was later driven over by a snowplough which mashed the case and screen, and was then found by a lift operator en route to work the next morning and returned to the local pub.

We picked it up two days later, still switched on, still working.

Sadly, now swapped for an iPhone.

[quote=DaveyBoyWonder ]OP will be living in a mud hut and hunting animals with a stick whilst wearing a rabbit skin in no time at all.

I do go bikepacking sometimes, yes

How do you know when someone [s]is vegan[/s] [s]does Crossfit[/s] [s]does triathlons[/s] gives up their smartphone?

They tell you.

[i]I would assume - hope, even - that it had T9 at least.[/i]

It wha..?

T9 = predictive text, my last couple of dumb phones both had that and it worked very well, even if I prefer a smartphone and self discipline.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=T9

Although not without my smartphone, Ive burned through my data cap for this month, so have switched off the data connection. This I quite like, stops me thinking about all the internetty bobbins while out and about, only using my online presence when back at home. Haven't had to charge the thing for three days either.