Anyone using a "dumb phone"?

[Narz]

Anyone have a "dumb phone"?

When my phone dies (which may be soon as it's cracked) I'd like to get one with just texting & phone calls but I do want Whatsapp as that's the main way I text and also a little keyboard or touchscreen.

I hate having the internet in my pocket, I can't handle it & waste time.

Moderator Action: Moved from the random-questions thread. The_J

 

[Arakhor]

I have an old iPhone with no apps on it, not even my email. I only use it as a phone and occasionally to look up text on the Safari browser.

 

[Samson]

Anyone have a "dumb phone"?

When my phone dies (which may be soon as it's cracked) I'd like to get one with just texting & phone calls but I do want Whatsapp as that's the main way I text and also a little keyboard or touchscreen.

I hate having the internet in my pocket, I can't handle it & waste time.

I think you shall need a smart phone that you make not smart. Whatsapp works over the internet, so you will need to access it. I would just uninstall the tools you do not want.

I do not know you can do that with the android OS, but others are available.

 

[Birdjaguar]

From your link:

"Convergence, in simple terms, is having the same operating system running on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Ubuntu tried it and abandoned the project. Windows also failed at it."

Apple has it in spades. Everything talks to everything.

I hate having the internet in my pocket, I can't handle it & waste time.

Any phone will work for you if you have the discipline to "just say No!"

 

[Samson]

From your link:

"Convergence, in simple terms, is having the same operating system running on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. Ubuntu tried it and abandoned the project. Windows also failed at it."

Apple has it in spades. Everything talks to everything.

I have never really used their stuff, but my understanding is that Mac OS X is much more different from iOS that say Ubuntu Linux is from Android Linux. The internet allows different OS's to talk to each other.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I have never really used their stuff, but my understanding is that Mac OS X is much more different from iOS that say Ubuntu Linux is from Android Linux. The internet allows different OS's to talk to each other.

My wife is fully Apple based: iPhone, iPad, computer. they all sync and and operate together. What is in one place is in the others. You don't have to have all your phone apps on your iPad or computer, but you can. If she added an iWatch, it would sync also. When she downloads a recipe on her iPad, when she goes shopping with her phone, she will have it there.

 

[Samson]

You don't have to have all your phone apps on your iPad or computer, but you can.

Does the reverse apply, as in are there applications that will run on the computer but not the phone? Virtualisation allows you to run an Android app on Linux, but I do not think you can realistically do it the other way.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Does the reverse apply, as in are there applications that will run on the computer but not the phone? Virtualisation allows you to run an Android app on Linux, but I do not think you can realistically do it the other way.

She is not a heavy computer user so I don't know if you can run a spreadsheet on a phone; You can on an iPad though. I do know that all your files are available everywhere. I will check with my brother; he is also fully Apple and is heavy into graphic intensive programs for his work. I just use my iPhone and an iPad and they sync seamlessly in both directions. All my websites work on both Apple and Windows. Without a doubt, iOS and the Mac system are so much better than windows (except for games).

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Anyone have a "dumb phone"?

When my phone dies (which may be soon as it's cracked) I'd like to get one with just texting & phone calls but I do want Whatsapp as that's the main way I text and also a little keyboard or touchscreen.

I hate having the internet in my pocket, I can't handle it & waste time.

My phone is a dumb phone. People can call me. There's no caller ID, so when it rings I have no idea who it is, or if it's someone calling from the lobby, wanting to be buzzed into the building. I can call out. I can't take it with me beyond halfway across the living room or into the front hall because it's plugged into the wall. It doesn't take pictures, it doesn't access the internet, and it has no answering machine or storage of phone numbers.

I've had this phone for nearly 13 years. It's been slowly dying. It's going to be a steep learning curve (not to mention a huge financial step up) when I get my next phone. It cost me about $18 back in 2011.

I'd just moved into a new apartment and had about $20 between me and the end of the month... and then my old phone died. So I went to Walmart to get a new one.

I explained to the clerk what I was looking for, what my budget was, and she promptly tried to steer me to the phones that cost around $100, even though I'd told her I couldn't go over $20. She then claimed, "We don't sell those anymore. These are the cheapest ones we have."

So I said I'd look around myself, and around the corner I found my current phone. By that point she was dealing with other customers, so I waved this one in her face and said, "I've just found the phone you insisted you don't sell anymore."

(when clerks lie to me, I don't mind taking the opportunity to embarrass them in front of other customers)

So I still have it, for now.

 

[Synobun]

My phone is a dumb phone. People can call me. There's no caller ID, so when it rings I have no idea who it is, or if it's someone calling from the lobby, wanting to be buzzed into the building. I can call out. I can't take it with me beyond halfway across the living room or into the front hall because it's plugged into the wall. It doesn't take pictures, it doesn't access the internet, and it has no answering machine or storage of phone numbers.

I've had this phone for nearly 13 years. It's been slowly dying. It's going to be a steep learning curve (not to mention a huge financial step up) when I get my next phone. It cost me about $18 back in 2011.

I'd just moved into a new apartment and had about $20 between me and the end of the month... and then my old phone died. So I went to Walmart to get a new one.

I explained to the clerk what I was looking for, what my budget was, and she promptly tried to steer me to the phones that cost around $100, even though I'd told her I couldn't go over $20. She then claimed, "We don't sell those anymore. These are the cheapest ones we have."

So I said I'd look around myself, and around the corner I found my current phone. By that point she was dealing with other customers, so I waved this one in her face and said, "I've just found the phone you insisted you don't sell anymore."

(when clerks lie to me, I don't mind taking the opportunity to embarrass them in front of other customers)

So I still have it, for now.

I don't think they sell any anymore. Your best bet for cheap is a refurbished flip phone from Best Buy, but it'll still have more tech than what you're used to and what you want, and also significantly more expensive ($50-70). If you expect the phone to kick the bucket within the next year, you're also in a tricky spot: Canada is phasing out its 3G network by the end of 2025, and a lot of the flip phones are 3G-only. In fact, yours might be as well (4G was introduced in 2009, but cheap phones didn't support it), so even if it doesn't break in the next year... you might still be forced to upgrade.

 

[Narz]

Any phone will work for you if you have the discipline to "just say No!"

It's much easier not to have to say no. I tried to have discipline to not use my phone @ the gym, but then I got an MP3 player & don't bring my phone so no discipline needed

I don't think they sell any anymore. Your best bet for cheap is a refurbished flip phone from Best Buy, but it'll still have more tech than what you're used to and what you want, and also significantly more expensive ($50-70). If you expect the phone to kick the bucket within the next year, you're also in a tricky spot: Canada is phasing out its 3G network by the end of 2025, and a lot of the flip phones are 3G-only. In fact, yours might be as well (4G was introduced in 2009, but cheap phones didn't support it), so even if it doesn't break in the next year... you might still be forced to upgrade.

Cool thanks, no best buys here in UK (at least not near me) but there's a bunch of options of Amazon from as little as £18, whatsapp not strictly necessary as family can just send regular SMS and I can check whatsapp on my comp

 

[danjuno]

Anyone have a "dumb phone"?

When my phone dies (which may be soon as it's cracked) I'd like to get one with just texting & phone calls but I do want Whatsapp as that's the main way I text and also a little keyboard or touchscreen.

I hate having the internet in my pocket, I can't handle it & waste time.

Got a phone recently that's sort of like a old flip phone. It has some preloaded apps but the ones with internet access are borderline unusable and there's only a numpad so it's only good for calls. Certainly served it's purpose of discouraging screen time, but kinda wish I has something with a qwerty keypad like a Blackberry so I could use text and email when necessary.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

I'm considering going back to one now that smart phones are getting giant again because the need bigger batteries to do more useless crap like steam 4k movies or whatever.
Wth these things are freakin huge...I don't need that...

 

[Smellincoffee]

I did until 2018, when I wanted a better camera and figured I might as well get it in a phone. I'm not a big phone user, and I don't keep a lot of extra apps installed on it beyond Kindle & DuoLingo.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

There are a ton of cool dumbphones out there; Wisephone II, Lightphone III, Minimal Phone, Mindful phone, many more, and I am interested, but most of them go too dumb for me. I still want navigation and music and ereaders, and most of them only have one or two of those. Several of them also have really weird religious overtones. The Minimal is the most interesting to me as it runs Android and feels like the best middle ground, but e-ink displays are so, so slow to refresh that it really messes with a lot of apps.

 

[Narz]

I don't even want apps really. I can always run maps on my mp3 player and people on Whatsapp can wait til I get home (family can just text or call).

 

[Samson]

I don't even want apps really. I can always run maps on my mp3 player and people on Whatsapp can wait til I get home (family can just text or call).

If you just want any old phone I would look at John Pye. I just looked, and these two just sold for £4.

 

[amadeus]

Western Electric 500 model will do it, and they last forever. Not sure if they sell them in England, probably has some fancy handle for calling the King or something.

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

I'd prefer to just go back to a flip phone. The "smart" phones are hit or miss anyway on doing what they're supposed to do.

 

[Hygro]

I never want to go back. I waited until 2015 to get my first one, a gift or it would have been longer. I was already a few years into being the weirdo, and reliant on others for maps, looking things up, etc. I just get the smallest iphone on the market whenever I upgrade, never put it in a case, just a wikipedia sticker to cover the apple logo.