I've been getting my family into lora. It's nice just having Ubuntu that texts. I still use my phone for mobile connectivity as a hot spot but apps are largely going un updated, and their silly ads unviewed.
Obviously not the solution for everyone but damn its freeing if you can.
I want complete control of my technology after I buy it. I don't want my phone to assume things that I like based on my input. If something goes wrong, I want it to be my fault because I enabled the wrong setting. I also want physical buttons. I miss those so much.
Dumb, that is. Virtually all of them have some version of Android or KaiOS or some other full-fat OS cosplaying as something “simple”. Litmus test: does your “dumb phone” come with a map app? A Facebook app? Can you install apps from an external source? If so, you don’t have a dumb phone.
The hallmark of a dumb phone is the lack of an OS that boots. You turn it on, and everything should be instantly and immediately available, loaded from ROM. No boot sequence, no waiting for anything to load.
The only truly “dumb phone” out there - as something “new” and not actually vintage - is the Rotary Un-Phone.
I'll fuckin do it. How hard can it be to make minimal technology with a decent interface for a demanding market who will all happily pay a little bit of extra upcharge because they don't want the shiny new biz?
And I just want a small Android phone that fits in one hand.
The last one to be around iPhone 13 mini size is the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact from 2018. And if you want original iPhone SE size, then the "latest" one is the Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 from 2011.
Oh what I would do to magically make my old Samsung S4 Mini usable again...
People want phones that don't cost $1000+, lack basic features and constantly prey on their personal data. That's what they want. Some scores they by saying they want "dumb phones", but the first part is the larger driver here.
I don't think people really want dumbphones, I think they just want apps that better support their self-control. Digital Wellbeing on Android is a start, but it's way too easy to bypass.
