New? Can't you buy this for $80 at any CVS or Walgreens?
"Companies including Nokia Corp. still manufacture “feature phones,” devices that look, feel and operate like the cellphones of the ’00s.
But most feature phones still follow a design philosophy of abundance, cramming all the features they can into a limited operating system, said Petter Neby..."
Bullshit. They can't get on the Internet, that's what matters. You can call, you can text (awkwardly) and that's pretty much it. Is it really worth $250+ to strip out the shitty version of Snake or whatever the Feature phone comes with? The whole issue is distraction, and I'm pretty sure a tiny monochrome display with no Internet poses little threat in that regard.
Pure wankery, especially when you consider they could probably sell THIS phone for $80 too, if they wanted to. Buy a feature phone if this is what you want (and more power to you). Don't reward this nonsense.
My elderly mother got a feature phone and couldn't figure out how to use it. It was such a complicated muddle of changing on-screen menus and icons that you activated with mystery buttons on the keypad. I had to first play around with it myself to learn how to make a call, then teach her. Somehow she activated the camera instead and couldn't get back to normal phone mode on her own. These things are pointless toxic waste. All those stupid features force you to give them your attention every time you want to call someone or even answer the damn phone. This is a dumb-phone that cost as much as a low-end smartphone so anyone buying it would be doing so because they don't want all those aggravating complications. I'm sick of machines constantly nagging for my attention. Shut up and get out of the way. I own you, not the other way round!
Anyway, excuse me getting a bit carried away there :P Touched a nerve.
My partner's mom's, age 96, was needing a new phone, so we got the latest "feature" phone from Lively (company formerly known as Jitterbug). On the new phone, the minimum number of keypresses to make a call to anyone in her phonebook was about 8. The minimum on the prior phone (which I know only by Jitterbug) was 2. Although she was an early adopter of word processing and email many years ago, she couldn't track what was going on with this new phone enough to use it. We found a direct replacement of the prior phone and have moved her back to that.
> I'm sick of machines constantly nagging for my attention.
Same. And in her case, she can manage far less attention than she used to. Tech companies don't accommodate for that.
You can even get plans where you pay a small amount per year and get X amount of minutes and Y amount of texts per month if you don't use a phone that often.
I really like the (new) nokia 3310... works great, fast, does minimalistic stuff you actually need, and the battery lasts a long time.... also has snake, a camera, fm radio and a headphone hack.
Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean others can't. It's design, and design is subjective. People bemoan that Jackson Pollocks go for $20 Million, why are these stupid people buying that when a two year old can make 'the same thing'?
I think most people buying this are well aware, they aren't buying it for the features or something that is exclusive to these phones. They're buying because they like how it looks and for the novel user experience.
I need a connected phone that isn't built for addiction.
For example, I need Uber for the rare cases where I'm in a jam at 3 AM and need to get back home. I need maps for when I'm looking for directions. I need a web browser to access my bank and the occasional Google search.
I can live with or without Whatsapp or Signal, that depends on how much you use it I guess.
However, I don't need Facebook, Twitter or TikTok or any social app.
I feel these "minimalist" phones fail to be useful.
> However, I don't need Facebook, Twitter or TikTok or any social app.
So... don't install those apps?
I guess that's easier said than done. I keep an `/etc/hosts` list of distracting websites (includes HN) and route them all back to my hobby trello task board. Message to myself being, "hey, distractions from work are fine, but wouldn't you rather be working on one of these things than screwing around in a comments section?" And I have a shell script that will wipe a given line of the /etc/hosts for 30 minutes in case I decide "nope, I really do want to screw around in the comments section this time."
Maybe someone should build an app that does something similar -- redirects you when you try to either visit or install fb/twitter/tiktok... not sure if possible without jailbreaking or using an alt app store, though.
Ahhh I love this. I tried to do something like this for an app I built for self-reflection. Basically anytime FB or Twitter would send me a notification on Android, I would have the phone also send a notification for iFeelio and ask if I would rather check in with myself than with others. It seemed to work for a while, by I was really dancing around Android permissions and I don't know if that's still possible today on Android, and most certainly not on iOS.
Another thing I've started doing that works for me is removing a page from the history on my browser. It's easy to mindlessly browse something like reddit when I can just type 'r' and hit enter because the browser autocompletes sites in my history, but even the 1 second it takes to type out 'reddit.com' gives my brain time to realize there's nothing in particular I wanted to look at, and I was just going there out of habit because I was bored.
I do this with Firefox on Android, with enabling the setting to clear all history & cookies on Quit action. And then I regularly quit the app. I add a bookmark for sites I do want to access easily for whatever reason. I feel this adds a pretty balanced amount of friction.
I have the same problem! I'd really like to turn off autocomplete completely to resolve it, but Chrome doesn't allow that. :( Remembering to manually remove the site from my history every time isn't gonna happen.
If you’re on desktop just go to settings and search for “autocomplete” - it might be under Google sync settings or advanced -> privacy settings for “use prediction service to help complete searches and urls”
If I’m wrong, it’s only because I’m using MS Edge and this was a question it asked during setup :)
This reason is why I personally would like separate app stores. I'd _really_ like to see an iOS app store, curated by the FOSS community, focused on privacy and productivity -- actual productivity, not mind-numbing dopamine fix loops!
Running a local "pihole" equivalent might be possible then; really the sky is the limit if we regain control of our devices.
Not exactly what you're looking for, but I found Intention to be very effective at periodically interrupting and also capping my daily "mindless" browsing:
The Apple Watch is the right form factor for this. You can do almost anything but certain things are so annoying you wouldn’t bother. Voice control is the best way to use it which makes it great for getting directions, making a call or etc. but you wouldn’t consider scrolling reddit on it.
Yeah I came here to say something similar. I feel like there's a middle ground, but this isn't it. Almost like a Firefox of phones that gets rid of the unethical, unhealthy and addictive junk and keeps the essential stuff. Maybe it's more of an operating mode that we can enable on existing phones.
Stuff I absolutely need when AFK: Maps, slack, whatsapp, windy, tides, gmail, expensify and a few others.
Stuff I don't need: Facebook, twitter, news apps that "ALERT!!!" me when it's nothing important, etc.
My relationship with my phone greatly improved when I turned on DoNotDisturb mode and hid all of the red county icon widgets … many years ago. It’s the best.
Your phone no longer distracts you. Can’t.
The temptation is still there in your pocket, but if you’re doing stuff and mind isn’t looking for distraction, you won’t even notice your phone exists.
Good advice. Now we just need to apply this type of thinking across the entire app and OS ecosystem. I never want to be prompted for any sort of permissions or accidentally grant some while clicking to dismiss the wave of prompts you sometime encounter.
I spent some time thinking about this last night and want to re-emphasize this question. I'm serious. I genuinely can't think of something I might miss out on. when my friends are doing something, they text me. when something is happening in the world, the people around me are talking about it. and if they're not, who cares? how is it relevant to my life?
more importantly, FOMO, when applied to real relationships, leads to this utilitarian mindset where you view other people and your interactions with them in highly objectified ways, centering the possible opportunities your relationships with others might provide. other people don't exist for your benefit. this is a form of non-sexual fetishization, where you start to view actual people as tools and grant those tools metaphysical power over your life - not interacting with them might lead you to missing out on something /critical/.
treat people like people. spend time with people because you like them and enjoy your time with them. don't fixate on your own ends and make means of other people.
Maybe it's a fundamental property of increased globalization and communication increasing the amount and kinds of information we're capable of sending? The addictive information shares bandwidth with the practical information by its very nature.
I was also considering a feature phone a long time ago, and also like the parent the reason I couldn't bring myself to make the switch was because I was worried I'd end up needing to use Lyft.
A Lyft app for feature phones doesn't sound like an attractive business target, and even if the market was such that Lyft felt like making one then in the end Facebook would probably also feel like making their own. Those incentives turn the smartphone game into an all-or-nothing affair if you want the convenience of modern apps, for better or worse.
It's a human issue that technology can exploit to your detriment, or it can help with.
Here is an example from my life. I enjoy cannabis. I love the creative mode I get into when I use it, I love how periodic use can allow me to reexamine things from a different perspective, and so on. Great stuff. (and yes, it is legal here and sold in about 4 stores within a ten minute walk)
What I don't like is how, if I have it sitting around my house, I am tempted to use it when I need to get work done, and it will get in the way of that and cause me to waste time. I would become an unproductive stoner if it was always around.
Enter technology. I bought a lockbox with a timer. Pull out a little bit, then lock it up for 4-5 days. Works perfectly for me.
Some people could say "why not just learn some discipline?" (easier said than done) Others will say "if you have an addiction, just don't buy the stuff."
I say, why can't I have the best of both?
Same goes for things like phone and web addiction. Technology can help. I don't like this solution (too all-or-nothing.... it's like the "just don't buy the stuff" solution), but I do like the idea of technology helping with what is otherwise a human issue.
I use uBlock to disable the feeds and notification badges for those websites. This means I can still get information from reddit through Google, but can't browse it or read my messages.
I also turned off notifications for emails and other things that can wait. At around 11PM the phone goes silent and most apps are on a timer.
This is ridiculously effective. I had to make an exception for Hacker News because I was running out of offline reading material.
You can castrate your phone to remove all the pointless crap. I am really happy with the StayFocusd app. In strict mode, it can block all distracting websites and apps, block settings and changing permissions, block installing and uninstalling apps - it's basically perfect for internet addicts. You still have Google maps, but no Facebook or Instagram.
The USP of dumbphones is that they provide internet access to a curated subset of apps.
There's no easy way to tell an Android that you do want data going to maps and chat apps, but not to your web browser or social media app. You have to jiggle dozens of permissions sliders every time you switch 'modes'.
Dumbphones are that toggle. Is it going to find a $200-$300 enthusiast market? Not sure... I could see myself buying a Light Phone, but I also wonder if it's only a software problem, and subtracting features from Android will get you to the sweet spot quicker than building them up from feature phones.
The toggle is whether you leave the house with your dumbphone or your smartphone.
I don't think there's a market at all for people who only want a dumbphone as their primary phone. Then you're just building a bougie feature phone as many other commenters have said.
I'm gonna try a second profile on Android for a few weeks. Could give more insight on whether dumbphones need to be hardware, or if their final form is software. One difference already, you can change your mind while out and about by swapping back to the full profile. So willpower is still needed.
I don’t have Facebook, Twitter, etc. on my phone either. But if we have a group of people saying “help! I’d really like a product that can do $thing for me because I struggle to do it alone” it would seem there’s clearly a market/opportunity.
Just because we don’t struggle with or need the product being described doesn’t mean there’s no need for it.
Looking at the official website trying to understand what's the value of this mobile phone over any cheap feature phone from Nokia: https://mudita.com/products/pure/.
The device has an e-ink display and claims to have a very good speaker. The operating system has a meditation app and an "inspirational quotes" app.
I'm still curious about which kind of person would purchase a device like this instead of a feature phone, given that they are way cheaper.
> The operating system has a meditation app and an "inspirational quotes" app.
> I'm still curious about which kind of person would purchase a device like this instead of a feature phone
At uni we had a teacher that used to brag telling the story about how he bought his phone. Allegedly he went into the store and asked about the most basic phone.
No, not the cheapest phone, but the basic. Because he didn't needed cameras and apps and stuff.
I'm fairly positive that's the kind of people this phone is targeted at.
The focus on radiation is... strange. It even shows up under the SIM card section:
"Although we would have liked to only use 2G, the least harmful radio frequency, it is currently being phased out around the world. We spent a good amount of time trying to find a flexible, modern and global GSM module, which could be used for travelling anywhere in the world. With the user’s health in mind, Pure always chooses the lowest spectrum available to limit radiation."
The E-ink display might be good for battery life... but if you're not obsessively using your battery life is going to be much better in the first place, since the majority of the battery drain on modern phones is the screen.
Amen. Nokia appeared to be sending the right signals by releasing a "new" 3310, but I had to return mine as I couldn't even find an easy-to-access "silent" mode - that's how barren of features they now are. Try finding one with a copy and paste feature. No ability to back up texts, extremely small memory for number of texts, some appalling user flows.. it's like it's been designed by someone who has never used a phone from before 2010 and is having to invent it all again.
My theory is this is because they know their core market now is old people and other "basic users" who will never bother looking for these features.
My Xiaomi note has a super eco mode. One home screen, up to 9 apps (I opted for Vivaldi, telegram, whatsapp, camera, newpipe, maps. Obviously phone, contacts, sms). When I found the feature I used it on when my battery was about to die, now it's my default productive mode. Battery is super happy to see the charger once or twice a week. It's a feature phone? No. But it's my camera, gps nav, notebook, mp3 player. All things I had in my backpack when feature phones were the only option.
I don't get this new trend of stupidly expensive, badly designed, health-conscious phones. Modern feature phones already exist. I've bought a couple clamshells with big display and big buttons to my elderly parents, less than 20eur each.
Browsing mudita website I see they are developing a minimal app launcher for Android, a more sensible way to embrace digital minimalism. Ready to pivot.
The ultra power saving mode on my old Samsung Galaxy S7 did something similar. You put it in ultra power saving mode and it turns everything to black and white and only gives you access to a few number of apps that you select. I found it a very handy feature while travelling but ended up keeping my phone in that mode for the majority of its life after I discovered it. I wish my iPhone had a similar feature.
That's amazing. And here I was impressed by my Nokia smartphone's 2-3 day battery life. How does the home screen app count restriction work to preserve charge?
* Wifi only
* GPS
* Square e-ink touchscreen, 3 inches across
* QWERTY hardware keyboard
* Thin foldable a la razor
* Latest LTE tech worldwide bands for future proof network compatibility
* Micro SDXC slot
* USB-C with host and audio capabilities
* Removable battery
* De-googlized AOSP with F-Droid
* Some good hardware hi-def DAC
* 3.5mm audio out
* Decent camera for photos, don't care about videos on a phone
Like in calls, text, music, Tutanota and Organic Maps apps, some offline games, and occasional pic taking.
That's it. Ready to pay about US$500 for it. I've used old BB's for a long time, it worked, until I needed newer network capabilities...
Getting an AOSP os on a newish LG or Samsung does it, but I do prefer the square screen with physical keyboard form factor, and I'm a big fan of e-ink for eye strain and battery life.
Because that's the actual standard for cellphone communications. 4g and 5g are LTE, for which my phone needs to be compatible with if I want to use for years to come. The fact that I chose not to use cell data is only a question of choice. The choice of connecting only when I do need a connection.
I don't like how all modern phones are designed for content consumption. If you try googling "android phone with a small screen", you will get articles about phones with a 5-6" screen, because this is what is considered a "small screen" nowadays.
I would easily pay $300-400 for a de-Googled Android phone with 3-3.5" screen and no bloatware. It should be just right to use apps like Uber, Telegram, or maps, but the small screen would discourage mindless media consumption.
In Israel, around a million ultra-Orthodox Jews have specially made "kosher phones" that only make phone calls[1]. This is for religious reasons (with, it must be said, a not-insignificant amount of social pressure.)
Full disclosure: I am one of them, while managing to be CTO of a company with around 100 employees. If people need me, they have my phone number.
The phones tend to be recent model feature phones with custom firmware that only allow phone calls. I have to say, I very much see the benefits for concentration, focus, and general well-being. Sure, occasionally it's a pain, but the benefits far outweigh the costs.
The phones generally cost less than $100, and last way longer than smartphones do (I've had mine around 6 years, the battery lasts a week on a single charge, and upgrading won't get me any new features!)
Pretty worthless without WhatsApp, which in many countries is the only way to actually make calls and send texts. They state in their FAQ that they have no intention to support it.
I think the dividing line for features on a minimal phone should be is the message that comes into the phone intended for the recipient and not for a mass audience. Feeds, nope. Podcasts, nope. Music, nope. Any sort of "News", Nope. Slack/Instant Messages/Tinder/Email Specifically Emailed to You OK.
Hmm, like others here I seem to really be missing the point of these minimalist phones besides the straight branding behind them. I think the dumb Nokia feature phones satisfy most of these cases.
Personally I've taken a few steps to minimize time on my phone
1) use a long text password to unlock my phone (I also change the password every few weeks)
2) don't use any apps with endless scrolling
3) turn off notifications and open apps with purpose
I think the general problem we're trying to correct for is the malfunction of the human mind in the presence of general purpose parallel computing as well as social technology. We're (largely) wired to attend to things sequentially, and we are highly susceptible to social signals. Our minds have parallel processing capabilities, but it's mostly the subconscious parts of our minds that work that way. With constant access to general-purpose computers, we try to start operating more and more in a consciously parallel mode, and this causes a significant amount of stress.
I'd buy one if it could do WiFi calling (I have very poor mobile signal at my house) and hotspot capability so I could use a cheap tablet for maps in the car.
You could call your phone provider and ask them if they offer a signal booster or something like that. I’m in Eastern Europe and if you nag Orange enough about the signal issues at your house they will actually send you a little device you plug into your router and power that provides 4G to nearby phones.
I enjoy mindlessly scrolling social media when waiting for the bus. It takes my mind off the banality of doing that. It also makes time go by quicker, which is what you want when waiting for anything.
I don't agree with this current wave of demonisation of smartphones. If you want you can flash a Pixel with LineageOS and install a bunch of FOSS apps from F-Droid if you're concerned about privacy.
I'd prefer a capable phone, but with "lockdown features" designed for addictive personalities. I use various tools for web addiction on my computer (for instance LeechBlock, that has rules that allow me to access certain sites for only certain periods). I even have a physical lockbox with a timer for certain real-world substances that I enjoy and benefit from, but I don't benefit from them always being available and tempting me. (hint: things that used to be illegal but aren't anymore, at least not in California)
This sort of solution, though, takes it way too far. I mean, I might need to call an Uber. I am not addicted to the Uber app. But I want it when I want it. I want to have maps/driving directions available when I want them. There are so many things I use occasionally on my phone that I'd like to decide whether or not they are positive or problematic, rather than the manufacturer to decide that for me. In other words, they throw out the baby with the bathwater.
The light phone looks great and exactly what I want. But it won't work with my provider or choice, and I really don't want to be reliant on light phone the company for my SIM service.
I'm now used to not looking at the phone most of the time. I do not have any social media apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or anything for a very, very long time. I'm not too keen on phone calls either. I look at text messages only when I'm expecting something.
However, I need the phone-smartness of Maps, Calendar, Health monitoring, and mostly photo/videography. It is impressive with the camera capabilities of phones these days.
A phone with just phone calls and text messaging will be highly irritating.
Or you just take any random smartphone and just set up what you need. Maybe even use a second phone solely for that purpose. Then it can sync your contacts and also run Uber or a Maps app.
A maps app can be quite a life safer, also in the literal sense if you get lost in the wilderness or in a dangerous area.
If you feel like you can't resist the urge to install other apps, just turn on child protection mode, and let somebody you trust set the pin.
I might be missing something here. Can I not pick up a Nokia, Sony or other phone for an order of magnitude less than this price? It might even get some kudos.
Or, as stated in the article, an alarm clock for a similar order of magnitude less.
This might belay a greater stagnation, and not a bad one. The laptop I'm typing this comment on, a ThinkPad manufactured in 2012, works just fine. It has an upgrade to a SSD and a new battery. It cost around $100 three years ago.
The watch on my arm, if choosing to put it on, was manufactured in the 1990s. It just needs a new battery every 3-4 years.
I have no idea how old my alarm clock is. It's mainly unused because body clock works well enough. I do not need a step counter as when going for a morning stroll or jog I know roughly how far I'm going and how many steps that equates to. Nor do I need a meal planner app because the amount of calories in various food stuffs fortunately stays quite constant.
While mobile payments have been all the rage where I live for some time, I get by well enough with a technology that doesn't aggregate personal information for 3rd parties called cash, with two high-tech devices in my wallet being a bank card and a public transport card. When taking the bus or subway I do crazy things like bring a book with me; there's a local bar/cafe/restaurant where people bring books they're done with and pick up others new.
> Such a design philosophy may be good for consumers, but not for financial projections. Encouraging customers to upgrade helps smartphone makers keep cash flow consistent, whereas minimalist phones comparatively are selling few units to begin with, despite some models now being in the market for more than five years, said Ken Hyers, director of emerging technology devices at Strategy Analytics Inc.
That just means I have more money for things other than keeping up with the Jones'. Like good food, or taking part in activities or hobbies. And more time. Without Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok or whatever pushing notifications and 'important' updates, notifications that bring more baggage than utility, the world becomes a pull world. If it's urgent, call me or at least text. If needing more detail send an email, not an attachment on WhatsApp in the hope I actually care to check that, or Signal, or Telegram, or WeChat, or Messenger, or Discord, or iMessage, or whatever.
Not a rant. If someone likes to blow $3000 on a laptop, or $1000 on a new phone per year, or $349 on a dumb phone, great, anyone's choice. It's nice the choice not to is also there.
"I might be missing something here. Can I not pick up a Nokia, Sony or other phone for an order of magnitude less than this price?"
In the United States all networks are switching to VoLTE. They will no longer activate devices that do not have 4g. So no, the old Nokias will no longer work.
Unfortunately all new "Dumb Phones" will have to have a 4g modem and be compatible with the VoLTE networks.
I keep all social media apps off of my phone. I do have messaging apps on my phone, such as slack. I find it helps keep me from mindlessly staring at my screen.
I wish for this in a tweet last week and just got it.
```
After realizing how much anxiety having a phone nearby that is on all day long has caused, I have a feature request for a future version of iOS: Dumb & Dumber.
Dumb: Voice and text mode.
Dumber: Voice only mode.
```
How about an Android OS stripped from everything that's not needed?
To be used with older devices. Privacy focused with an intentional black and white display. Plenty of devices laying around. The stripped features should also improve the battery life as well.
For IM I really loved BitlBee, maybe the mandatory IM could be within terminal. Notifications could be highly customized and the ux would be non-candy one.
My Nokia 6030 does this and is still going strong with a week between charges. I'm going to be sad when the 2G/3G base stations shut down in the next few years though.
It'd be nice if there were more 4G/5G dumb phones with mechanical buttons, a minimal screen and physical size, no firmware or software update need or capability, and voice+text support.
You have to make minimalist things configurable sometimes so they each persons minimal set can work for them without adding bloat to somebody elses.
I’ve been rewriting some logic for a writing prep app right now based on this idea. It’s delaying the launch by about a week but it’s really important. There is no such thing as the average person
I think the trick is to be configurable, but with high friction. Otherwise it's too easy to reconfigure away from the minimalism on the fly.
I've thought about using Parental Controls on iOS to do something similar. Set a very long password that can't be memorized easily, write it down somewhere accessible if needed, and you get a minimal phone that can be reconfigured if needed. Just with high friction (typing in a long password from a paper in your home).
Of course, this assumes your goal is "avoiding a distracting environment" rather than "avoiding a bloated environment". Everyone has different goals with minimalism.
The simpler way to do that (that doesn’t assume/require you to ever be home) is to make any reconfigurations that should be possible-if-necessary, but not done on a whim, take 24 hours to take effect. Teach the user this in advance, such that they know that they’ll need to plan to set their phone into a new mode at least 24hrs in advance of actually undertaking whatever adventure needs the new config.
(This is the Animal Crossing approach to friction. Move your house? Sure, but it won’t happen for 24 hours.)
I would prefer "modular" phone where I can chose what apps to include. The dialer and SMS could come standard but everything else should be optional. However I want to be able to add apps I want, like Lyft or Signal. I guess somene could try to hack something like this based on standard Android.
All I need is smartphone that fits in my palm and has a battery that doesn’t lose 60-70% of power after 20m on internet and GPS usage and isn’t designed to shatter on fall (from both back and front).
There's literally a vending machine with phones equivalent to this at the bus station here. They're like 40€ and come with a pre-loaded 3 month prepaid SIM.
It's touted as a minimalist phone but the very idea of a product category for minimalism is funny. If you don't want to get distracted and lead a more minimalist life, the act of resisting the distractions must come from within. Buying a minimalist phone is treating the symptom not the cause.
I guess there is such a thing as a minimalist aesthetic (think japanese/danish uncluttered styles) which has very little to do with the minimalist philosophy. Minimalist philosophy is much closer to resourcefulness/ingenuity than it is to consumerism.
I really do not know why ""minimal phones"" are a big deal when you can just get a feature phone. $349 seems a little overpriced for a phone that just makes phone calls and sends texts. I think it's just not worth the money
