Reject Convenience Forum

I fully expect to get a lot of dumbphone answers in this forum, but I think it would be cool to get a sense of what different people use. And also not all dumbphones are the same so there may be options you come across that work better for you.

If you use a smartphone, maybe you can share how you set up your smartphone so that it works better for you.

I'll start even though I'm a bad example: I use a Google Pixel 8. Personally I don't think I can use a dumbphone, but I also get a ton of value from my phone and how I use it, so I'm good with the usage. My screen time is also typically 2 hours or less, so I feel comfortable with that. What I will do is manage what apps I choose to install and I control notifications. At this point so much of this is internalized for me, but things like Facebook I abandoned years ago. I try to make sure that every app I have is helping me in some way rather than me serving it.

What do you use?

I use a Google Pixel 6, but I currently have it set to grayscale mode! It makes it very lame, annoying, and boring, but maybe that's good. I did switch it off to see color in a YouTube video and forgot to turn the filter back on.
Phone launchers I have installed: Kvaesitso (currently using! open source and pretty limiting while feature rich), mLauncher, Niagara Launcher (used for a year+), Nova Launcher (used for the last month), Pixel Launcher (), Revo Launcher (mimics Wii home screen, previously Wii Phone Launcher), Smart Launcher (is yucky, don't get), and Smartspacer (actually an insane widget app, not a launcher)
My phone's screen time is anywhere from 1.5 hours to 9, this week lower than 5 hours daily. I might be more addicted to using my laptop, where I lose sleep surfing the web (stuck at over 100 tabs right now). I did uninstall Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, Voyager (Lemmy client) and TikTok+Tumblr (these were on my device for a very short time), and many were modified version to remove ads. I now spend the most time on my phone watching long-form videos on YouTube (disabled shorts button/shelves with RVX patches, using revancify), scrolling through posts on a fediverse client (Aria for Sharkey/Misskey/*key+ or Moshidon for Mastodon-API-compatible instances), and the game Flow Free.
I disabled notifications for everything but from my friends or personal community on Bunny (Discord mod) or calls, texts, and some emails.

Oh man I forgot about Nova Launcher, I used to have that on my Pixel back in the day.

I currently flip flop between my cat s22 flip and my TCL flip 2. I hate the keyboard on the cat phone, but I just lineage os installed on it so it is more set up for daily use that the TCL (which I haven't rooted). I want to be both minialist and degoogled so I am happier with this change.

My Moto X4 just sits in my desk until I decide to use my TCL and I want driving navigation. It is only used in the car for android auto.

I'm using a Google Pixel 4, and while I think the right dumb phone could really do me good, I can't see how it would fit into my lifestyle right now.

I use my phone exclusively for pictures, baby data, navigation, mobile payments, points cards, and 2factor auth. I also use my phone for emails, instant messages, scheduling, and note-taking when I'm away from my computer. I could offload some of these, but not all, to other devices, but so many companies are going with an app-first design that it makes it very difficult to fully de-smartphone.

Any tips for maintaining better smartphone hygiene would be appreciated.

I currently have a OnePlus 8 (2020) as my daily driver, received it last year in 2023 as a gift after my old Samsung Galaxy S4 (2013) finally gave up the ghost in battery life. (I still use it as an at-home BlueTooth iPod in a charging stand.) I used to be a major smartphone nerd, testing and flashing custom ROMs, making sure I had the emoji I wanted, spoofing location data, etc. My smartphone was a real necessity for my work at the time, and I was constantly composing documents and writing notes on the go, checking emails, etc. I installed ViPER4Android, a custom audio driver, to make my headphone experience better (I used my smartphone as a music player). These days, the Dolby Atmos app that come on a lot of stock phones does a great job, and a custom audio driver isn’t a necessity for audiophiles anymore.

I think I’m pretty healthy with regards to my smartphone usage. I’m not active on any major social time-sinks like X, TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook. I don’t sink hours endlessly scrolling Pinterest. The biggest stressor from my smartphone now, comes from it being always on my desk at work because I use it as a music player, and a lot of the music I listen to are in YouTube playlists. I hate seeing everything else on the screen—I don’t want to see any notifications or anything but the current time and what music is playing, ever. I’m in the process of getting all of my music as local files away from the streaming services, and I’ve just ordered a gorgeous Fujitsu Arrows F-05G (2015) in burgundy red with a gold stripe time display to serve as an Android music player.
I still need to use my depression rectangle as a biking GPS navigation tool, to pay for bus fare ($5 e-tickets on the app cover unlimited transit, including train fare, for the entire day, and isn’t an option with physical cash or bus cards), catch a Lyft/Uber, 2FA, etc. The puzzle alarm app I use is pretty nice for making sure I get up in the morning on time, too. Also need it to BlueTooth control LED lights I use for raves and what-not... But this way the depression rectangle won’t be nearly as present and visible in my waking hours anymore. I’m happy.

CitricScion wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2024 1:02 am I fully expect to get a lot of dumbphone answers in this forum

Well... surprise surprise, I don't use a dumb phone.
I do have a really old one with me that my sister used to use lol
I get the appeal of a dumb phone, but I don't really plan to switch to one.

CitricScion wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2024 1:02 am I'll start even though I'm a bad example: I use a Google Pixel 8.

Don't worry, I'm in the same boat as you. I currently have the Moto Edge 50 Ultra.
I got it 'cause it's near stock Android, uses a Snapdragon (as opposed to Exynos and by extension Tensor (which is rebranded Exynos) which are infamous), and has an unlockable bootloader without compromising on the phone's features. I haven't unlocked the BL yet as it's fine atm, but it's incase there's a need.

So if it's of any consolation:

CitricScion wrote: ↑Thu Oct 17, 2024 1:02 am I'm good with the usage. My screen time is also typically 2 hours or less, so I feel comfortable with that.

I'm not better in this regard lol

On to what I do:

I do have and use some mainstream social media (Discord, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit) plus additional ones like Bluesky and the Fediverse (even though not necessarily an "app") but I have my notifications disabled for them except for DMs which are only friends or people I follow (with some exceptions) for the sake of my mental sanity.
I use the web app for Twitter with uBO plus some userscripts to make it better because the app really isn't for me lol. I do use YouTube Revanced though. Sometimes I watch Shorts lol

For the Fediverse I mostly use the instance web app; separate apps have not worked out well for me.

I have Telegram because I have Discord semi-refugees there plus a lot of software projects use it.

WhatsApp for personal communication. Trust me, I would've preferred something else. A lot of my contacts are signing up for Telegram which is a good sign.

I use the Bunny client instead of the vanilla Discord app. Nothing deal-breaking about the vanilla app just nice to have extra features.

The official Reddit app suuuucks especially that it's absolutely not bandwidth-friendly and resource-friendly the last time I used it. So I just use RedReader which Reddit added as an exemption from their new 3rd party app policies.

For email I use K-9 Mail, which is basically Thunderbird for mobile. Except Zoho which I use for my contact mail. Can't even use IMAP without paying... kinda sucks.

I have a separate work profile created using Island for university stuff.

Oh yeah... launchers. I use Niagara launcher because I navigate the fastest with it.

I have a fair amount of games from syncing my previous phone.... but I find myself not playing more than just a few nowadays. I play more on PC anyway.

A lot of you definitely have criticisms, so I'm absolutely not the best example, but certainly not the worst either.
I personally think I'm fine with my current position.

I do not intend to influence anyone here as the conclusion is moreso that you don't have to stress yourself about trying to set a good example as ironically, it's not mentally good for you.

I used to use a Samsung Galaxy Folder 2 for about a year, as I thought the speed would knock me off balance in terms of the performance, so not wanting to use it outside of normal texts and calls. When I stopped being able to do that without the phone crashing, I couldn't keep on using it unfortunately. Nowadays, I use my Oppo Find X2 Pro with Ultra Power Saving Mode on (Calls, Texts, Discord, IbisPaint & Avee Player/FiiO Music for music) so that none of the content brought from social media sucks me in. It's a pretty fast phone from 2020 so it gets the job done!