Not sure if I could manage without a smartphone, but I do like the design of this device, it stands out in the sea of pretty similar looking smartphones.
Honestly, I was the same way until very recently. Now, I think I’d prefer a dumb phone as long as it can do hotspot mode (if such a device exists). I’ve been slowly de-appifying my life, and I’m down to mostly just my 2FA app and web browser.
Web browser is the most insidious of all smartphone apps though.
There really seems to be no decent dumbphones any more. It’s a real regression. Bah.
Web browser is the most insidious of all smartphone apps though.
Lol, it is, but it’s main use is to render my locally-run apps as PWAs
The LoFone uses a custom OS (I didn’t read far enough yet to get much more info than that), but hopefully there’s an SDK for it.
The Lophone sounds less and less promising I’m afraid. Wonder what it will cost. I sometimes think of trying to write an android app that turns an android phone into a dumbphone. I need it for a family member who gets horribly confused by smart phones.
Just did a search for “dumb phone 2024” and the Nokia 2780 was one of the results. Honestly, I’m thinking about trying one of these for myself: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLDZDN9R
According to the reviews, it does have hotspot capability, so that covers my use-case where I’d just pull out my laptop anyway. I can also keep my old phone around and connect over wifi when I need it (it’d just live in my bag rather than my pocket).
It’s hilarious to me that, several years ago, I always had to have the latest flagship smartphone and now I’m drooling over a Nokia flip dumb phone 😆
Thanks, yeah, I remember looking at that and at the Nokia 225. They are possibilities but I really want something more like a 1990s phone or even a mobile version of a 1950s desk phone. Basically no controls except physical buttons, no Internet, etc. Many 2g phones were like that but the 2g network is dead now. Oh well.
Flip phones always break at the hinge after a while, btw.
Can you do something like a phone running Lineage, DivestOS, or Graphene, then tweak it so it’s using a limiting shell (like the simple home setup available on Samsungs)?
Yeah look up “kiosk mode” in Android. It locks your app on the screen so nothing else can run.
