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What is a product that sounded promising but ended up being very underwhelming?
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2024
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Smartphones in general.
They were cool until the industry decided tall, skinny rectangles were the final form factor.
I'm on the last week of my dumb phone challenge (been daily driving a flip phone for the last 3 weeks), and I think I'm gonna keep it.
my dream is a dumb phone that can access the internet and act as a wifi gateway for my laptop or tablet. oh also a local webpage for managing the phone.
I was actually surprised to learn that most current dumb phones (at least ones that run KaiOS like most of the Nokia ones) do actually support acting as a wifi hotspot. Not sure of any that have a REST API for management, though. They also have at least primitive web browsers.
Actually, you might be able to make a REST API (and web app to use it) with NodeJS or Python with Termux, though that requires an Android device (so not applicable for a dumb phone). Termux has an API that lets you interact with the phone hardware, though I've had issues with some things not being implemented (I've only briefly played with that, so I may just be missing something or it doesn't fully work in Android 14 yet).
The "dumb" phone I chose for my challenge is the CAT S22 Flip which runs Android 11. I disabled most of what made it "smart" for the challenge, though. At the end of the week when the 30 days are officially up, I'm going to re-enable some of those features just for convenience. (That device was $20 cheaper than the true dumb phone I was looking at, so I figured I'd just dumb it down for the 30 day challenge and then use it as the unique smartphone it is after that).
you know someone told me this one on chat and all I really remember was it did not really seem to be that way. There was something I believe but it was as expensive as a smartphone which I get it may not be as cheap as a typical dumb phone it should not really be that much more with just the one function.
There is an OS for dumbphones of certain types that makes them smart phoens to an extent a browser and facebook etc on tbem skyoe is on some dumber phoens to already, You can do the opposite with certain launchers as well convert a smartphonex o dumbphone eg. the oddly named Baldphone on F-Droid for elderly peolle needing bigger buttons andxless modern sh@t I mean bloatware sorry lol it also adds an ease of opening the dialpad oviously in bold digits and other simplicities.
Baldphone remember to oot out of extra tracking it has anti-features
BaldPhone (Replace your phone's interface with a big, simple and friendly one) https://f-droid.org/packages/com.bald.uriah.baldphone/
Other alternative maybe YAM Launcher or similar apps.
YAM Launcher (YAM Launcher is a minimalist text-based launcher for Android with weather!) https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.ottop.yamlauncher/
Nothing dumber looking than text for your items and apps installed
Here Techcrunch come up with ideas on dumbing smartphones down in this article
https://www.techlockdown.com/guides/dumb-phone-android
With launchers you don't struggle to buy a dumbphone with 4g and 5g signals for the sim you dumb a modern phone down you could also strip the apps off if you root it or maybe just get Android AOSP on it and use a simple launcher for it then a text based one.
I mean its not about the interface as much as the way that smartphones feel like tracking devices. yeah any cellphone can be tracked but the ios and android are made seem to be at its core. Then there is the expense and don't last as long. I just don't want to be paying for a pocket computer when I just want a pocket phone/wifi
On AOSP they aren't tracked it's a De-Googled OS it has no Google Service Framework or Google related apps to track you, you'd use the F-Droid marketplace for none tracking apps to install on it if needed.
Expense I can understand, but something of a natively compatible format for installing the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) sounds fine to use as a kind of capable dumb phone if you like and by capable I meam it can be used as both a smart phone or dumb phone with the use of a launcher being installed for the dumbing down, say some text based or other simplistic launcher available via F-Droid.
Cost is not to viscious for Android phones of just ok spec like an old mid range octa core running Android 11 or Android 12 with say 64gb storage to 128gb storage but 32gb is fine even less really but you begin dropojng soc performance fast going to 32gb storage devices really but in those 64-128gb eras of hardware ranges are pretty cheap now for second hand ones with warranties sometimes to. AOSP is lighter on resources trick also is enable developer options and turn off
Window Animation Scale
Transition Animation Scale
Animator Duration Scale
This makes a device fly scrolling and opening and tapping things to open them because the you aren't waiting for transitions to take place for the UI that often has a momentary pause or animated effect to look cool but this might look cool but it slows the waiting time to ooem things right down, I always disable that on all phones or other Android devices that run Android on initial setup.
Or if you want true dumb phones a 4g doro lol
For iphone's I just found this it's pretty interesting turning it into a light phone by a launcher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10iUIoVBRI8&t=47
But the convenience of being wired in every possible second of your life!
Dictating notes into my journal (eg obsidian/mediawiki/dokuwiki) is very nice though.