Living is about making choices.
As a society, we have never been more connected or comfortable, yet we feel lonelier and more anxious than ever. While there are many reasons why that is, one of them might be in our pockets.
Every tool should have a moment and a reason for being used, but the smartphone has become the exception. It has ceased to be just a tool for connectivity and social interaction and has become a part of us. Our physical lives are now intertwined with a digital world, connected 24/7 to a reality that isn’t actually ours.
If you feel this way, here is a guide to a possible solution.
What is a dumbphone?
It’s a device that makes calls and sends texts. No social media, games, or any other apps.
A phone for just communicating.
Why choose one?
We live in a world addicted to the “newest” and “fastest,” and choosing to go back can sound strange. Smartphones are an amazing tool, but they are also a drug we carry in our pockets 24/7.
The problem is not the cellphone itself, but when you are not connected to it in a meaningful way. You become a blob, consuming and consuming social media, cheap dopamine with catchy cellphone games, without realizing that life is passing by.
We don’t need a graph to see how addicted our society has become 1. There is a reason for that:
Your attention is the most valuable resource you have. It is not money or time, but attention.
And this is not an understatement.
Your life goes where your focus goes. Your reality is simply whatever you pay attention to.
And billion-dollar companies are dedicated to capturing and selling it. Is their business model 2.
Let’s be clear: I’m not preaching, I still doomscroll. I still get lost in Instagram, YouTube, etc. It’s free, comfortable, and entertaining. The problem is when you lose control, when you start craving, and you use it for the sake of using. Without intention.
Where does the dumbphone make sense?
“It is easier to avoid temptation than resist it.” James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits
Is a way to design your environment for intention.
In my house, I still have access to social media and all of the modern amenities.
When I need to use it is there, but when I leave the house or my work, it stays there.
If I’m waiting in line for bread, I’m just waiting in line for bread.
And yeah, you will complicate your life a little bit, especially at the start, but accepting this “downgrade” is a way of living more in the present, with a little more friction but gaining back your time.
My personal experience
I struggled with cellphone and social media addiction for a LONG time.
It was normal to spend 6 hours per day on YouTube and Instagram, only to end the day feeling lazy and like I’d wasted my time. I couldn’t even remember what I saw. It was an empty and painful feeling, yet I did not have the will or tools to stop it.
It was 2 years ago when I decided to buy my Qin F21 Pro.
For context, it is a Smart Feature Phone. It runs an Android OS (making me able to have apps), but with a small “candy bar” body that makes everything harder to use. It offers the ‘Positive Friction’ I needed. I have access to everything I actually need (GPS, banking, WhatsApp) while deterring me from pleasure from everything that addicts me. Watching YouTube and scrolling social media is a pain in the ass.
It is a was difficult in the beginning, and a lot of things stopped working. Some things stopped working because, while it supports apps, it doesn’t have 100% compatibility, the UI sucks on some sites, and a lot of features are missing.
Our society is now built with smartphones as the default; when you don’t have one, you become the outlier
soo from paying with my cellphone to entering the gym, everything became problematic, but I held on.
After a few months, I figured it all out. Now, everything I really need is there: Spotify, Maps, WhatsApp, and my banking app. I don’t miss the old days. I still struggle with social media at home or work, but now I have an objective in mind: checking on friends, making a post, etc. It has become a tool I use consciously.
A mini guide to cellphone anti-addiction
Well, if you want to go down this route of consciously depriving yourself of technology for good, the first thing you need to know is:
This needs to be a lifestyle change, for real.
In my opinion, the problem with a “social media detox” is that you are treating the symptoms, but after it, you go back to a toxic routine. You need to look at it as a new way of using cellphones and social media.
- Three solutions
There are some options for turning your cellphone capabilities off.
- Level 1 (Software Barriers):
Is the simplest and easiest, and at the same time, reversible.
The idea is to implement barriers to limit or discourage the use without changing cellphone.
It can be as simple as removing the auto-logging in Social Media, so every time you want to use it, you will be asked for a password. Or installing apps that track your daily use and block when you overuse.
The drawback is that it is easy to just uninstall and unlock everything. Is a quick but fragile solution. Some nice-to-knows are apps: One Sec, Before Launcher. - Level 2 (Semi-smartphone):
These are cellphones that are not strictly a dumbphone, but they are really close to it. My F21 falls here. Normally, people call them “Smart Feature Phones” and “Feature Phones.”
You can still use apps, but normally, the UI will suck. It is a good choice if you want to have WhatsApp, Google Maps, or Spotify on your cellphone, but don’t want to be addicted to social media. - Level 3 (Dumbphone):
The real deal, if you are really into having as few things and temptations in front of you as possible, this is your choice.
Maps, Whatsapp or any other app will not work here.
Your phone will be for communication, calls, and SMS.
- Level 1 (Software Barriers):
- Steps for an easy switch
Go slow.
If you want to test this lifestyle, start by deleting the apps from your cellphone that are consuming your time. See how you feel and progressively de-clutter and limit your cellphone. I would recommend buying a semi-smartphone and making yourself comfortable with it. At the end, make the final jump to a dumbphone.
You can always go hardcore more and go buying a dumbphone, but I will always suggest trying a feature phone first. - Good resources: There are really awesome communities, and cellphone reviews out there. You will become an outlier, so I recommend learning from people that already walked this path.
- https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones (A Reddit group with a lot of information and reviews of dumb phones)
- https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalminimalism (A Reddit group discussing digital minimalism)
- https://www.dumbphones.org (A site with a list of phones classified, where you easily find one that suits you)
- A five-step guide to switching to a dumbphone
- Dealing with essential apps:
This is a really common question I get, and the answer will depend on what you need to have in your daily life.
Most of the applications have a computer/web version or a physical solution (2-factor authentication with a physical key with YubiKey, for example) soo look into that.
If you really need a specific app in your pocket, I recommend a semi-smartphone or arrange to have 2 phones: one at home or work with everything, and another less “smart” for you to carry around during the day.
With the increase in cellphone dependency for the day-to-day (QR Menus on restaurants, 2 Factor Auth, Cellphone Clock-In at work). There is always a solution, but sometimes you will need to fight a little bit for it. - Where to buy?
I bought mine on Aliexpress. Many of these cellphones are not in the usual market, but check at Amazon, Aliexpress, or on the cellphone company site, if they have.
Going against the norm and the comodo is never going to be easy, but I hope this text helped you in some way. Thank you!
- But if you want, here it is: Average Screen Time Statistics 2026: Are You Addicted? ↩︎
- There are some interviews with Facebook executives and past presidents that you really should see if you want to understand the mentality of this apps. Ex-President of Facebook talking about their mentality when creating it ↩︎
