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Posted by joshmanders 5 days ago

iPhone dumbphone(stopa.io)
684 points | 393 commentspage 5
darrmit 4 days ago|
I've tried so many things like this over the years and considered Configurator, but my only Apple computer at this point is a corporate Mac that blocks USB access to my phone. It's a great idea, and I'm glad to see it documented.

That said, the biggest shift I encountered in my own phone usage was when I got an Aro box [1]. It's expensive (I got one refurbished), but pretty, and functional, and it has made a HUGE difference in my phone habits. I no longer keep my phone in my bedroom and when I catch myself ignoring those around me in favor of my phone, I can hard cut that off by putting it in the box.

I like the idea of simplifying your phone with software tweaks like this, but I have found the physical separation to be the most freeing, and encourage that if you're interested in freeing yourself from the screen.

[1] https://www.goaro.com/for-families

ausbah 5 days ago||
somewhat simpler but paid (but pricey at $10 month) solution i’ll shill for is Opal. only app i’ve used that can actually lock app, set time limits, etc w a pretty great UI and config setup

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1497465230

xenator 5 days ago|
Wow! It is crazy how much money people will to pay for such problems.

I restrict myself from distractions by disabling hosts via custom rules in my nextdns account. It is enough and free.

radeck 4 days ago||
The built in iPhone time limits work well if you have a partner - simply have them set the password and keep it secret.

You want to spend more time scrolling on twitter?

Fine, muster up the courage to ask your wife for it while she preps school lunches for the kids.

snide 5 days ago||
For those that are looking for something more advanced in the Android space a friend of mine built https://limitphone.com/ to handle something like this. It requires a reset, but comes with a lot more options.
kwanbix 4 days ago|
Looks very interesting. The price is not good. I mean, we have to do it for 4 fones, that is 120 dollars per year, which is a lot of money, not in it's own, but it ads up with other subscriptions. The trial is too short, i think a months will be better.
efreak 3 days ago||
Requires more setup, but you can use ownDroid to do this manually. Though it can't filter apps it doesn't know about (no smart filters)

https://github.com/BinTianqi/OwnDroid

highonl1fe 4 days ago||
I'm on the exact same journey as OP but I think I have a solution that is a little easier to setup.

Simply use Apple's Screen Time but lock all of the Screen Time settings behind a pin. Have a friend or loved one create the pin and keep it secret from you and voila.

With Screen time you can have an "Always Allowed" list and if you use the "Downtime" setting it doesn't actually let you set limits past a one minute exception per app.

You also have to make sure that the downtime setting is 24 hours of downtime.

*Edit: seems like a lot of people are suggesting the same exact thing.

awaseem 4 days ago||
Love this, I created Foqos which is FOSS (free & open source sw). The idea is to use physical switches like QR codes or NFC tags to block apps. Its free to try and just requires an install. Worth checking out if this doesn't work out for you.
stopachka 4 days ago|
Just checked out Foqos -- have seen others mention it in the thread too. Great work!
awaseem 4 days ago||
thank you! Repo here: https://github.com/awaseem/foqos
bitwize 4 days ago||
So "dumbphone" now means "runs only a preselected by me set of apps"? I thought it meant "phone with no app functionality whatsoever, only capable of voice, text, and other basic cell network services"?
Aerbil313 3 days ago||
This is what I do as well. I actually see so much interest for this sort of "dumb smartphone" in some demographics that I seriously intend to start a company selling configured iPhones at some point.

Shout out to TechLockdown (not my company) for making this sort of setup much easier to accomplish.

cwoolfe 5 days ago||
Yeah! Tech Lockdown makes this easy. https://www.techlockdown.com/apple-config-generator
rahul342 2 days ago|
For me, I can push through and not install the social media apps. I have noticed I'll start doing some other screen time activity like browsing HN more, or news site. The usefulness is higher but still am unable to trade off total screen time.
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