I have a dumb phone for calls, and to whip our when people want to try and force me to use "mobile" services. TL;DR I'm annoying.
this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2021
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Privacy
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Keep in mind that every dumb phone to my knowledge uses fully proprietary and non-user-replacable software. IMO that's worse than running an AOSP Android ROM.
It is also capable of connecting to cellular data or Wi-Fi in most cases. There is also no device encryption, and it's trivial for a regular person with only moderate knowledge to extract every file from them if they have the physical device (no need for expensive hacking tools).
Worse than that, access to your unencrypted dumb phone is generally not needed because it uses unencrypted SMS as the only messaging system. It is also relatively easy for the government or someone with access to the necessary equipment to intercept calls you make with it. If you can live without a phone then go for it, if you need a phone a dumb phone is your worst choice, I think the best you can do is get a device like the Cosmo Communicator and run Linux on it (not the Android that comes installed).
As for me, in mid December I've accidentially broken back glass of my smartphone. It was a not huge thing since it is could be quite easily fixed, but still makes smartphone usage uncomfortable. So I decided to leave my smartphone till back glass will be fixed, then placed a sim into an old feature phone for sms and calls in urgent situations, and for the rest I decided to use laptop instead. After several weeks I understood that I havent' missed nothing and that smartphone just brings an artificial feeling of importance 🙂
For me not using the internet from my phone and not having access to some apps would take some getting used to however I believe I can make the switch, maybe. I'm not quite sure.
i love smartphones but i have considered getting a "dumb" phone for the longest time.
however, i once heard someone say that a smartphone isn't harmful to privacy because it's smart but because it's a phone. i would love to hear arguments either way on that statement
That statement comes from the people who fail to differentiate privacy from anonymity. It's because of triangular pinging that can be used to track user location.
I used an Alcatel Go Flip 3 for awhile, as well as a Sonim XP5S. I loved not having to charge for days and it was strucking how many times I found myself reaching for my phone during the first few days.
I do think that having a laptop/computer nearby made things easier, and at times it was inconvient but still doable to go without some of the things we take for granted (maps, banking apps).
I think the hardest thing for me would be going without maps. I'd get lost all the time. Heck, I already do WITH the app xD
Though I have always wanted a Motorola Razr...
There's nothing I need on my phone I couldn't use on my computer, but I do like the features of Telegram for messaging and a web browser for browsing, everything else is essentially a time waster.