The NoPhone

[surfsvammel]

This is fun and all, but also incredibly sad. My fiancée previously complained that I was staring at my phone too much (and she was absolutely right). So, I decided to minimise it. Remove all apps and notifications, and kept it in a corner of the kitchen instead of in my pocket. Even though she has not increased her screen time, it is now obvious to me that SHE is staring to much into that screen. We are all phone junkies.

[silicon2401]

breaking the phone habit is imho one of the best things anybody can do these days. Phones often are an all-in-one coping mechanism for other issues: boredom, stress, loneliness, etc. One of the best things I ever did was get off all social media, force myself not to even pick up my phone except to respond to a call or text, and just confront the boredom. After a few minutes of no phone you find yourself actually doing things and focusing again. After a few days you wonder how you could ever have wasted so much time infinitely scrolling through videos or articles that you can't even remember the next day, let alone 4+ years later. In contrast, I've been able to make so many memories gaming, playing music, watching movies with an actual sense of immersion, art, reading, exercising, and so much more. The childlike sense of wonder and excitement that I had as a child all came back as soon as I learned to focus and be in the moment again

[Syonyk]

I've gotten in the habit of turning mine off regularly. I'll just turn it off in the evening and turn it on in the morning if I don't need an alarm (which... I have an alarm clock, I just tend to not use it).

I use it mostly for person to person communication and kid photos (the only things on my home screen are Messages, Signal, Hangouts, Element, the actual phone app, and the camera - everything else is buried over in the App Library), I've got most distraction websites blocked with 1BlockerX (not that it's hard to get around, but it's a good hurdle to jump), and about the only notifications I get are messages from people, plus emails on infrequent accounts (main account is poll only, no notifications).

It works well, though I still struggle with how much time can go vanishing down the rabbit hole of "I'm bored, I wonder what's on the internet today..."

I really need to get a "house phone" set up on an old cell phone. Get one of those "You only pay if you use it" plans, though I expect the spammers and scammers would cost me a lot of money that way.

[dan-robertson]

One silly trick: put your phone into greyscale mode. Without the colours, a lot of the addictive time sinks are just less exciting.

[grecy]

That is the main reason I don't have a phone.

I know that I'm addicted to the internet and screens, and I know I'd be that guy compulsively picking up my phone every 30 seconds to see if something is going on. Doubly so if I were in a social situation where it was "easier" to stare at my phone than actually talk to humans.

I think of it a lot like a recovering alcoholic not wanting to go into a bar - it's just best to avoid the temptation altogether.

It can be inconvenient not have a phone from time to time, but overall I think my life is better without one.

Whenever I'm asked for my number and I explain I don't actually have a phone, literally every single person gushes "OMG, I wish I could get rid of mine!". That helps keeps me motivated to deal with the inconvenience. (Like people complaining about horrid hangovers to recovering alcoholics)

[ryan-allen]

I have on the odd occasion switched back to a feature phone. My longest streak was about 9 months and it was an interesting experience.

For the first week I found myself looking for it in situations I never noticed, for example while waiting for my coffee to be made. Instead I had to find other things to do, like observe my surroundings, observe other people, be with my thoughts.

There are quite a few things that are _very_ handy having a smart phone around, though. Like Google Maps, or internet banking, but these can be mitigated by having an inexpensive secondary plan and keeping your 'smart phone' in your car, and most others can be managed by a web browser, _when you are at a computer_.

I have even considered what it might be like not having a phone at all for a while, and how odd would that be? I got my first phone at 16 years old and then I was able to contact friends to find out where they were if they were late, or to inform others that I was late, yet it was not very long ago that if you planned to meet someone you were both uncontactable while attempting to meet up.

It used to be a thing that you'd hang around for 30 or 60 minutes to see if your friend would 'show up' but I can't imagine that happening these days, for better or worse.

[nicbou]

Getting rid of notifications (banners and badges) goes a long way. Now I only get them for instant messaging, and I don't respond to messages when I'm with someone else.

I realised that I don't need to check emails as they arrive. Very few things require my attention.

I also removed time sink apps, with the exception of reading apps (I read myself to sleep with them).

I also stopped following everyone on some social media, so the feeds are empty, but I'm logged out anyway.

This has worked reasonably well. I am not a phone addict anymore, because my phone doesn't feed the addiction.

[Jeff_Brown]

News, asynchronous communication, and other media have a payoff structure not unlike a slot machine's. It can be genuinely hard to determine whether one's consumption of any of them is irrational.

[spicybright]

1. Buy a joke, laugh 2. Put it in a drawer for 10 years 3. Throw it away, eventually into the ocean to add more microplastics as it breaks down.

Maybe just laugh of the idea but don't actually buy it.

[nearbuy]

Better to get the NoPhone Air. If you buy in bulk, maybe they'll send it without the retail packaging.

[swiley]

I thought most of the ocean "plastic" was really paint.

[Jonovono]

Meh, more plastic in the ocean is fine ;p Source: Seaspiracy

[lvturner]

I absolutely hate this. It's funny, as a joke, but the fact that someone has produced, marketed and made this drives me insane.

The waste it produces for no reason is in my opinion unconscionable - I spent more time than I admit checking through the site to see if it's a parody with no real available product, and then double checked the comments here hoping to validate that the whole thing wasn't real.

[readams]

This is a bit much. It's a novelty product. A toy. I don't think we're at a stage where we can no longer make toys.

[ocdtrekkie]

Considering the carbon footprint of datacenters, replacing your phone with a NoPhone may have a positive impact on the environment.

[jascii]

I've seen wooden handcrafted versions of this and thought: "Cute, I guess there might be niche market for it".

Chunks of useless throwaway plastic that will end up polluting our oceans, not so cute.

[agumonkey]

a small rounded plate with a mirror, nophone selfie pro

[marshmallow_12]

yea. I don't think it's a guy trying to make money with a cute joke that's to blame for global pollution. You're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not trolling you, but i doubt these guys are making millions of their product. They simply want to live. We shouldn't be punishing them for the sins of the Great Polluters.

[JackMorgan]

I prefer my Palm phone[0]. It is so tiny I can't really DO anything with it unless it is a legit emergency. But when I do need it, there is wifi, cell, browser, google maps, and gps. The "life mode" is fantastic, no calls or notifications at all until you unlock the screen. Combined with a really short battery life when the screen is on, it is the perfect daily driver for me and my outdoors lifestyle. Also charges in like 15 minutes.

However, I have a regular mega phone with wifi only for lounging on the sofa, so I still have that problem when I'm at home :/

[0] https://palm.com/pages/product

[carabiner]

There's a durability test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1riMzZ6CjUI. Seems like a solid device.

[thinkling]

But... will it blend?

[s1mon]

For $7.50 you can get a dummy phone which looks a lot more realistic. A quick search on Aliexpress shows this for the iPhone X, and there are plenty of other options. (I had a bunch of the iPhone 8 models for a work project. The only downside is the glass is most definitely NOT Gorilla Glass).

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001708486523.html

[pfundstein]

I don't think mimicking a real phone as closely as possible is the intent

[earthboundkid]

Back when I lived in Japan, stores had plastic dummy phones to show you what they looked like and let you pick them up. I guess that went away when the “Galapagos style” phones died off.

[chrisbigelow]

This is a great joke. But I'm skeptical this will actually illicit any behavior change. I think a better approach is to try to change our current phone usage patterns. I've been working on a timelock wireless charger to do just that: https://pausbox.com/

[euske]

Now what I want to see is a real clinical study of quitting (or reducing) addictive phone use with this thing. Because fake cigarette can actually work for some people quitting smoking, why this one wouldn't? The same technique might work for video games or social networks too.

[oaiey]

Completely agree with you. Do not buy it for the joke. Buy it when you want to fight your cellphone addiction. Good I feel naked when I leave my house without a phone. This thingy can help in the first months of a cold restart into a cellphone free life.

[tthayer]

While this is a great solution, I've found my Light Phone II to be a very solid replacement for my old dumbphones. Group texting that works! Cloud syncing your contacts! Wifi tethering if you really need it!

[tempodox]

Completely Toilet Bowl Resistant

I like the NoPhone Air best. Zero weight, and it would be unsinkable in a toilet bowl!

[swader999]

They still won't honor the warranty.

[jayd16]

The Air is water soluble though.

[nottorp]

I have one, with the SELFIE accessory.

Rock solid, never gave me any trouble. Works exactly as advertised.

It was on Kickstarter first, iirc. I laughed so hard that I bought one.

[Brajeshwar]

I've to admit that I could not figure out that this is or not an April fool Joke.

I'm a phone minimalist/essentialist. I did started early with "smart" phones and was on the forefront of most new phones, including being one of the early iPhone users. However, I did realize that this was not good for the lifestyle I want to live. So, I've been leading a No-Phone-ish Life[1] by early 2011.

The screen greyscale thing do not work with me. The one key app that I need color is Maps (Google/Apple).

Someone in the comments mentioned pairing your phone with a Watch. Yes, this works. I have practically stopped using the phone in and around the house or even while walking/running down in the community spaces where I live.

1. https://no.phone.wtf

[dysoco]

I live in a place where mugging is somewhat usual, and this could actually be useful if it were slightly cheaper and looked a bit more like a phone, so that I could carry it around and handle that instead of my real phone.

[hbcondo714]

I remember seeing this on Shark Tank years ago and didn't think much of it. Now I have a toddler who always goes after our phones so maybe this will be a good gift for him.

[AzzieElbab]

i'd get one for nomoney

[primitivesuave]

I found setting my phone to black-and-white makes me want to look at it less.

On iPhone, the setting is buried under accessibility > display and text size > color filters

[omosubi]

I had one of these after i finished college abroad for like 2 months until I got an actual phone - miss those days. Everyone _hated_ me whenever i brought it up. What fun. If only I didn't have to go on call so i could make this my permanent phone :)

[hypocrisy]

My fiancé's phone habit (Instagram, TikTok) is seriously hurting her potential to find a job and our relationship. I've tried to talk to her about it but the discussions never end well. I don't know what to do.

[radicalriddler]

Changed to a Nokia 225 a couple of weeks ago. Either when you do that, or delete everything on your smart phone and have nothing to do on it, you realise just how much time people around you look at their phones.