Like a lot of people over the last few years, I've been getting really into the idea of regressing to a simpler phone that's just a phone, and demoting my touchscreen to being a pocket tablet. I've posted a few times on the #DumbPhone tag (#HatTip to @Mastodon for the feature that allows me to filter posts with a tag from a particular account). The first time in 2023, asking for device recommendations;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/110149459018648853

(1/?)

#hardware #DigitalDetox #UX #MobileUX #DigitalHygiene

Then again in 2024, when I finally got myself a DumbPhone;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/111915619885321176

... which I promptly fell on and broke the screen, within a month or 2 of getting it. Leading to the third post, asking for recommendations for a clamshell/ FlipPhone, which I hoped might be a bit more Strypey-proof;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/115069735153555094

Once again I fell into paralysis by analysis, and time passed.

(2/?)

Then, late last year, fate intervened. Mobile carriers in Aotearoa announced the sunsetting of their 3G networks, all 2 of them (other than the 2 owners, mobile brands just resell access to 1 or t'other). Including the need to replace devices that don't support calls and texting over VoLTE, which would soon be unable to work as cell phones. I posted a few times about my frustration with this corporate bait-and-switch;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/115245666969848921

(3/?)

Although my aging Android/Linux device supports 4G mobile data, it turned out it doesn't support either calls or texting on 4G. I couldn't find any info about how to patch the OS, or dialer and SMS apps, to keep it working without 3G. So it was soon to become a pocket tablet, whether I liked it or not.

A kind fedizen offered 2 spares he had in a drawer (happy to give a public #HatTip if they want one, you know who you are). Posted both to me, one by one, at their own expenses. No dice.

(4/?)

The result of all this was a mad scramble to find a 4/5G capable non-touchscreen FlipPhone before the 3G shutdown. My final post on the #DumbPhone tag, until this one, was about how I finally got the only one I could find in a hurry liberated from the carrier it was locked to, and working with my mobile plan;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/115896813561331913

That was about 2 months ago. So how am I feeling the FlipPhone experience now?

(5/?)

Strypey (@[email protected])

About a month before solstice, I finally got my flip phone working with my mobile carrier. The results have been ... mixed. Let's start with positives; * I can respond to texts without any risk of getting distracted by other notifications * I can be contacted in an emergency, without having to carry a touchscreen computer * I can flatten the battery of my pocket tablet, eg by listening to podcasts or watching videos, and still receive calls and texts (1/?) #RetroTech #DumbPhone #FlipPhone

Mastodon - NZOSS

All the positives I listed in that thread still apply. But those are the positives of DumbPhone regression in general. One bonus, it has turned out to be a bit more robust than the first one I bought (touch wood). Also I did manage to get MMS working in the end, although I'm not sure it was my tinkering with the settings or something that changed at the carrier end.

(6/?)

All the downsides I listed in that post still apply. Plus, I've noticed that the OneTouch is *terrible* at keeping texts from one contact in a single thread, in the correct order. Forwarded messages usually (but not always) start a new thread.

Sometimes I'll open a thread and the most recent text has moved from the bottom to the top, while the others remain in reverse chronological order. The tiny storage capacity means this isn't a long term problem, but it's maddening all the same.

(7/?)

The worst thing is, this DumbPhone doesn't seem to reliably receive all texts, or notify me of missed calls.

This is a critical bug, and became a source of enormous stress just after I posted that last thread, when a close family member had emergency surgery. My family couldn't get hold of me for days after I came out of the festival site I was working at just beforehand, with no mobile reception. Despite a number of them trying to call and text.

In summary, the OneTouch too is a toy.

(8/?)

@strypey Could it be the 5G? Itʼs absolutely terrible and incredibly patchy for us. The 3G was more consistent and didn’t drop out with the same regularity. Iʼm certain Iʼve missed calls and SMSs.

@jackyan
> Could it be the 5G?

I don't think so. AFAIK it doesn't support 5G;

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/116202067901702004

But it could be planned obsolescence. Maybe mobile carrier are intentionally enshittifying their non-data services? SMS, in particular, in preparation for the brave new world of RCS, or selling mobile VoIP services as a premium extra (just $10 extra a month for reliably calling and messages!), or whatever other horrors the mobile industry has in store for us.