After viewing Henry’s video on the two camps of digital minimalism posted on Techlore last month, I thought I would try the one-device-for-everything method out myself. I became addicted to my smartphone within a week. Here’s my article on that experience:
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White text, black background …. that’s a hard pass, too difficult to read.
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You haven’t heard of reader mode in browsers?
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While I dont personally practice dedicated privacy practices, I’ve found there are a few different ways to combat addiction like this.
For me, my smartphone is so boring/bare bones that I forget it exists alot of times. It only has bare essentials like browser, email, notes app, 2fa. No social media/games. Notifications are only turned on for apps that need it. This practice has in turn helped me combat addiction.
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Thanks for the response. This was just an experiment. I’ve now happily gone back to a less interesting, less accessible smartphone.
It’s actually light grayish blue text on a very dark (mostly black) pink background 
Yep, I have a hard rule that when I go for my daily walk, while I carry a phone for emergencies, I never check it, it stays in the pocket the whole time.
I also don’t keep email or social media on my phone, it is used just for contacting friends/family.
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My kind of thread.
I have 20 apps in my app drawer. 13 installed myself with the rest being system apps. All FOSS except Gboard with the network permission disabled. I use the browser instead of installing financial and health apps. I don’t have a weather app and have DDG’s weather page bookmarked.
My phone stays home all the time. Not really for privacy reasons but just simply because I don’t need it and don’t like carrying something bulky in my pocket. If I’m going somewhere new, I will check for directions on OSMand+ or Gmaps on Mullvad Browser ahead of time. Only time I take it with me is when I need to return something for Amazon and I need to scan the QR code. I let friends know (most already know) I won’t have my phone with me so they are aware. I don’t bring my phone to work either. If I get bored, I might browse news sites from the work laptop.
This doesn’t mean I don’t really use my phone. I’m on it all the time when I’m home, so I guess it’s not digital minimalism with the purpose of spending less time on devices.
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Interesting that you don’t take any phone with you when you’re out!
Which OS do you use? Does banking on mobile browser work ok? I can’t remember why, but I must’ve given up on that at some point. Some government ID sites only work as an app.
GOS. Never had a problem using the browser for any official matter: financial, government, medical. Might depend on your bank though.
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Since this is relevant here too I’ll pass on what I wrote before:
Yes I was in that state where my phone was so addicting I was unable to finish showering properly and unable to have good sleeps, after this whole transition aside from the few days waiting for the smartwatch to ship I’ve went on a 2 device approach, significantly impactful and I made it way more rewarding for when I’m home (eg. High refresh rate gaming).
I plan to write the results especially before my smartwatch comes in for enhancement
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To push the minimalism theme further in this thread, I’ll add that I’ve been on a digital minimalism path for a while now so I can have better life balance, read paper books, stare at the mountains, spend time with family, etc. I’ve segmented all “infinity pool” apps to the Pixel tablet such as nostr, mastodon, RSS reader. This is kept out of plain sight and I end up pulling it out once a day or every other day. No more doom scrolling in empty moments. My Linux desktop has been moved to the main area of the house and is hooked to the main TV and is now much more inconvenient to use on purpose. My office no longer has a computer monitor on the desk (used to have two). I don’t like laptops. The Pixel 8 has a very minimal number of apps on it as well as a minimal launcher (MultiLauncher, is also on the tablet). I don’t know where the phone is right now but did walk past it a few hours ago.
Anyone else doing a process like this?
Recommended read: “Digital Minimalism.” Use this prompt in Duck.ai on Mistral Small 3: “Give a chapter by chapter summary of “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World” by Cal Newport.”
Other prompts:
“what are the adverse effects on the brain of computer, tablet and phone use?”
“what UI/UX design features of computer, tablet and phone applications are used to increase psychological dependence such as are taught at the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab founded by B.J. Fogg”
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I will try this again. Browser only could also be a good approach on Linux phones. I see now that Ubuntu Touch is fully operational on several different devices!
I would avoid using Linux phones. They’re not know to offer very good security. Stick with Google Pixel or iPhone.
for my take on this:
Punkt. MP02 4G design and minimalist phone (has signal but pretty expensive)
and what my setup is for balance of minimalism and entertainment.
A smartwatch also with e-sim at the right price could replicate this also while also being able to have navigation. However in the state of WearOS you’re limited to Google Maps and WhatsApp so rest in peace.
Maybe just 1 dumbphone everywhere and 1 pc/mac at home with no smartphone at all is doable in India with their upi or in Nigeria with their m-pesa that should work on dumbphone via sms but unfortunately where i am I’m forced to still have a smartphone. Up to few years ago its still possible to just leave the smartphone at home and going out with the dumbphone but now with increasing use of strict cashless plus banks only offered 2fa via their proprietary protocol on their proprietary app, I’m forced to bring a smartphone everywhere if I expect to pay for things.
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Convenient but not at all private though.
Of course. I mentioned it in the context of smartphone requirement for paying and transfering digital money, not in the context of privacy.
Perhaps I’m out of touch with non-European parts of the world, but don’t you have like credit/debit cards as a payment methods where you live? I’ve heard some countries like Sweden becoming mostly cashless, but cardless too is quite a surprise for me?
I’ve never in my life needed a phone to go out and buy dinner or whatever (not that I could even if I wanted, as I don’t have google pay or other payment apps on the phone), so I’m quite surprised at your situation. (Over here, if they don’t accept cards, it is only because they’re cash-only; and you can pay with cash basically everywhere)
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The article says
I have a custom ROM (GrapheneOS) installed on a Google Pixel phone
Graphene’s not a custom ROM, it’s an Android distribution
Also, if you aren’t aware already, GrapheneOS has a beta Desktop Mode where you can display to a monitor. Using mobile OSs is a significantly more secure setup than traditional desktop OSs.
Yeah
Browser based setups can be less secure than native apps, but they can be a better option for privacy invasive sites because they are less priviledged
Consider staying away from web apps, as they can provide weaker security. When a user visits a website in a browser, that website can target that specific user with malicious JavaScript, whereas with a native app, the code is static. Additionally, apps can offer better protection against MITM attacks by pinning TLS certificates and removing the dependency on certificate authorities. This is commonly used in apps like ProtonMail, Signal and so on. However, websites in a browser are much less privileged, as they do not have direct access to system resources. Thus, using a web app could be more secure under certain threat models.
For addiction issues, maybe you could use user profiles to compartimentalize between more things. For example, a timer-only user profile to wake up, or a work-only user profile. Increased isolation between apps can increase security.