# how to switch from Dumbphone to smartphone ? **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/how-to-switch-from-dumbphone-to-smartphone/39563 **Category:** Questions **Created:** 2026-08-02T13:26:13Z **Posts:** 24 ## Post 1 by @chipchip — 2026-08-02T13:26:13Z I live a small city in a 3rd world country, i know how to get around, and everything is cash based not much digitization, i do most of my communication and messaging through my computer, my Dumbphone main purpose is to either make small “hey lets meet here” type of calls or emergency calls, and i only use sms for 2FA that requires it. Ill be moving to a western country soon and feel like i really need something more then just a dumbphone,i would need some form of camera and maps to get around at the very least, i know a pixel with GOS on it would be it, however i could never see myself using modern phone due to form factor, i despise how big they are and i am so used to my dumbphone size. My “solution” which i am not sure how doable it is, is to get some old smartphone remove the wifi chip from it download whatever map or navigation tool i can, and basically have all my needs( dumphone, camera, navigation) in one device that’s not connected to anything ? except cell towers ofc, but its essentially a dumbphone that has some smartphone features without internet, having it plugged to my computer whenever i want to remove or add stuff to it. i feel like this would be on par with having a GOS phone in terms of privacy and security except maybe physical security ( i could even harden my model by getting old pixel phone like 3 or something putting old GOS version on it and then removing the wifi chip). is this a good idea? is it possible to do ? do you think i am underestimating the need of a smartphone in a western large city ? --- ## Post 2 by @Julie — 2026-08-02T13:30:04Z Removing the wifi chip is not a realistic solution and the phone will not be private by doing so. Some basic smartphone exist with hybrid function, I could recommend but I need to know in wich country you will be moving. --- ## Post 3 by @TheDoc — 2026-08-02T14:41:27Z I haven’t heard of anyone physically disabling WiFi on a smartphone so I doubt that’s feasible. If you were to try this you’d probably do so by turning on airplane mode and enabling mobile data. If you get a plan without internet, your phone could just be used for SMS/MMS. I don’t think this is a great option for privacy or security as I assume you’ll be using an outdated or nearly outdated phone and your communications are completely vulnerable. If having a small phone is a must, I’d look into smaller up-to-date phones. Your best option might be the iPhone 13 mini or iPhone SE 3rd generation, but keep in mind these devices might only have a few years of security updates left. Though most Android manufacturers only provide security updates for 1-4 years which is probably going to result in shorter or similar lifespans compared to these old iPhones, so don’t disregard the iPhones for their age just yet. Unless Apple revives the “mini” or “SE” series of phones, you’ll have to find a new solution in roughly 2-6 years time depending on when Apple decides to stop shipping new updates. Most stock Android devices will likely be a significant downgrade in security and privacy, but I’d prefer them over using an outdated device with unencrypted SMS communications. Or just suffer with the large size of modern Pixels. --- ## Post 4 by @Expert4870 — 2026-08-02T15:11:44Z The Motorola phones with GOS will probably be a flip model which is compact. (Not fold) They will be expensive --- ## Post 5 by @juncture8425 — 2026-08-02T21:26:29Z Why not just get any small android phone and leave it will mobile data off at all times and put offline maps on it --- ## Post 6 by @Julie — 2026-08-02T23:58:20Z check [https://www.dumbphones.org](https://www.dumbphones.org) you may check some smart features, make sure that your choice will be compatible with local provider. For example Volte profil are a mess with 4G in many coutries. --- ## Post 7 by @trilobyte — 2026-08-03T01:02:32Z Agreed with others that it doesn’t really work this way. One option is to simply treat the phone as a non-private device if you want to stick with a more traditional style phone. You could get a dedicated GPS device unless you need public transit. You can also turn off wifi in the settings if you want. A lot of tracking occurs via cell towers anyway. I’d recommend you compromise and try grapheneOS. We don’t necessarily use it because we love pixels, but because grapheneos is simply unique in the benefits it provides. Many of us would prefer a different phone otherwise. Ultimately even the larger smart phones are relatively small. They are smaller than even a sandwich or similar, which isn’t what most would consider a large object. I can see it being annoying at first if it’s not what you’re used to having, but most people handle the larger size easily. Get a very very strong case though. Otherwise it’s way too easy to crack the screens, which are expensive to fix. --- ## Post 8 by @Debaashish-gif — 2026-08-03T04:44:14Z Why do you recommend apple ? --- ## Post 9 by @ZenByte — 2026-08-03T11:31:32Z I’m not convinced you need a smartphone. Try getting by without one first. Yes, western countries have widely adopted smartphones, but for most things, there are still legacy or alternative options in place for people who don’t have a smartphone. You may need to ask for it in some situations. People have just become addicted to the convenience of a smartphone. So for them, it’s a paradigm shift to return to what life was like before smartphones dominated society. You’re not like them since you’re already used to not having a smartphone. People got around in western countries just fine in the 2000s when most people had similar setups as you do currently (computer + dumb phone). There are road maps and every public transit station should have maps available or at least plastered on a wall. You can still print things up on your computer before you go. And of course, you can still ask for directions. You can also buy a new or used GPS device, like a garmin, which were more common. I still have 2 Garmins that I bought nearly 20 years ago for my car. You can still download updated maps each year on the computer and transfer them to the device. Do some web searches and you can download them for free. If you’re visiting many cashless businesses, I would say you’re sooner to be forced into getting a debit or credit card, not a smartphone. But stick to cash as much as possible if you desire privacy. I’m sensing a lot of technology solutionism in this thread from people obviously stuck in a certain paradigm. I see a lot of lost in the details things like mobile OS security instead of thinking about the use case. Mobile OS security shouldn’t matter for most threat models when they’re not using their phone for anything sensitive. They said they might want a camera and maps. That’s it. If they were to do this, rather than getting separate devices like a dedicated camera, they can easily buy a cheap refurbished phone, throw GrapheneOS or even LineageOS on it, etc and it should work just fine for this use case. They can just use offline maps and keep wifi off. Security updates are inconsequential for such a simple, low sensitivity, use case. Meanwhile, someone on this thread said they need to buy an iPhone…for real. Grapheneos or LineageOS. Install a maps app like CoMaps/organic maps/Osmand+ , and download offline maps in it. You can use the built-in camera app or download the Pixel camera for better quality from the Aurora Store. If using GrapheneOS, turn off network permissioand to the Pixel camera. You can also turn off wifi or use airplane mode system wide.after that, you’re basically good to go. If physical security is a concern, move your photos to your computer more frequently. If you start using the phone for other things other than a dedicated secondary device for non-sensitive things, then that changes things. At which point, yeah go by official privacy guides recommendations. --- ## Post 10 by @TheDoc — 2026-08-03T14:05:43Z iPhones have similar security to GrapheneOS and are generally more private than stock Android devices in terms of their privacy policy and their practices. It doesn’t make them “private” but if you can’t use GrapheneOS they are the next best option in most regards. --- ## Post 11 by @trilobyte — 2026-08-03T15:19:39Z > I’m not convinced you need a smartphone. Try getting by without one first. …They said they might want a camera and maps. That’s it. If they were to do this, rather than getting separate devices like a dedicated camera, they can easily buy a cheap refurbished phone, throw GrapheneOS or even LineageOS on it In the end, you suggest a smartphone too. Having a “dumbphone” and second smartphone phone is not an easier solution than having a smart phone. Many of us consider camera, sms, and gps data sensitive data. I think the solutions here are either grapheneos or ios smartphone or three separate devices (traditional phone, old style non-internet gps, offline digital camera) if they are not going to need the gps or camera on them constantly. For instance, if they only need GPS when they drive, they can keep the GPS in the car, rather than having a bulky location tracking device on them constantly. --- ## Post 12 by @chipchip — 2026-08-03T15:40:37Z you seem to be the one who understand me best in here, camera and gps data i consider it to be sensitive, SMS and calls like i mentioned i treat it as none private and i don’t use it for private stuff , that’s why i asked about the idea of removing the wifi chip on some old device and i end up getting all my needs in one place, i am not sure having a device where i just turn off the device and leave it on airplane mode is safe enough, maybe private, but secure ? i don’t think so the attack surface is still there. correct me if i am wrong but most security risks with running an old EOL phone stems from wireless connections, if i could eliminate that wouldn’t security risk of that phone be the same as risk of having an offline digital camera and an old style non-internet gps. --- ## Post 13 by @fria — 2026-08-03T15:47:51Z > [@chipchip](#): > > correct me if i am wrong but most security risks with running an old EOL phone stems from wireless connections, if i could eliminate that wouldn’t security risk of that phone be the same as risk of having an offline digital camera and an old style non-internet gps. There’s also physical security to worry about. If someone has physical access to your phone they can exploit it, most people have to worry about state-level actors access their phone when it’s locked but if your phone is EOL there might be some bug that’s easily accessible for years that never got patched that any thief off the street could use. There’s so many radios in modern phones that trying to turn one into an offline device isn’t going to work, plus you’re liable to damage it. Removing the wifi chip is a bad idea and basically accomplishes nothing since you still have the cellular modem making connections. You should just disable wifi in the settings if you don’t want to use it. Pixels and iPhones both have top-notch security and they get updates for at least 7 years, you could find a used one of those that’s still supported and get it for cheaper than new. You’ll be way more secure with an iPhone or Pixel in airplane mode than any EOL phone you get. --- ## Post 14 by @trilobyte — 2026-08-03T15:51:51Z I’m in a hurry and can try to give a more detailed answer later if you want, but short answer: You are wrong if you think the risk is wifi only. EOL do not receive software security updates without LineageOS, which generally requires an unlocked bootloader. They also don’t receive hardware updates, which includes the wifi chip, the bluetooth, and the cellular connection. What you can do is put any phone in airplane mode or manually toggle bluetooth, cellular, and wifi off, in which case, risks will be low, though there may be vulnerabilities if someone has extended physical access to the device via usb and similar. However, I think this is more trouble than having a dedicated device (garmin style GPS you can get cheaply, digital camera with an SD card that never touches internet) that is designed to not rely on these features, as nothing will require you enabling them in order to work. They are likely to get you more value for the money too. If you need more than these two functionalities then a smartphone might make more sense. GrapheneOS also does lots of technical changes to increase privacy and security that are hard to understand, including for me. An example that’s easier to understand is that you can remove internet permissions from application you don’t trust, while mac address randomization is default for wifi connections (so it’s harder for wifi node admins track your device across sessions). Graphene OS is really very good. You should also think about what you will do when you encounter “install the app to continue”. If you’re lucky you may go years without this happening, but I bet it will happen eventually. A home device or even desktop waydroid can be used for this though. --- ## Post 15 by @ZenByte — 2026-08-03T16:49:25Z It’s significantly cheaper to buy a used EOL phone and flash it with lineage or grapheneos than it is to buy a current Pixel or iPhone. My cheap smartphone suggestion is only there because it might be cheaper than buying a dedicated camera + gps unit. The security of the device is as consequential as the security of a dedicated camera or gps device. They even said their use case doesn’t even require ongoing network access. They said the they’re coming from a third world country and have never owned a smartphone. I think it’s pretty tone deaf to not take into consideration financial limitations. The use case of using an EOL phone for offline maps and to take photos is also very common. If using an EOL device for these purposes is too risky, then they have an extreme threat model, which they haven’t alluded to having. This to me looks like a thread of overeager techies overselling tech to someone that doesn’t need it. --- ## Post 16 by @Julie — 2026-08-03T17:38:27Z Your posts are not clear. You want a phone that you never connect to the internet ? Is that it ? --- ## Post 17 by @randomperson — 2026-08-03T18:03:33Z Switching from a dumb-phone to a smartphone is the best opportunity to get a privacy first smartphone. F-Droid should have almost everything you need and adding Aurora Store provides the rest. As for a phone: Something with CalyxOS, GrapheneOS, /e/OS should do fine. Look for hardware those projecs recommend. If you are fine with more DIY, LineageOS with MicroG should open up a lot of hardware options. A friend of mine had a dump-phone for the longest time and decided on a used privacy first smartphone. They were very happy for a view years and got a newer used privacy first smartphone only as the first one was way past it’s expected life span. Since they never were used to any privacy invasive, “convenient” apps and services, they never had a problem with loosing those services. --- ## Post 18 by @trilobyte — 2026-08-03T19:30:24Z My suggestions are based on their post, which mention only technical factors with a focus on security and imply the sole issue with grapheneos is the size of the phone. They are also fortunate enough to be a future immigrant who will have access to “western” income and electronic prices. My understanding was that they could afford the $400 or so for a pixel 9a or iphone , or whatever the local price will be, at some point. If they said they were coming as a refugee and could not afford grapheneos then my advice would be different. However, I don’t want to read anything into the post that isn’t stated. Regardless, I don’t mind lineagos being mentioned as an option to consider, but it’s generally not the first choice in these situations. --- ## Post 19 by @chipchip — 2026-08-04T03:10:30Z i am well aware of physical risk of having a EOL phone, the reason i am not considering it because the alternative ( owning a digital camera and a GPS style device) has equal physical risk, if someone gets physical access to my camera then yeah its compromised, the reason i mentioned the wifi\bluetooth chip getting somehow removed means the “smartphone” is essentially equal to digital camera + gps device + my dumbphone, the other alternative is GOS but again the form factor is the main point of contention here. also how is the cellular modem still an issue for me after removing the wifi\bluetooth chip if the alternative is me still using a dumbphone? like i mentioned goal is to make a dumbphone have camera and maps, i am still gonna have dumb phone that’s connected to cell tower regardless. putting phone on airplane mode or toggling wifi is just not satisfactory for me since i am afraid a threat actor can still toggle that off somehow. i am not interested in CalyxOS lineageOS or /e/OS, they may be private but running them on EOL devices offer no security since OEM no longer ships security updates, and even on devices that are not EOL and still ship security updates the custom roms i mentioned take months to ship those updates, and for iphone… yeah no lol. --- ## Post 20 by @Expert4870 — 2026-08-04T05:34:34Z > [@trilobyte](#): > > imply the sole issue with grapheneos is the size of the phone I think op should try a non xl pixel (all except pro xl). It’s not that big because the bezels are thin. I have average hands and the phone is fully usable with one hand. As GrapheneOS is so amazing, you may find yourself using it a lot and therefore appreciate the extra screen real estate. If you have the ability to buy the phone that runs the best privacy operating system and you are avoiding it because the supported phones are bigger than you’re used to, I can’t help you. Abitrary requirements should not be humoured to such an extent as in this thread on a privacy forum. There’s one option at mini sizes that I can recommend for sale now but it likely only has updates for another 3-4 years. This isn’t actually that bad if you get a good price used/refurbished. iPhone 13 Mini. > [@chipchip](#): > > i feel like this would be on par with having a GOS phone in terms of privacy and security except maybe physical security ( i could even harden my model by getting old pixel phone like 3 or something putting old GOS version on it and then removing the wifi chip). Absolutely not even close. Look at all the features you are missing. And it won’t get updated like GrapheneOS does. Wi-fi is much more private than cellular. Phones turn off the wifi when WiFi is set to off and airplane mode definitely prevents cellular connections. No need to physically modify and make it unusable. Software updates over cellular? All connections would still go through cellular so it doesn’t prevent spying. This is such a weird idea. Seems much more positive for your privacy to remove the cellular functionality physically. Although this is also unnecessary because of Airplane mode. You want to try to avoid SMS and use Signal if possible anyway. You can use SMS and Calling over WiFi using WiFi Texting and WiFi calling. > [@chipchip](#): > > is it possible to do ? Maybe, but this is likely an [XYproblem.info](https://xyproblem.info). Get a pixel 10 for $400 from US Mobile or eBay, try it out, you might not mind it, return it if it’s as bad as you are imagining. > [@chipchip](#): > > putting phone on airplane mode or toggling wifi is just not satisfactory for me since i am afraid a threat actor can still toggle that off somehow. That seems really inconsistent with your presumed threat model based on the fact you want to use an insecure device. --- ## Post 21 by @SwampTrainer — 2026-08-04T05:46:45Z I wouldn’t say that removing a wifi chip would be realistic or even cost-effective unless you already know HOW to do that and plan to do it yourself. I would expect it might cause errors and make the phone unstable. It’s not the same thing as a GOS phone. Also, if your phone is pinging towers, what’s the point of no wifi? You actually trust the telco companies? Not sure why you mention form factor, then threat actors later. Not sure how you think you’ll put maps on a phone with no wifi connection, as even CoMaps might not let you upload map files to the device and recognize them. So you already need to connect the phone to a device anyway. So, at that point, you’re already making a strong case for sticking with a dumb phone. --- ## Post 22 by @trilobyte — 2026-08-04T13:21:50Z Then I really still think grapheneOS is the best option here, especially given how strongly you feel. I’d say to try using it for 3 months and see how much of an issue the size really is. You will have to compromise on something and the vast majority of people adjusted from the smaller phones to the larger ones without issue. You could be the exception, but you’ve never had a full sized smartphone before from what I can tell. There’s only one way to find out for sure. --- ## Post 23 by @anon19029103 — 2026-08-05T20:55:06Z > [@Expert4870](#): > > I think op should try a non xl pixel (all except pro xl). It’s not that big because the bezels are thin. I have average hands and the phone is fully usable with one hand. As GrapheneOS is so amazing, you may find yourself using it a lot and therefore appreciate the extra screen real estate. > > If you have the ability to buy the phone that runs the best privacy operating system and you are avoiding it because the supported phones are bigger than you’re used to, I can’t help you. Abitrary requirements should not be humoured to such an extent as in this thread on a privacy forum. I consider my hands average and my pixel is not fully usable with one hand. While I agree graphene/pixel is the best choice to reccomend, there’s nothing wrong with people having non-privacy requirements. We all have different needs and phone size is one I can sympathize with myself. It just needs to be clear what the trade offs are, because some of the suggestions in this thread a big privacy/security downgrades in comparison to GrapheneOS --- ## Post 24 by @Gersand — 2026-08-05T23:55:57Z When WiFi is turned off in the settings, only a process with high privileges can turn it back on without your consent. There are two types of apps having enough privileges : - the ones to which you gave such privileges (for example, a WiFi manager or so) because it requested it at install time and you accepted. - The Google services, which are preinstalled with all privilege, except in GrapheneOS (and maybe other custom ROMs like LineageOS or /e/, I don’t remember). They might silently activate WiFi for network scanning or localisation, or maybe some other stuff I ignore. As far as I know, there is no way to have an iOS where the Apple services are not privileged. Maybe someone here knows of more recent hacks to achieve that? An EOL phone with regular Android still has Google services with all privileges, so WiFi may be silently re-enabled. Plus, there will be unpatched vulnerabilities. Removing the WiFi chip doesn’t seem feasible to me. First, most smartphones are extremely difficult to open without breaking them, nowadays. Chances are you would break something else. And even if that’s not the case, chances are some boot module will do some hardware check and crash when not detecting the WiFi chip. So it’s likely that your phone will never boot. I paid my Pixel 6 around USD 200, 3 years ago, installed GOS on it and it still receives updates (Android 17 a couple of weeks ago) and patches. About the form factor : it’s possible to keep the phone in the pocket and have a headset to make calls, but if you want to avoid bluetooth, you’ll need a USB-C - jack adapter.