It's kind of cool, I like that there are people trying to do something else, but I don't how it's "minimal" or discourages heavy use.
It's an Android phone, with pretty decent specs. Nothing is stopping you from installing social media apps and doomscrolling all day and night, and chances are you will do that if that's what you do with your phone, just as you can just delete social media apps from your current phone.
The custom UI and physical keyboard are innovative though, I don't think I've seen a physical keyboard with touch support before, and I wish them the best.
Perhaps that's good, though. The market for truly minimal phones seems to be rather small. I've had a chance to buy a new Commodore phone and they are really cool, but in the end I decided against it because I wasn't even sure my banking apps were going to run on it and I do need some social media on my phone even if I don't use them often. For example, everybody uses Whatsapp where I live. If you need to buy another phone to complement your minimal phone, it's kind of pointless.
That's why I prefer my Wisephone 2. You can still use slack, whatsapp, teams, banking apps, spotify, google maps, etc. But there is no browser, email, youtube, tiktok, etc., either.
I don't remember if it was the Commodore or some other phone, but one of them was explicitly advertised as a "second phone", recognising that banking etc. will probably be a dealbreaker for many.
The way I imagined it is that I'd still have my main smartphone at home and maybe for office days at work, but bring the other one when I go out, to visit friends or family, etc. Being out and about is where I think not having the attention-grabbing and distractions is most important. At home, I feel like I personally can control it quite well myself.
It's the very idea of having two devices instead of one that still keeps me from these things, though. Even if I only ever had one with me, that's still about twice the work of maintenance, updates, remembering to charge, having two lines...
zeumo · · focus · HN ↗
It's an Android phone, with pretty decent specs. Nothing is stopping you from installing social media apps and doomscrolling all day and night, and chances are you will do that if that's what you do with your phone, just as you can just delete social media apps from your current phone.
The custom UI and physical keyboard are innovative though, I don't think I've seen a physical keyboard with touch support before, and I wish them the best.
jonathanstrange · · focus · HN ↗
zeumo · · focus · HN ↗
Note that modern flip/soapbar phones (Commodore, KaiOI) usually support some social media, including WhatsApp.
Banking apps are a problem though, and really contribute locking everyone in the iOS/Android duopoly, and that sucks.
stbede · · focus · HN ↗
Anamon · · focus · HN ↗
The way I imagined it is that I'd still have my main smartphone at home and maybe for office days at work, but bring the other one when I go out, to visit friends or family, etc. Being out and about is where I think not having the attention-grabbing and distractions is most important. At home, I feel like I personally can control it quite well myself.
It's the very idea of having two devices instead of one that still keeps me from these things, though. Even if I only ever had one with me, that's still about twice the work of maintenance, updates, remembering to charge, having two lines...