I don't want a dumb phone. I want a circa 2014 smart phone that is not expected to replace my laptop and serve as a constant data stream for corporations. I want to be able to visit a website on my phone and not have it try to get me to download an app, be ads on 70% of the screen, or just be unreadable formatting. Let me call, text, do a basic online search, play a stupid flash game, and take my money. Stop being greedy and trying to make everything I do monetizable

People want phones that don't cost $1000+, lack basic features and constantly prey on their personal data. That's what they want. Some express that by saying they want "dumb phones", but the first part is the larger driver here.

Uh, they DO still make dumb phones. And people still buy them.

Step 1: Reformat your Android phone

Step 2: Turn on ultra power saving mode (this disables everything in the system except a few apps such as phone and messaging)

Step 3: Never connect to the internet

Et voila. You have a dumb phone.

I don't think people really want dumbphones, I think they just want apps that better support their self-control. Digital Wellbeing on Android is a start, but it's way too easy to bypass.

I want a dumb TV!

Dumb phones don’t have all the gooey “track everything we do” goodness in the middle so I doubt it.

Not as far as "dumb" per se but I would accept "less smart" in exchange for physical buttons and a removable battery.

Dumbphone maybe not. But a Linux phone that is fully functional and eschews the corporate app eco system? Yes please

I admit I would miss tap to pay tho

I mostly just want a phone that doesn't want to sell me on new ways to use my phone that I don't already do. I don't want a phone that's constantly trying to get me to use voice search, or try out some AI feature, or a search engine, etc. I have a newer Samsung tablet, and by default holding the power button turned on voice search instead of the power off menu? I fucking hate that shit, it was thankfully changeable but it was annoying that I had to change it back. I literally never use voice search. I fucking hate talking to computers, I'm not talking to a machine unless it's actually capable of feeling offended if I don't

I don't want a dumb phone but I would 100% take a phone with a back that isn't glass, high repairability, and full control over the OS. Make it THICC and put a big battery too.

I just want a repairable phone with a headphone jack.

People want these to avoid watching ads and being a guinea pig for their own money.

If something like Maemo was a thing today, would be different.

People don't want dumb phones. They're already available and no one buys them.

Dumb phones exist though?

I'm pretty sure that dumb phones, aka feature phones, are still a thing.

It's just that nobody talks about that stuff.

Sometimes they're marketed as a "senior phone".... Because you know old people. I guess?

The issue isn't that people want dumb phones, like a Nokia 3310.

They want a smartphone that prevents all the the things they don't like, while still letting them do all the things they do still need their smart phone to do. And in 2024, that's quite a lot. Some places you can't even park your car without a phone.

Apparently they just don't have the willpower to not install the things they don't like.

I want a phone that has an eink display but an ecosystem for apps. I want my battery to last weeks, I want my communications conduits to be dead simple, and I want to be able to run an OTP authenticator on it.

If the thing I'm expected to have becomes highly useful for the things I'm expected to have it for while also interrupting my bad habit tendencies, I think it would be a good fit for me.

Not gonna lie, I do miss phones with tactile keyboard buttons. My last dumb phone had a mini qwerty keyboard and I loved that thing.

Most dumb phones aren’t.

Dumb, that is. Virtually all of them have some version of Android or KaiOS or some other full-fat OS cosplaying as something “simple”. Litmus test: does your “dumb phone” come with a map app? A Facebook app? Can you install apps from an external source? If so, you don’t have a dumb phone.

The hallmark of a dumb phone is the lack of an OS that boots. You turn it on, and everything should be instantly and immediately available, loaded from ROM. No boot sequence, no waiting for anything to load.

The only truly “dumb phone” out there - as something “new” and not actually vintage - is the Rotary Un-Phone.

The problem with dumb phones is that the entire world pushes people towards smartphones. For a lot of adults, it's really hard to move to a dumb phone.

Have a security system for your house? Need an app. Router? App. Bank? App. Payments? App. Doctor appointment check in? App. Texting? WhatsApp. Fucking menus? App. Refrigerator? Believe it or not, also App.

My bank is so shitty that sometimes the website doesn't work, but their mobile app does.

You can't always opt out of using an app. I tried setting up my new ISP's router last week and it required an app. No other way to do it.

Currently, I'm thinking something like the Jelly Star might be the best compromise. Has maps and other tools, but the tiny screen prevents them from trapping you.

I don’t want it to be “dumb” but I’m fine if it’s more “basic”

I think less technology would be pleasant.

I don't think major manufacturers ever will make them. We'll continue to get one-off kickstarter-esque fringe phones that'll keep the most devout Luddite happy and the rest of us will buy what we are offered whether we want a dumb phone or not.

No, I rather have a smarter phone without all the current day B.S.

I wouldn't mind a dumb phone, but I'd need it to have whatsapp at the very least, otherwise I'll be "that incommunicable weirdo"

What are the chances we get custom built/open source phones?

And I just want a small Android phone that fits in one hand.
The last one to be around iPhone 13 mini size is the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact from 2018. And if you want original iPhone SE size, then the "latest" one is the Samsung Galaxy Y S5360 from 2011.

Oh what I would do to magically make my old Samsung S4 Mini usable again...

They exist

https://www.thelightphone.com/

https://techless.com/pages/home

I think people say they want them by don't really want them.

I want complete control of my technology after I buy it. I don't want my phone to assume things that I like based on my input. If something goes wrong, I want it to be my fault because I enabled the wrong setting. I also want physical buttons. I miss those so much.

I want a dumb phone that acts as a hotspot for my tablet and other devices.

As the actual headline itself says, this is a niche. The editorialized lemmy headline makes it sound like much more than that. Dumb phones still exist, but not many people choose to buy them