Looking for a Minimalist Phone?

Try the iPhone SE.

You’re on your phone too much, right? So you’re looking to swap it out for a simpler, more minimal phone without all the bells, whistles, and distractions.

Before you call me crazy for suggesting a modern smartphone as a minimalist phone, let me explain; and yes, I know there’s the Light phone and the Punkt phone and I really like these options, but…

The problem is, there’s always that one app or that one feature that you can’t live without. Group/photo messaging, a camera, email. Whatever it is for you, it’s the reason you still have your smartphone.

That is exactly where I was for a long time until I started to reframe the problem. Instead of the problem being that my iPhone could have all these apps I realized the problem is that I installed all these apps, that I use all these apps. And if I created the problem, could I fix the problem?

Yes. Sort of.

I took it one step further… I disabled the App Store.

It’s easy to delete apps (we’ve all tried a detox, right?) but it’s also easy to install them again. So I danced with deleting the distractions until I needed them a few days later, then they’d be back.
So I took it one step further… I disabled the App Store. Now it’s easy to delete apps and less easy to reinstall them.

Image for post — Settings -> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> iTunes & App Store Purchases -> Installing Apps

The distractions didn’t stop there.
I stepped back and asked what am I still doing on my phone? Browsing the web, checking email, shopping, playing a game, more scrolling.

So I deleted the apps I didn’t realize you could delete. Apps like Maps and Weather, Notes and Voice Memos. I even dug into the Screen Time settings and turned off Safari and Mail.

This may feel a bit extreme, but you were the one who wanted a minimalist phone, right? This gets you there with the iPhone you have now, or let’s you upgrade to the new iPhone SE or 12 mini but keep your usage in check.

The key here is that you control what you turn off/leave enabled so you get to keep that one app you need, or you get to stay connected with iMessage/WhatsApp/Mail.

Perhaps next time we’ll talk about how to keep these settings set up the way you want, even when you think you need to change them. Or how you can limit how much your phone interrupts you. In the meantime, check out this post from Light about “Going Light”

I appreciate you reading and would love to hear what makes it difficult for you to stop using your smartphone. Or, if you’ve tried switching to a minimalist phone, what that has been like for you.