Does anyone here live without a smart phone? If yes, how?

[SixSevens]

My phone is making me miserable. I want to go back to my previous life and never doom scroll or use social media again!

Is it possible?

I’m in my 30s and work full time. No kids.

That's interesting, no print outs! I wonder why?

One more reason, as if I needed any more, to avoid Ryanair like the plague.

Cost wise I can only afford one device! So smart phone it is, as I don't have an additional laptop or tablet. Surely that's the case for a lot of people?

In reality we all need to have internet access for day-to-day living. If you refuse then you'll need someone else in your life who will download apps and do things on your behalf when needed, which isn't fair on them.

You might manage by getting an old fashioned PC and putting it somewhere unwelcoming in the house so you aren't tempted to sit there and scroll once you've done unnecessary tasks. But you'll still get situations where you can't do something on a desktop and need a phone app.

I use insta for recipe ideas and fb for the freebie pages to give away but I’d love to get rid of them all

Demonstrably incorrect, as I've described in posts in this thread.

No problems whatsoever having just a decent laptop. The poster above who's username I'm not going to quote does make a good point though, perhaps more difficult if you only have enough money for one device.

You haven't demonstrated anything except that you don't understand what social media is. No need to embarass yourself further.

I have a smartphone, but I don't use it for banking, paying bills, booking tickets, booking taxis or navigation. I do most of those from a PC or tablet. I have a built in satnav in my car.
I will admit that sometimes you need a smartphone to access your tickets, but most organisations will arrange alternatives on request.
I think living without any internet access at all is virtually impossible, but it doesn't all need to be done on a phone.

Haha, testy! I don't embarrass quite as easily as that thanks.

This thread is about managing without a smart phone, not managing without internet access entirely. You might like to try reading a little more carefully next time.

Agreed

Lord knows @gldd why you are super keen to prove that you appear clueless

FYI

MN is social media
You use an android

Ergo you're part of the great Internet 21st century just like everyone else

Which is exactly what my post was about you buffoon 😂

Imagine carrying around a laptop to show your tickets at an entrance and then bragging on MN that you don't have a smartphone or use social media.

This made me lol… 😂

My husband only got a smartphone about a year ago, and very rarely uses it because he has no need to. He can call me when he’s out if really essential but other than that, he just uses it to watch horse racing when he’s out. Smart phones really aren’t essential for most people.

You can survive without one, of course. But I think you’d be making lots of things unnecessarily difficult for yourself.

You’d be better off setting yourself limits on your phone. Screen time limits, app limits, delete some apps altogether, turn on Downtime on etc. Force yourself to create healthier habits without cutting yourself off from modern convenience entirely.

Name-calling eh? Nice look. You seem to be very rattled. Are you not used to hearing perspectives that differ from your own?

I don't actually carry my laptop around to use it to show tickets, I suggested that it would be possible to do this, for those who write that its impossible without a smart phone. It isn't impossible without a smart phone (or even without printed tickets). More difficult, perhaps, but not impossible. I suppose some people don't like hearing other perspectives.

I think you've been very reasonable and I am not sure why people are being so rude to you.

Thanks 🙂

You're not very good at passive aggression. I'd try another tack.

I have an old smartphone but I use an app called freedom to block FB and MN on it (which i only access through web, no apps). I have deleted all my social media (I have a throwaway FB account for some groups that I need to check in on under a false name, but no friends). I tend to use FB and MN on my laptop if I am going to use it. I use my phone for WA and maps, mostly.

I would second the recommendation for Brick for those who want to keep their phones but spend less time on them, or on certain apps. My screen time daily average has fallen by about 5 hours since I got mine.

In my case because she quoted me to say I was "demonstrably incorrect" despite her own posts proving everything I said. She should try being polite if she expects it back.

I really shouldn't rise to these goady posters! I'm less interested in this than I am in thinking about ways we might engage a little more critically with technology, particularly smart phones. I do find the whole issue fascinating.

I have a Jelly Star phone - which is a very small smart phone that you can do everything on if you have to, but you tend not to because it's all so tiny...what it works really well for is WhatsApp, banking, Spotify and maps, which is mostly what I use it for. Doom scrolling, nah...I read my book instead!

I’ve been considering just deleting the internet browser off my phone; I’ve already got rid of Instagram etc.

I want all the tools - maps, banking, camera etc, and I don’t spend hours on any of those, so they’re not an issue for me; I just don’t want to waste time doomscrolling / browsing / reading the news (or Mumsnet).

And you can always reinstall it if you need the internet in an emergency 😂

This and the Smart phone free brigade can be quite sanctimonious about it too as if they are some superior being. Plus you know when they get old they’ll be incapable of sorting anything out for themselves and expect other people, usually their daughters or daughter-in-law to do it all for themselves. Using my phone in tge car is an absolute game changer and prevented many difficult journey’s. In fact my sister bought a new car recently and was advised against an in car sat nav because they don’t tend to update as quickly as the phone and can go out of date quite quickly.

My phone makes my life infinitely easier and no way would I go back to a brick and I was brought up in the 60s.

I have a smart phone and use it for all the possibilities it brings - sat nav, maps, banking, QR code, paying etc.

However I don't have social media or google or anything like that so never use it for anything else besides life stuff. So it's possible to have both - use it for good and not bad. It's your choice.