# smartphone: i've switched to a smartphone after 6 years of dumbphoning

why? because i started relying on gps a lot lately and i didn't want to carry two devices.

i bought an ebike a few months ago and i'm using it relatively frequently. joyrides with it are quite fun. visiting nearby hills, forests, lakes is enjoyable. going downhill fast is incredibly thrilling.

but i need gps navigation otherwise i would be lost all the time and wouldn't dare to venture out. the bike came with a small computer mounted on it (kiox) for controlling the motor. there's an accompanying app. the user can set a destination in it, connect to kiox via bluetooth, and then the small display will continuously navigate. it's very handy: the smartphone's screen remains turned off so this way it can last much longer.

(yes, i have some beef with gps, see @/gps, but i simply can't force myself not to use it given it's so accessible nowadays.)

initially i carried two devices: my dumbphone and a smartphone without a sim card just for its offline navigation. worked fine but i found it awkward to carry two devices. i decided i'll use one. i'm sure i can manage that.

# history

i have used a smartphone for about 2 years quite a few years ago. but back then i found it incredibly addictive and unreliable. i was constantly checking my email on it and reading reddit on the toilet. and sometimes it rebooted in the middle of the night for updates, didn't boot up properly and i missed my morning alarm.

but now:

• i'm more mature: i think i can manage my screen time much better now,
• and the technology is more mature too: it should be quite reliable now.

it should be fine for me to try it again.

# rules

i'm using it for a month now and i'm still all good. i've set a few rules for myself though:

• i won't use it for mindless browsing and feed reading.

looking up some information (e.g. train departure times, shop opening times, nearby restaurants) is fine. but i shall not browse reddit or hackernews on it. i shall simply meditate when i'm on the toilet or waiting for trains. if i want to browse the internet, i shall use my desktop computer. there's no place for feed apps on the phone. (though there's no place for them on the desktop either.)

• no notifications.

i disabled notifications for everything except for sms and phone calls. i might enable for some other messaging apps if i ever install one. but only for direct messages. if i want to look up email for some ungodly reason, i'll just open its app and check it explicitly.

• only a handful apps get a shortcut on the main screen.

the clock app, the bike app, the phone and sms app, the public transport ticket app, and camera. that's it for now. everything else (browser, email, chat apps, etc) needs me to wade through menus to start them. i hope this small extra friction will continuously remind me that i shall proceed with care.

• no magic.

i've made a lot of customizations to ensure i'm comfortable using it.

"hey google"? completely disabled.

i've disabled all autocompletion and autocorrection magic in the keyboard app. i'm a patient persion, i'll type what i want exactly, no need to tell me what to think, thank you very much. if i need to type something longer, i'll use my desktop anyway.

i disabled all sorts of animations in the hidden settings. animations annoy me.

i've disabled automatic backups for the photos. i don't take photos. even if i were to, i definitely don't want to unintentionally rely on cloud services. e.g. what if i run out of quota and suddenly cannot receive emails? or if i accidentally photograph an illegal number and my account gets deleted? not having automatic backups will ensure that i take care of anything important explicitly.

probably i have a lot more customizations but i can't recall them.

# control

i can now easily look up information anywhere. that's incredible! but such access is incredibly addictive. some consider smartphones the modern version of smoking.

i think to combat it i just need to be conscious about the usage. there should be a regular habit where i ask myself: am i still using the smartphone in a healthy way? so i now added a quarterly event to my todo list where i need to answer this question in my journal. it's very similar to what i do in @/reflecting but for smartphone usage. if i can see that i'm doing fine, i can reduce the check-in frequency to yearly.

so here i am: i'm a modern person now. let's see how that works out!

published on 2022-08-09

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