On December 3, David Broncano boasted in prime time in ‘La Revuelta’ (minute 58:30) have a soviet cell phone. It was not a dumbphonebut a souped-up iPhone with a sparse black background and a brief list of apps, namely: calls, messages, email, browser, tasks and even chess.

Anyone can adapt your phone to make it a dumb mobilethe question is Why use a smartphone as if it were a stupid cell phone? So I myself reduced my cell phone to the minimum Broncano style a week ago and this has been my experience.

Background and premises

I confess that in addition to working with technology, I am quite a fan of social networks like Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram. This means that on the one hand I need an ambitious smartphone (especially for the camera, which I use to take photographs for my analyses) and on the other, that I spend quite a few hours in front of the screen also for entertainment. Or out of boredom. The normal thing on any given day is that the battery lasts from morning to night (if I have an event or I’m traveling, half a long day).

To carry out the experiment I used the free version of Dumbifyavailable on Google Play Store. Dumbify is not a launcher as such, but rather it has a couple of widgets: one to set the time and another with a black background and a list of apps that we can choose to appear on the main screen (in the free version the list is limited to six).

From here it’s time to put a dark background to accompany it, remove other widgets and distractions such as the icons in the bottom bar of the home screen and most importantly: accompany it with the ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode to keep notifications to the bare minimum. In my case, allowing notifications from contacts and repeated calls and only from the Telegram application, the one I use for my closest people.

My main sextet has been Telephone, Gmail, Telegram, Bluesky, Instagram and Chrome, what I consult the most throughout the day. What do I need an app that is not on the list? Simply display the menu to take advantage of all its virtues (something that cannot be done with a really stupid phone). I was ready for my week with the minimalist mobile.

We have to talk: I don’t want you as much as before

I have to admit that before this experiment I had already The mobile phone is always silent and also the notifications are kept to a minimum.essentially only leaving Telegram and email active. Although I have work apps installed, I don’t usually consult them outside of my working hours and when I’m working I have the computer to access email or Slack. If there is something urgent, they call me. And if it’s something less urgent from someone that I don’t have on Telegram and I do have on WhatsApp, the normal thing is that they enter the messaging app several times a day.

In this sense inconvenience and interruptions they haven’t changed much: I don’t usually answer calls the first time and if my mother calls me I call her back in a few minutes. If someone writes to me on Instagram or WhatsApp, I usually respond within a couple of hours. Of course, inspired by the experiment, the first few days I logged into WhatsApp more than usual, I was afraid of missing something.

However, I did notice something: the screen turned off by default and a sober black background ended up being unattractive. When you always carry your cell phone with you and usually leave it nearby, that screen that is always on and the usual display of color, both in the background and in the icons, draws attention. It’s not something that I invented, but from marketing: when you reduce everything to the sobriety of off white and black, I feel that the screen shines less and everything is more bland.

Consequence? After the first few days, something as curious happened to me as find out about a WhatsApp message the next day. I usually go to check what I have on WhatsApp several times during the morning, afternoon and evening, but I have felt the temptation less often. It was nothing dramatic: finding out about my best friend’s adventures a few hours later. With a less striking screen and reduced to a minimum, I consult it less out of inertia.

AND the best way to see it has been the battery: Reaching a day and a half of use is something that hasn’t happened to me in a long time, because even when I’m on vacation I usually spend idle hours reading threads or watching stories. I have continued to fall asleep with my phone in my hands watching absurd reels, but I have not snacked as much between meals.

A week later I have mixed feelings: my feeling when looking at the mobile screen is ‘oh, what a shame, as much as I liked my colorful wallpaper and the display of light and color‘ and at the same time I like to have reduced the need to go to the phone out of inertia even in my moments of boredom. I have picked up another of my cell phones, with its normal launcher and its chromatic display and I seemed to feel the release of dopamine like someone taking a long drag of the first cigarette smoked after a long plane trip.

Cover | Eva Rodríguez de Luis

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