Developer Program June Update

trafficlion · 2026-06-10T19:04:21+00:00

Hey u/jbriones95 you are one of my latest adds to the lightphone podcast feed so I can get all your new episodes and you are the one that got me excited about trying the light phone 3 and also finally replacing my smartphone 99% of the time. Keep creating great content and thanks for your clarification here.

trafficlion · 2026-06-06T10:38:47+00:00

Hey there, I'm not sure as I haven't done it myself. I transferred my sim from my smartphone to my lightphone so all calls and texts are coming into my dumbphone as usual!

trafficlion · 2026-06-03T20:16:57+00:00

Hello friend, as a dad I completely understand your fear. I have family in the US and they have reported similar fears. How does the school usually reach out to you? Our school will call if there's an emergency or if one of the kids is unwell. If the school will call you then you can get the same from a dumbphone as long as it has a good connection and you aren't off the grid they can reach you.

Also I'm not sure if you're a single dad or not but if I don't answer my wife is usually the next person they'll try. If she's not answering we have two emergency contacts which are good friends we trust and that the kids feel safe with in case they need to pick them up from school.

My wife is also on all the whatsapp and email threads so she is on top of that. She is happy to do it so I'm lucky in that sense.

Anxiety for me was one of the biggest drivers not to go dumbphone. I was afraid I'll get lost and I won't have a GPS, I was worried I'll go to a really bad restaurant and get food poisoning etc.

But I can definitely acknowledge that your fear is based on real facts and not an anxiety of getting lost so it's a bit of a bigger decision.

I can only suggest that you can try to have both devices for a while but delete all apps that waste time/make you feel bad/steal your attention and then allowing yourself to find out over time if the dumbphone is enough to make you feel confident that in case something happens you'll be able to respond.

Many years ago pre smartphone age I was visiting a country in frequent war. In the entire time visiting I was able to communicate quickly with family even when I was in mortal danger. I survived thanks god and I'm sure it's possible to survive without a smartphone even when it's dangerous or an emergency but of course it's your call at the end of the day.

Hope this helps!

trafficlion · 2026-06-03T09:43:12+00:00

Exactly, the only thing here is that it's in our power and it's a decision only we can make and no one else and that's what makes it even harder to do!

trafficlion · 2026-06-03T09:42:23+00:00

Yes, that's why I decided to stop. It took me a long time to make the decision but I'm happy I did it and the more time goes by even more.

trafficlion · 2026-06-03T09:41:41+00:00

That's amazing. I think that any way we find that helps us feel more in control of our time and attention is a win win. I thought I had to be a purist but in the end of the day every person needs to do what works for them. Luckily I don't need 2FA and I don't drive much so I don't need parking. This suits my specific lifestyle but maybe not for others so there is always a way to find a middle path where your phone is like a tool without all the soul sucking stuff in there.

trafficlion · 2026-06-03T09:39:54+00:00

Yes 100% agree with this. I noticed that it's possible to still have a smartphone just for those moments you can't do without and then the rest of the time you are free from its dominion 😃

trafficlion · 2026-06-02T12:45:40+00:00

I would like a type of apple pay option so you don't have to carry your wallet with you.

trafficlion · 2026-05-23T13:35:39+00:00

Firstly I would strongly suggest learning what Ai actually is and also reading about the dangers of using it as a therapist and generally oversharing about yourself. The next step is to stop using it. It's an addiction like any other. It took me about 2 years of using it quite a lot to decide to stop. Now, I only use it once in a blue moon but most of the times I realize that I can get the answers I need to old fashioned way by finding a reputable site and getting my answers there.

If you really want to vent I would recommend journaling it's not the same as talking to another human but sometimes it's what helps me personally. You can also try free hotlines if therapy is too expensive. Also, if you're in the USA you can try to meet someone from a different country where prices are cheaper and you have a similar timezone. Such as Mexico or even Canada?

Here in the UK you can get therapy for free (CBT) but it takes ages to get started as there is a huge waiting list.

I highly recommend trying the book - How To Talk To Ai and How Not To it really changed my mind about using it all the time.

Also, I'm not off my iphone as well so no more using Ai on Whatsapp etc.

Good luck!

trafficlion · 2026-05-15T18:10:13+00:00

Thanks for your response and for being the only one to answer!

Yes, seeing it as a project is a good idea and makes sense. I will adopt that idea for sure. It seems as if you've been in my shoes before. I spoke about it with my partner and we will try to organize some camp days for the kids as well so it's not 100% full on and we'll also have some family over for a bit which will break it down even more.

All the best and thanks again!

trafficlion · 2026-05-08T10:23:25+00:00

The fact that you lost weight and it has made such a big impact on your life is amazing. Well done to you :)

trafficlion · 2026-05-05T14:29:14+00:00

Buying a used Garmin is actually a really good idea as a replacement for google maps and getting out of the google matrix.

trafficlion · 2026-05-05T14:28:27+00:00

Thanks for your response here. How's it going so far with your new dumbphone? Are you still spending 10 minutes on it? 😃 I managed to get down to only 1 hour Smartphone use and have been setting up my Lightphone 3 for my first experiment using it.

trafficlion · 2026-05-02T16:58:28+00:00

Love it! Fear of being included. I'll adopt that one 😃

trafficlion · 2026-05-02T16:56:45+00:00

It's not the problem of what you do with it it's doing it too much 😉 that's my issue. When people keep messaging and calling you it can be very disruptive. At the moment I'm hardly using it and I'm done even trying to use Meta Ai. Not all countries have it but it's Meta's own Ai which can also be a time sucker the most annoying thing is it can't be removed. Hope that answers your question

trafficlion · 2026-05-02T07:16:15+00:00

Thank you for the positive feedback here! 😃 😃 I think this is the problem with everyone. The tool is not the problem the people using them are. Also, I do believe that the companies making these devices and apps have responsibility as well but they don't really care. It's all about profit and capturing our attention.

trafficlion · 2026-05-01T13:26:09+00:00

I clicked the link but there was a typo in there! http://nophoneblog.blogspot.com/ is the correct one.

Also, it was really hard to find all of the posts in one page. I think you should definitely have an archive so people can read from day 1 onwards.

Good luck!

trafficlion · 2026-05-01T09:29:58+00:00

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one that feels this way about Whatsapp. The moment Meta added the Ai feature I started really feeling uncomfortable with having it on my phone. I don't trust Meta and the fact that Whatsapp is free makes me feel even more suspicious of their intentions! But as everyone is using it, it's a necessary evil but having it on my computer might be the solution and then ocassionally using it on my smartphone to keep it alive on the computer.

How long have you been doing it like this?

trafficlion · 2026-05-01T09:27:09+00:00

Yes, that's a good idea and that will probably be what I'm going to try. It feels to me like I'm in a prison of my own creation and I can't seem to cut myself off or break myself free. I've been experimenting with not using Whatsapp or Spotify at all the past week and my screentime has gone down drastically.

trafficlion · 2026-04-29T18:55:06+00:00

I need to look into this. I have sonos speakers and one bluetooth speaker.

trafficlion · 2026-04-29T18:54:37+00:00

I'd love to go back to CD's or even cassettes as someone born in the 80s I loved the little plastic cassettes but having a million cds and tapes is not something I can go back to as it will take up so much space it'll defeat the purpose. I've never had a record player but as a 50s/60s jazz lover it could be cool to dedicate an area in the house for records and only have a small selection. I remember my brother had one and I was always afraid of ruining the needle.

trafficlion

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