The only thing I do with my bank is to check my balance, via a Web Page, on a desktop/laptop. I certainly wouldn't want to try to do that on a tiny screen with a horrible virtual keyboard.

I managed to avoid "Smartphones" until getting a Moto Power G (2021) last year when they killed 3g phones. The first thing I did was remove all the apps for social media, and turned off Email notifications. If you need to reach me, you call (and play nice with Google's screening service), or send a letter in the mail.

Smartphones are great for running Termux/SimH/VAX780/Open VMS 7.2 and engaging in a bit of nostalgia... oh and Pokemon Go.

I don't try to do serious computing on them.

There are quite a few places(countries and regions) on earth right now that pretty much require you to have access to a smartphone to get around. China = WeChat Sweden = BankID, any public transport company uses apps to name the 2 on top of my head right now.

Sadly we're getting more and more locked into having a smart phone to get around unless you're filthy rich or off the grid.

Pretty much. I need my phone for my banking apps if not for anything else. It used to be that banks would have separate dongles for 2-step authentication, but pretty much everyone seems to have switched to a smartphone app now.

Desktops are a second-class citizens in India. It is assumed by default that the primary digital interaction for an individual starts from a Mobile phone.

The Apple hate is so strong here

This is general "tracking beacon / tribe idol" hate.

For specific Apple hate, I have a different rant: about how Steve Jobs founded a more pernicious cult than Scientology, brilliantly adapting the lessons of previous efforts while improving their efficiency, by dispensing with the humility and humanity that had hampered others.

That being said, I agree with the sentiment of no phone in the sense that they don’t truly add much from a quality of life perspective when you are away from a computer. They just try their best to distract the hell out of you.

You are presently in a thread titled "Ask HN: Why are Android phones such a scam?"