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Re:My First Year Without an iPhone by baggachipz on Monday September 15, 2025 @11:37AM (#45250982)
I could never go back to not using a smartphone; texting on-the-go, maps, contactless payments, and ride-sharing are too important to miss out on. That said, it's possible to avoid most of the bad things about smartphones: Don't install any Meta products, and discontinue their use entirely. Don't use any Google products. Be extremely judicious and stingy about which apps you install. If it can be done in the mobile browser, do that. I've also disabled news alerts and most other alerts so that it's a pull rather than a push. It's greatly improved my mindset and freed up a lot of time.
Re:My First Year Without an iPhone by bnpxft on Monday September 15, 2025 @12:02PM (#45251327)
This is the middle way.
Re:My First Year Without an iPhone by 627467 on Monday September 15, 2025 @11:26PM (#45257728)
> it's a pull rather than push

This is under appreciated, low effort'ish perspective. The simple fact of disabling all notifications (but for a couple basic ones like calendar) returns a good 80% of control back to you.

Pair with battery saving mode - that on iOS and Android - even locks involuntary notifications and saves you from battery anxiety.

Re:My First Year Without an iPhone by matt-attack on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @03:37AM (#45259200)
I’m always blown away, when someone shows me something on their phone, let’s see a photo or something, and during the brief demo, I see an on slot of random notifications popping up. Retailers, email, promotions, etc..

Like seriously? I completely blew my mind. I think I basically have just iMessage and calendar.

Re:My First Year Without an iPhone by baggachipz on Tuesday September 16, 2025 @08:08AM (#45261137)
And, far as I can tell, that's the vast majority of users. Like, most people live like this. I think they don't know how to disable that shitshow (or even that it's possible) and have just learned to live with it. And we wonder why everything's shit.