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- This topic has 24 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 7 months ago by MikolMelamdai.
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April 18, 2023 9:09 pm at 9:09 pm #2182089MikolMelamdaiParticipant
Hi,
I’ve been inspired for a while to switch back to a dumb phone (AKA basic or feature phone), though I’m having a hard time finding one that would work for me.
I need one that supports 4G (because 2g and 3g are not supported at least by some of the carriers), preferably with a qwerty keyboard (though I know that’s hard to find), with hotspot capabilities but with a way to block internet on the actual device.
I know it sounds complicated but there is gotta be a way to do it.
QWERTY keyboard dumb phonnes with 4G dont seem to exist.
I did see a nokia thats 4g and with hotspot but also has browser and social media apps…
If you know how to go about this please let me know.
thanks!April 18, 2023 10:26 pm at 10:26 pm #2182108FedupofjustreadingstupidcommentsParticipantFIG phone…..look it up. Its a great choice
April 18, 2023 10:28 pm at 10:28 pm #2182106☕️coffee addictParticipantWhy can’t you get a smart phone that’s whitelisted and the App Store blocked
Or get a very strong filter
April 19, 2023 5:12 am at 5:12 am #2182156AviraDeArahParticipantTag has a full list of 4g flip phones that they kasher, many of which can be found used on eBay for 25
April 19, 2023 7:57 am at 7:57 am #2182196refoelzeevParticipantI have a LG Wine phone I like a lot. No QWERTY but you’ll survive. It has hotspot capabilities. It has a browser but it’s pretty bad. I’m sure TAG can remove it for you if you’re tempted.
April 19, 2023 11:46 am at 11:46 am #2182215englishjew5774ParticipantLook into the BlackBerry Q5, Q10, or Q20 (Blackberry Classic).
Technically speaking not a dumbphone but it has a very strong inbuilt parental control feature to block internet, whatsapp is not available anymore, could be email still works but can be blocked. Most apps don’t work anymore.
BlackBerry has ended support for these phones so do some research before buying that the phone will still work with your carrier etc. Best resource for all blackberry advice is crackberry.com
Be aware they are hard to find, but try eBay.
I strongly believe there is no better dumbphone on the market then (the pre-android) BlackBerry’s.
April 19, 2023 1:55 pm at 1:55 pm #2182305akupermaParticipantQWERTY keyboards are very rare for anything but the most expensive smartphones.
If you buy a cheap prepaid phone with no data plan, you have a dumbphone.April 19, 2023 5:55 pm at 5:55 pm #2182359AviraDeArahParticipantthe advantage of the phone not being a smartphone is that it makes a statement to others and the community, espeically children and teens, that we are keeping the torahs standards…even if a smartphone can in practice be just as practically kosher
April 19, 2023 5:57 pm at 5:57 pm #2182368Menachem ShmeiParticipantI have a gabb phone and love it. It is an Android system but absolutely no Internet access and no way to download apps (can’t be hacked. I’ve tried).
However, no hotspot capabilities.
@ishjew, I had blackberry classic with parental block. Worked amazingly up until last year when the service shut down.
April 19, 2023 6:33 pm at 6:33 pm #2182395The heimeshe macherParticipantOilam u must get nokias!!!!!
simple, quick, geshmak and most importantly KOSHER!!!!!April 19, 2023 6:33 pm at 6:33 pm #2182396The heimeshe macherParticipantOilam u must get nokias!!!!!
simple, quick, geshmak and most importantly KOSHER!!!!April 23, 2023 7:25 am at 7:25 am #2182980MikolMelamdaiParticipantThank you all!
I’ll have to look into those options.April 23, 2023 8:43 am at 8:43 am #2182999brunfinParticipantI went to Lakewood TAG last week with my Samsung Galaxy. For $30 for the year they installed MB SMART. I have them use that to block my browser and YouTube, and to leave all my apps. They said I can call if I want any websites. So far so good!
April 23, 2023 8:44 am at 8:44 am #2183001ZetruthParticipantI like the fact that you can remove the battery from the fig phone!
April 23, 2023 8:11 pm at 8:11 pm #2183193MikolMelamdaiParticipantThanks. I loved blackberry’s and was hoping to be able use one. Based on what I read even if its a 4G capable phone even features such as texting and calling might not work properly since BlackBerry ceased to support these devices, so I guess I’ll look into the other options. Thank you though
April 23, 2023 8:11 pm at 8:11 pm #2183194MikolMelamdaiParticipantThanks.
Just looked into it.
Don’t know why but for some reason all those “kosher” phones tend to be extremely expensive. I understand that people need to make a parnassah but they seem way too expensive.April 23, 2023 8:12 pm at 8:12 pm #2183196MikolMelamdaiParticipantI currently have a smartphone with GenTech but at the end of the day there is a certain menuchas hanefesh that comes along with a dumb phone.
April 23, 2023 8:12 pm at 8:12 pm #2183197MikolMelamdaiParticipantthat’s a great idea.
I saw it on TAG flatbush website. I assume that’s the one that you mean?April 23, 2023 8:15 pm at 8:15 pm #2183208MikolMelamdaiParticipantA follow up to the above:
I have looked into the various pieces of advice that were posted here and I thank each of you.
Due to my unique circumstances, I have decided to do what a colleague of mine which is in the same situation) does, and that is to have a phone thats VERY limited at home and then have a phone thats more open (yet filtered) that always stays in the car and that has whatsapp and other things that are necessary for those circumstances but that don’t need to be accessible 24/7.I was hoping to go down the route of dumb phones but after all the research it seems like my best option will actually be to get an iPhone and have TAG set up phone restrictions and block almost everything.
I do salute those that manage with just a dumb phone and im jealous of you if you dont have a smartphone and dont deal with the issues that come along with it (which even if filtered can be a big tim -waster).
Thank you all once again!
April 24, 2023 3:03 pm at 3:03 pm #2183586Avram in MDParticipantMikolMelamdai,
“I need one that supports 4G (because 2g and 3g are not supported at least by some of the carriers), preferably with a qwerty keyboard (though I know that’s hard to find), with hotspot capabilities but with a way to block internet on the actual device.”
It might be worth taking a look at the Light Phone II. It is a niche style tiny E–Ink device with a touchscreen (QWERTY keyboard). It is 4G, can make a hotspot, and has no browser at all. It can call, SMS/MMS (images don‘t show up on the phone but can be forwarded to email), play music and podcasts, clock alarm, calculator, a directions tool, and recently a calendar. To my mind that‘s almost the perfect set of tools I want in a phone (if only it had a camera and flashlight I‘d shout its praise from the rooftops).
The downsides of the device are the the janky refreshing screen that all E–Ink devices share by necessity, a bit slower touch responsiveness than people are used to with a smartphone, a small battery that drains quickly when reception is poor or using directions, and a rather high price compared to other dumbphones (it‘s a small company and the target customer seems to be the Yuppy millennial who realizes how harmful smartphone addiction can be but still likes tech). Still much cheaper than a new IPhone or high end Android smartphone. The software is LightOS, which is a fork of Android.April 25, 2023 8:23 pm at 8:23 pm #2184066MikolMelamdaiParticipantThanks for your reply!
That’s an interesting idea. There is indeed a niche market for this (and there was just an article published in mainstream media about the millenials that are switching back to dumb phones) and there are a few companies that are trying to create a dumb phone that has the necessary capabilities, there is light phone, punkt and maybe another one.
I did come across it in the past but turned it down due to the exorbitant price for such a phone.
As I wrote in my last message, I ended up buying an iPhone and plan on having TAG pretty much block everything besides a few must apps such as navigation, texting and torah apps (but no whatsapp). I chaleshed to go back to a dumb phone (and dreamed of going back to the simplicity of that, which might not be so realistic), but this turned out to be my best option. (By the way I’ve read online about apps that will make your iphone look like a dumb phone without icons, black and white etc.)
In regards to the price of iPhones, so what I did was to buy a refurbished iPhone 6S from eBay so hopefully it’ll work decent for what I need (and has a one year warranty by AllState which I’ve had a good experience with in the past) and it costed me about $75April 26, 2023 2:06 pm at 2:06 pm #2184413Avram in MDParticipantMikolMelamdai,
“there are a few companies that are trying to create a dumb phone that has the necessary capabilities, there is light phone, punkt and maybe another one.”
The Mudita Pure, though both the Punkt and Mudita phones lack QWERTY keyboards and are even more expensive than the Light Phone II. The creator of the Punkt phone says, “if anyone wants to talk to me, they can give me a call”. I personally text way more than call, so I prefer having a touchscreen/QWERTY keyboard. The other challenge with these dumbphones is needing multiple devices to maintain the functionality a smartphone provides notably a GPS in the car, a flashlight, and a camera.
“By the way I’ve read online about apps that will make your iphone look like a dumb phone without icons, black and white etc.”
I run Android, which is more customizable than iOS. The primary interface you have with an Android device is the “launcher” (now called the Home app), which can be changed out. I currently use Olauncher, an open source launcher that has no icons. My “home” screen has the time and date, followed by my 8 most used apps (list of editable names, no icons). Swiping up shows a word list of all installed apps, with the ability to type text that matches an app’s name to launch it automatically. So, for example, I can swipe up and type “po”, and my podcast app launches immediately.
April 26, 2023 10:28 pm at 10:28 pm #2184605Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantIf you swapping several phones, you may want to have one of them with a SIM card, a mobile connection and filters and providing hotspot to other phones and computers.
You can also add opendns filters to that hub phone that white or blacklists sites.
April 27, 2023 8:50 pm at 8:50 pm #2184988MikolMelamdaiParticipantInteresting. Thanks for the post
April 27, 2023 8:52 pm at 8:52 pm #2184989MikolMelamdaiParticipantI was thinking of keeping the filter on my current android phone (which will be staying in the car), and then i’ll do the iOS restrictions on the refurbished iPhone that i’ll carry around.
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