It is more about quiting social media rather than quiting using phone.

You could get a gps for map though...

I upgraded the Radio in my car to a touchscreen with wifi and gps, i can download maps to use offline, carry a notepad and you can take notes and do grocery lists no problem and keep $100 tucked in your wallet as emergency money for if there is any issues with not being able to access online banking, sorted 👍

Can you try the light phone? Thelightphone.com I just learned about it yesterday and they have an IG if you wanted to check it out

I think it's all about discipline. If certain interactions with your smartphone make you miserable, just avoid them - don't take your phone to bed, don't take it out of your pocket when you meet friends.. and so on.. it works great!

I use a flip phone but spend a lot of time at home on the PC. I tried to contact an online Doctor last week but his office only used an app with a smartphone. Texting is nearly impossible. People laugh when they see it. The cost is tiny, a $99 year Tracfone plan. The battery life is great. It recharges super fast. if I lose it I am only out $20. The funny thing is I bought an old Galaxy S5 on ebay for $40 to carry to take video and photos but it only has whatsapp loaded. When I am with family and friends I am the only one not constantly on the phone. for driving you can get Garmin GPS for a very low cost. BTW, you talked about happiness. The thing that gives me happiness is not social media or current technology, it is people knocking on my door and visiting for facetime instead of facebook. That is so rare and precious. I have come to hate emails and texting with those I care about.

I just substituted social media for you tube

I think you missed the part that the phone was, mostly, intended for the pre-cell-phone generation (you know our 65-.... old year olds). And for them I think it's a GREAT phone, the + of the newer tech (4g, better apps, better options) and another + they have a phone that's easy to use!

oh, I got a new word, flip phone, it's good.

That’s the phone I’m using texting thought that hard by the way but that does suck phone on you doing today cousin seven

Wielding a flip phone is one of the most heroic things one can do.

You could probably buy a tablet and us that for your other apps

6 brothers and sisters? that's quite frankly disgusting.

I have a gps in my car, like the taxis have on the window, so that fixes that problem and works even better.

I took my phone addiction about 3 STEPS FAR by buying a flip phone, I am much more productive in the mornings before school because most of the things on my phone take some time to look through. I made sure to get a moddest flip phone. It still has youtube and a couple games! Though, I still keep my old phone. I mostly never use it except to comment this.

By a camera

Just buy a gps dude.

doing research because I ordered a brick phone last week to swap for my smart, great to see other people doing this,

what if someone were to add up all the time it took them to do daily tasks that couldve been completed on a smartphone? like the combined time it took to check emails or navigate without gps? would it be worse than screen time?

The problem is a smart phone is smart and where not!

11:00 well buy a navigation system for your car then ? :D

Just get a Tom Tom to replace Google Maps. That’s what we all did when smart phones had unreliable/spotty cell service (thru 2014 at least), only had 3G so calls would stop nav, Google Maps used to randomly send people to dead ends & creepy frontage roads instead of destination, etc. Plus a navigation system and/or offline maps should always be used on road trips in place of Google/Apple Maps on your phone — for practicality & safety reasons. For the photos — GET A POINT & SHOOT CAMERA. Again, this is what we used until smart phones moved beyond 2mp grainy cameras. Point & shoot cams take better photos and are now crazy compact, fast, and cheap. I mean, I can still remember how I handled life before the latest tech. Guess it’s up to us females to be detail oriented so the higher paid gender can have more time on their hands to feel helpless without a smart phone. Ugh.

3. use alarm for reminder...

Flip phones can be used for reminders. Mine used to go off every day at the exact time I had to take my medication, and yes, even then, some people used them for alarm clocks. Its like everyone either has amnesia about *before* smart phones. That plus Zoomers.

Checking the news to see what awful thing happen... that's on you. You could google anything else and you chose this. Also what about your laptop? Don't you feel the temptation to google what awful thing happened but this time on a laptop? Damn. Smartphone is tempting but laptop not so much?

Even his flip phone can google whatever in the browser and has news apps. He’s not using an old school flip phone. Even back in the day, they did eventually put minimalistic browsers on flip phones & blackberry devices. Flip phones started out with black & white screens, then came color, then they became phone/MP3 players and could handle playing video & taking photos/videos. The biggest change in the beginning between flip phones & early smart phones, was the large touch screen, losing physical keyboard, the bigger size/weight, and fragility. Most people switched to iPhones late in the game once Apple’s competitors stopped making sliding keyboards, since keyboard apps and autocorrect still had a looooong way to go.

Why can't we just get GPS lol

I just started using the Light Phone II. It is small but it does have a full keyboard.

me

Lol here in the Philippines my classmates in the year 2006-2009 used keypad & they Don't even look while typing fast 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I solved it by actually upgrading to 2 smart phones. 1st always with me as Swiss army knife (maps, google, nfc payments etc ) - minimlistic I would say :) 2nd as communication / work device (Password Manager, email, WhatsApp, everything you wish !) - always on charger on my home desk (I work from home). I don’t have any notifications on the phones so that was not an issue. What happened was really interesting, knowing I can check my messages at the desk, I started checking them less and less. Knowing I have phone all the time on me kept me calm cos phone calls where getting directly to me. Payments, maps etc always with me … Is easy to take both phones with you if needed. At the same time, because I was not reaching to my pocket all the time to check messages or respond to people, I broke the habit of constantly checking the phone

I like how using a flip phone for 30 days is some kind of accomplishment for these youngsters Put down your F'ing phones and experience the world! You putzes all go to a live music event and end up staring down at your feet the whole time, put down the phone and look up to enjoy the show!

Printed directions are always better because gps always gets you lost

@FatalErr0r stolen valor? i served 17 years. retired on medical in 2019. obviously, you know nothing about the military, or else you would understand why I like printed directions better.

@2wheelphoto Interesting because you were just talking about how you "like printed directions better." Are you trying to retract your comment with this stolen valor BS?

@FatalErr0r i think you’re a bot 🤖

@FatalErr0r I’m 38. I’m also an Air Force veteran and I know how to navigate with or without a map (you need the navigation points) and I am not taking GPS for granted. I just don’t like the commercial version. Now how many of your words would you like to retract?

Clearly you were not alive before 2000. First people had to use MAPS. Then once mapquest came about, we’d print directions for every single new place we had to go — then you better memorize your routes and where all your friends live. If you take ONE wrong turn or miss one street sign — you get completely lost. You’ll be driving around in circles for an hour straight until your call your parent whose hopefully at work or home near a computer, and beg them to pull up mapquest and help you. They’d need you to tell them the exact cross-street you were at, which required driving until the street sign was actually posted for the road you’re driving on, then likely giving the cross street of the next closest intersection, then waiting on the phone while it took them another 10-15 minutes to figure out where you are, then re-enter the address you’re going to, get new directions, then stay on the phone with you feeding you every direction while you’re hyperventilating because you’re an hour late to an apmt, and again — if you miss ONE street name and don’t take the turn, you get to start all over again. PRINTED DIRECTIONS GET YOU LOST. Stop taking GPS for granted Zoomer.

You can use talk to text with the Google thingy on that phone. Yeah google gets to learn your voice but it’s faster typing.

the first phone i had was an LG flip phone, i kinda miss that thing. the tactile feel was great

Prefer to write notes only write on phone if stuck without paper and pen. I miss the sat nav and real camera

get a camera

Thought the same on this too. Up until 2014, most people still relied on compact point and shoot cameras if they were going to an event, concert, or just wanted to capture memories with friends during the holidays, parties, or just go on random “photo shoots.” Smart phone cameras were not able to even begin to somewhat “replace” a real camera until around 2014 (assuming they could afford the latest iPhone, of course). Guess men always depended on the women in their lives, thinking ahead and carrying cameras around to capture moments, and therefore are completely helpless without us... still. Lol.

Get a sat nav

Exactly. Idk why he didn’t just get a Tom Tom...

Got rid of Facebook , WhatsApp and watching TV ....life's never been better ...only spend a maximum 1hr a day on the internet

When the Globalists turn off the electricity and internet. ....billions of people are going to be screwed

Apparently you haven’t spent ENOUGH time off the internet you right-wing conspiracy theory nut.

That opening joke though

99% of us are owned by technology, the 1% own their technology

The EXCUSES your brain came up with to keep your smartphone.. I’m pretty sure you can afford a GPS, and you can just bring a small camera around with you to take photos and make it one of your habits. OR you could remove all of the apps and info from your smartphone including the number and service and just use it for photos while using your flip phone for phone stuff. And if typing is a pain, get a keyboard slide phone or just call people.

Exactly!

Men vs women , who would struggle with this experiment the most ?🧪 🧫 🔬

@Max Sesma What does that have to do with anything? Oh and cite your source bruh.

@FatalErr0r according to google , on various research and studies from multiple sites women use their phones more then men 🤷🏽

He’s already proven that men are completely helpless without smart phones. Women already know to use a Tom Tom or whatever navigation system in place of Google Maps, and were always the ones carrying around the point and shoot cameras to capture everyone’s memories for them, before smart phone cams could even take a halfway decent photo. We’re also masters at T9, without even having to look while typing — so no complaints about texting. Printing off itineraries and travel exemption letters (no brainer you should print that out regardless before trying to fly internationally during COVID), handwriting notes — still do it. *Next test* - How long can a man survive on his own without help from ANY females whatsoever (moms included)? I give it 2 days. And that’s only if they’re realllly white knuckling it. Not even google can replace us. Especially given all the emotional support and troubleshooting advice men need. Can’t tell you how many times I’m the only one in tech subs that has the ACTUAL solution. Then I always get a response like “thanks my man” or “appreciate it bro.” Right, because ONLY men use Reddit or take interest in tech 🥱

I've had good luck locking down my iPhone's features by using the content and privacy restrictions along with a screen time passcode that's chosen by a friend. Only works on iOS 12 or earlier but it's great because you can still use maps and music apps, and book apps, etc, but you can disable browsers and the ability to add social media apps etc.

Y’all you can still have an Apple Watch and use a flip phone! That’s how I work around the gps thing and voice talk is a breeze for texting.

Modern flip phones, like the one this guy was using, have GPS. Idk why he was having issues. Likely because he’s using one of the newer flip phones that are built horribly and have terrible reviews due to breaking after 1 week and getting weak signals despite being 3g & 4g compatible.

Just uninstall social media apps, or just any app in general that contributes to your unhappiness. Keeping all the pros of own a smartphone, like gps and such, without having to deal with the cons. That's what I did. They don't need to be social media devices if you don't want them to be.

Just 30 days! One of my friends has been using a flip phone for years now. I really want one too.

I’ve lived with the same exact phone for 3 years now.

This was eye opening!!!

considering i'm wayyy too much on my phone procrastinating at the expense of my studies, i decided to do the same challenge with a phone that cannot do a lot of things (phone and messaging basically, even the camera doesn't work ;-; ). I'll see how it will feel, i'm sure i'll use my laptop a lot more to compensate but anyway, can't wait to see the results. Thanks for the inspiration Matt !

I had planned on doing a complete clean with a flip phone, but I found that I needed some tools. I decided to go back to the original iPhone SE from 2016. It’s a 16gb and the storage won’t allow for apps . I have the music, maps, and iMessage and that’s it. I found it cured my social media addiction

I use both, I removed a phone card from a smart phone and put it into a small Nokia, just calls and texting, (no camera, no internet) Smartphone I use as a pocket computer, camera, GPS,... but I don't look at it constantly, and often I leave it at home and just take Nokia with me (gong for a run, walk,...),...

guys just delete all social media apps and keep the smart features. you could also get a GPS device for your car 🤷🏽‍♂️.

for me personally the best approach is buying a "dumb smartphone". I think this could be the best of both worlds. What I mean by "dumb smartphone" is buying an older model with small screen, or a really cheap one that is slow, limited and has a crappy screen. These things make the experience of using your phone much less attractive. Both options go for $100 or less. I did this and it greatly reduced the exposure to social media and apps in general, because it wasn't "fluid". And I still have access to GPS or other things if I really need it. Also it's a good idea to turn off ALL notifications, make the screen greyscale or just have a plan that only has minutes and no data at all.

I have a Nokia flip phone and an iPad mini for work best combo, I also have instax sq6 Polaroid, and carry notebooks you can reuse rocket books for work. I have a iMac for university and work, in my study with all my books. I moved away to hand writing my uni study stuff in like parks with my iPad mini as my go to. I noticed I retained more information and was vibrating more when I hand wrote assignments, I send post cards to friends and family it’s now a thing. I put my Polaroid picture on my coffee table with a clear plastic cover on the top, we take so much pix but really never look at them. I listen to LP records, and don’t own a TV. Makes a massive difference.

It's funny to watch this video as a person who has never had a smartphone. I guess it's way easier to live without one when you never got used to having one. I mean, it's not like 2007 was the stone age and we were all disconnected and unable to function. I just kept doing what I was doing back then and for the most part it works perfectly fine. I only have a problem when something can only be done via an app, but then again, as someone who values my privacy and doesn't want to give my data to every company out there, I probably wouldn't use those apps even if I had a smartphone.

There’s this new phone called Light Phone which has call, text, music, and gps, and that’s all. If you ever come around to looking into it could you do a review? It’s quite an investment at $300 so I wanna make sure it’s worth it

I'm on an ancient phone as well (mine doesn't even have internet yet) and I bought a GPS navigationsystem in my car already back when I still had a smartphone - works like a charm. In the beginning it took a while for me to re-learn some skills that I had unlearned through using a smartphone a lot but for me the positives outweigh the negatives - and all the "negatives" are things I can totally live with or don't really see as downsides, but as areas where I need to be a little more prepared and organized :)

💖💖💖

You should do this with the light phone 2

This is feature smart phone and simple smart phone different, Although feature phone sometimes inconvenient, but It can makes you a good habit and success the task every single day. Great unbox !! Have a great time !!

Yehhh, US mainstream media are the virus of these society, and theyreee fuckinnng bad

I want to buy a flip phone just to close it I luv the snap voice

I think you are making it more difficult to use that phone than what it really is.

And who the crap is taking notes and making grocery lists on thier phone.. Just use paper. Way easier than a phone or a computer.

Beautiful. I feel you, brother. Me too. I'm getting there! I have all these little tricks I use - using your Cue, Routine, Reward idea to section out ritualized times of day and sequenced routines that involve my phone intentionally and creatively - never idle scrolling. TIME OF DAY and ROUGHLY RITUALIZED SEQUENCE OF USE seems to have helped! Thanks, as always!

Honestly just keep a burner smart phone for when you travel. You can get a 200$ smart phone and just use plans for it when you need it. I'm sure you can find a flip phone with working GPS.

Get a flip phone and get a digital camera and a gps and a MP3 player 😩👌 problem solved🤯

One thing i did, is use maps once and only once to get somewhere. On my way to that place i keep an eye on landmarks and road signs. The next time i go to that place i try to only use memory

I use my camera as a huge part of my personal memory because a TBI left me with episodic brain impairment. I'd love to do something like this, but so much of my memory being so conveniently recorded and contained outside my brain makes it impossible. At least with the flip phones I've found.

Wait, you miss writing memos on your phone? I still use pen and a notebook, I think it's a pain to write notes on my phone, especially longer ones.

I got a seperate navi and music player. Music player is also a HiDef audio player so kudos there. I got an offline phone which never connects to the internet for task lists. All the other stuff I do on my pc or tv.

Use T9 texting! Lol people be forgetting how to text lol before keyboard

😂flipping it closed

USE T9! It helps you text faster

That's the constant effort: how to use your phone tools while not being controlled by them. Great video!

I still remember when I had my first flip phone. It was a Motorola. I had flip phones for a while until my parents convinced me to get a smart phone. The first one I got was an LG. There are times I wish I had my flip phone again. I find it that life was a little easier with it. I tell people that instead of carrying a phone in our pockets and purses, we are actually carrying a portable computer with us. We can do everything on our phones which is just unbelievable

gotta turn on t9. it's a function for typing so you can press each button once and then it autocorrects it into the word. so it might be called differently nowadays but back in the day that was the name, it still is on my Nokia phone but that's the one I used when I was 15. it helps tho hahha

dont look up for an excuse. U can just ask someone around for a direction, like i do some time,Its a networking at the same time. So yeah, or you can just ask directions the person you are talking to before you head to them.

it's easier to text with flip phone or any phone with keypad. You can type without looking at it

Dissapointed in this video. I was hoping to see more real-time experiences and more challenges. I grew up with rotary phones. I learned how to use a map and do things like organize myself and I read actaul books. As technology progressed I too became first facinated, then reiant upon a cell phone (and it doesn't actually take that long to write a text old school). Its been a decade since I got rid of my smartphone and haven't owned any cell phone of any kind during that time. I dont miss it and find that I don't need it either. I think people have allowed technology to make them lazy to the point where writing something down is too laborious. We have been separated from each other by the illusion of quick personal contact in the place of direct interpersonal interactions, face to face connectoons like maybe droping in on friends or family without texting or calling from our cars. We have lost so much without the actual physical presence of other people. So much of communication is non verbal yet we live in a world where the majority of our interactions with people is done electronically. I truely beleive that for all that technology has done for us, it has taken away a huge part of our true socialization and meaningful interactions with one another.

Matt D’Avella: I used a flip phone for 30 days. Old people: First time?

I guess you just need to delete apps that are taking too much of your time but if the app is productive such as Book app on iPhone then it should be fine! Going to flip phone is too extreme

The most disturbing thing of all with smart phones is that they can get too much data from people and very easily access your privacy, manipulate people, etc etc

😆😆😆👍...your intro.

I wasn’t around in 1990 but if i recall old videos correctly 1990 only had the brick phone lol. Did flip phones come around 2000? Wow only twenty years and we literally carry a computer in our back pocket...

Hey Matt, I’ve just been catching up on your content from recently and I’m not sure if I’m only just noticing it or if it’s a conscious change you’ve made but I really like how you’re not reshooting a whole scene if you stumble on a word or stitching takes together to cover it up. It feels way more real than the way people curate themselves so heavily and feels like more of a conversation. People do bloopers of their ‘failed’ takes but this feels really genuine and I think what often makes a blooper scene is people getting caught up in their filming mistakes to the point that it dominates the scene but you just move on with grace and acceptance that it doesn’t have to be perfect and it’s a powerful reminder to me. Thanks :) Also welcome to Australia!

Thank you for doing that so I didn’t have to. The thought of getting a flip phone crossed my mind. 😅

+10 stealth.

You can have most of the benefits of a smart phone if you put a data block on it. It also makes the monthly plan way cheaper. One downside is recieveing MMS messages because they use data. You can still receive texts from others but group texts are often sent using MMS. With a data block you can still use the notes and memo functions and even google maps if you download a map first. There is an option to use off line maps that are saved on your phone. If you really need to look something up while you are away from home there are many places with free wifi. My phone does hook to my secure wifi at home. I don't bank or email extensively on my phone and wouldn't over public wifi.

thats what she said 😂

I think I would get a good Garmin GPS for the car. And then just become one of those guys that calls back right when someone texts, eventually training them all never to text me.

This guy is insufferable

Seems like you really just need to block news, video & social apps from yourself.

Hahaha maybe a phone with a keyboard would be slightly better

Verizon slider phone... That way you have a keyboard and a GPS but you have to pay monthly for the gps. I don't think your GPS worked because u were in the garage. It couldn't catch a signal.

Wow! Thank you Matt. I always wonder what it would feel like to live without my smartphone, and you showed me.

I am switching to a flip phone for a year

beautiful. Your saying if satellites go down, you are vulnerable. Do you know how to read a map! 1st survivors item in kit. Road atlas. City and state naps Just as important as survival food.🤣🥰

Funny I have had phone maps for 15 years... have never used it. Always look up and write down directions...lol

Does anyone here in the comments use a Blackberry? I really want to get one, but I'm worried about buying one from Amazon and it not working

I actually always wanted a filp phone but my father won't let me. Lol