How To Turn Your iPhone Into a Dumb Phone (but more when you need it)

The case for using our phones less is strong, but also personal and extensive. So I will not re-tread that ground here. Instead, for those of you with iPhones looking to make your phone less of a draw in your life, to make it more of a tool and less of an immersive experience, I offer this guide. Below are the steps I took to have my phone function a bit more like a dumb phone (think anything that came before the iPhone, really).

The end result is an iPhone that…

• has a single screen of highly useful apps that make your life easier but hopefully don’t lead to distraction
• still has the ability to use additional apps when necessary
• optionally displays in black and white, for the true old-school experience

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Remove Problematic Apps

I try to only keep apps on my phone that offer immediate utility in the world. Everything else should be removed. For me these are apps meant to:

• entertain
• distract
• notify
• encourage consumption (including consumption of content)
• social media (all of them)

You may have your own list. But if it’s something I find myself reaching for while I’m on the toilet or in a waiting room, it probably qualifies. This can change as you start to remove apps, get more needy for distraction, or find yourself randomly scrolling through the IMDB app (guilty). In that case, keep deleting until you’re bored by your phone. That should be the goal.

If you don’t know already, to delete an app, press and hold it until a menu comes up, then select Remove App.

Step 2: Disable Mail and Safari

Again, I’m not here to tell you why you should do this. It’s clear to me, but I’m not here to convince. If you want a dumb phone, get rid of these apps. Or at least try it. It’s easily reversible.

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps
2. Disable Mail
3. Disable Safari

Note that if you ever need to use one of these apps in a pinch, you can reverse these instructions and temporarily re-enable them. Just try to remember to disable after the emergency (right?) use.

Step 3: Move Critical Apps to your First Page

This is where you get to design your own dumb phone. What are the apps that you can’t function without, or that offer so much utility, choosing to live without them is only an effort in frustration? For me, that’s:

• Basics: Settings, Clock, and Wallet
• Location: Waze, Maps, Running Route, and Find My (wife, really)
• Home: Nest, Roomba, Pool Filter, Weather (the last two are important in my 100 degree locale)

The last four are definitely my most suspect in terms of dumb-ness:

• Raindrop — a “read later” type app; this is critical for me since people send me links via text messages that I can’t open without Safari. So I copy the URL, paste it into Raindrop, then read it when I’m back on my computer. (Side note: I purposely don’t get text messages on my computer; that’s not really a dumb phone thing, but is still highly recommended!)
• Calendar — This may be more problematic for some. I don’t have notifications, nor a very busy calendar schedule. I don’t even use this app daily, but it’s sometimes nice to know what’s on my work schedule.
• Photos — I do keep my camera on my phone, namely because it’s the only camera I have and I have a 7-year-old and two dogs that are very photo-worthy. Still, I need to make sure when I’m out and about that I save pulling my phone outto take a picture for really special opportunities.
• Music — Again, this may be more problematic for some. But I’m a pretty light user and don’t find myself going down distracting rabbit holes. Instead, I generally use it in my car or very light work days. I’m not a podcast person, but I could see that as being something that is not quite “dumb phone” but still offers a lot of personal value without a lot of distraction. But if you’re obsessively collecting podcasts or music you’ll never listen to, it probably shouldn’t make the cut here.

My primary apps at the bottom of every screen are:

• Phone
• Messages
• Camera

I purposely only have three, because if I do ever add Safari temporarily, it automatically puts it in this space. If I have four apps already, things get pushed around and my carefully crafted app organization gets lost.

I would also love to get rid of Messages, as it can be deeply distracting, but it’s not really feasible in my life. Instead, I turn off notifications (more on that below).

Again, my criteria here for inclusion on my primary screen is that the app is used regularly, offers clear utility (looking up paper maps doesn’t make my life simpler), and provides little to no distraction value.

Step 4: Create a Blank Page, then add a Widget (Optional)

Because I don’t like seeing the App Library (and its potential distractions) when I swipe beyond my home screen, I like to create a blank screen at the end of my app pages, then add a widget to it.

1. Put your phone in edit app/page mode by holding your finger on any blank space (anything other than an icon) until all the app icons jiggle
2. Swipe to the right until you get to a blank page
3. Press the + icon in the upper left hand corner
4. Choose a harmless and non-distracting widget; a few suggestions: Maps, Contacts, Find My People, Clock; I use Screen Time
5. Note that you can choose different displays; swipe until you find one you like
6. Press Add Widget
7. Leave the rest of the page blank

Step 5: Use Focus

Focus is the app/functionality that makes this whole thing work. It was a fantastic addition from Apple and is probably the main reason I’m happy to continue using my iPhone, rather than looking for more minimalist options.

You may want to have multiple Focus settings, or just one. But here are the key steps (if you want more than one setting, just repeat these steps with your required variations):

1. Go to Settings > Focus
2. Press the + icon in the upper right to create a new Focus
3. Choose Custom
4. Name your Focus, select a color and icon
5. Allowed People for Notifications — This one is going to be up to you. I have a few versions where I allow notifications (texts, namely) from specific people, but my default is no people. This is not really a dumb phone feature, I just don’t want my phone notifying me of every text; I check those when it’s a good time for me. The beauty of Focus is that anyone else with an iPhone will see that you’re not getting notifications and they can call you. I do allow Calls From: Everyone by default, though I do have night time Focus settings that don’t allow that.
6. Allowed Apps for Notifications — This is another one for personal preference. I personally hate notifications, so I only allow my Nest Smoke Detector to notify me. I’m hoping eventually the “Time Sensitive” functionality will be used more, but for now, I go conservative. Again, I will check notifications on my terms.

Once your Focus is created, the additional settings are key (accessible from the settings page of the Focus):

1. Home Screen
   - Hide Notification Badges — I love this. You may not.
   - Custom Pages — Enable
   -- Select your first page with your critical apps, then select your widget-only page
   -- Press Done then go back to your Focus settings page
2. Add Schedule or Automation
   - Time: I recommend a time window that is always on. If you have multiple Focus settings, make sure one is always automatically on. This keeps you from having to remember to turn it on, and if you manually turn it off for some reason, it’ll automatically come back on. Consider 12:00am to 11:59pm 7 days a week.

This setup basically only allows you to see that apps on your first (critical) page. All other apps are hidden. If you find yourself bored and swipe for more apps, you come to your widget page. If you have the Screen Time widget, it can be a good reminder to just turn your phone off, rather than looking for… something.

Unfortunately, if you keep swiping, you get the App Library, which Apple does not allow you to disable. It’s generally not organized well enough to be useful, but it may cause a distraction or undesired level of access for some. This, however, is another reason to remove apps that don’t provide a clear utility.

My “dead end” page that I see beyond my critical apps

Step 6: How to Access Hidden Apps

There are times you will want to access apps other than the critical apps on your “dumb phone homepage.” I do leave a lot of other apps on my phone, in the hidden pages, because there are times they provide a lot of utility to me, but they don’t do so regularly. These include apps for:

• Banking
• Restaurants
• Transportation
• Account Management
• Travel

I can access these apps when I need them by either:

1. Temporarily disabling my Focus — this is my least favorite option, because it opens up a lot of “oh I’ll just check this too while I have it open” kind of feelings; but it’s also the easiest.
2. Searching for the app — this is my favorite, as it keeps me focused on only accessing the single app I need. If the app you’re looking for isn’t in your search results, go to Settings > [APP] > Siri & Search > Show App in Search.

If you find yourself accessing the same app a lot, consider adding it to your critical apps page, as long as it is serving as a utility and not a distraction. If it’s more of the latter, strongly consider deleting it.

Step 7: Black and White (optional)

One of the things that is appealing about a dumb phone or an e-ink one is that the screen is just not as appealing as an iPhones vibrant and beautiful looking app icons (or interfaces). The best way I have found to make my phone a lot less visually appealing is to run it in black and white. Yep. It’s weird, but it makes a huge difference. A difference that is all the more obvious when you switch it back into color and you recognize 1) how artificially vibrant everything feels, and b) how much more fun it is to interface with the phone in color. And as lame as it sounds: we’re trying to eliminate the fun from the phone.

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size
2. Select Color Filters
3. Enable Color Filters
4. Select Grayscale (your screen will go Black and White)
5. Select Back and then Back again (to Accessibility menu)
6. Scroll down to bottom and select Accessibility Shortcut
7. Check Color Filters

You can now turn your screen’s colors on or off by triple pressing the power button (right side). I try to leave it in black and white at all times, but will definitely switch to color temporarily to view/take a photo, or if an interface isn’t clear without color.

Conclusion

If you put all of this together:

1. Remove problematic (distracting) apps
2. Disable Mail and Safari
3. Move critical apps to your first page and hide the rest via Focus
4. Switch to black and white

You have all the elements of a dumb phone. You have limited apps, can focus on using your phone’s usefulness without getting sucked into distraction, and still have access to apps that may be necessary for specific uses. And you don’t have to get rid of your current phone to do so.

My just-dumb-enough phone in all its boring glory