Hey everyone, I was entertaining the thought of going away from owning a smart phone.

I already have a modded ipod classic that I use as my main music player.

I also know how to use a paper map.

I also have the Microsoft authentication app for work (I could just use my phone on wifi mode for this)

The last issue I have is WhatsApp where I communicate with friends and family around the world.

Is there a way to use WhatsApp on a non-smart phone? Or should I just buy a pixel and install a secure rom?

  • ComradeMiao@lemmy.worldEnglish
    23·
    3 hours ago

    I think with 2fa, qr codes, talking with family, and emergency services it’s not reasonable to not have a phone. Instead of purchasing a device why not just turn it off and put it away when you’re not using it?

    Your maps and ipod have already showed you these are just tools. Continue down that route.

    BTW, this post is so close to my own recent questions I thought I had posted it, lol. Share your modded ipod over at c/ipod , trying to start a little community

      • u/lukmly013 💾 (lemmy.sdf.org)@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
        1·
        31 minutes ago

        And price.

        When I go just walk my dog, I almost never take the smartphone with me. I always did that. Later I just bought a cheap dumb phone for 10 bucks, just in case. I always have that on me now.

        So yeah, trying to not break something more expensive. Plus it’s far more reliable than any smartphone. It just works, no stuttering, no crashes, buttons rather than touchscreen, the alarm app doesn’t get killed optimized… Though it has the same problem as every single modern phone I get: the minimum headphone jack volume is way too loud. I wanted to use it for music, but that’s a no-go. There’s no equalizer to tune it down.

  • clubb@lemmy.world
    16·
    4 hours ago

    There are kaios phones, which are basically very weak smartphones (like 512 mb of ram weak) that run kaios, which is android. They perform poorly enough that you wouldn’t want to use for social media, and you can run whatsapp on them

    • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
      10·
      3 hours ago

      Correction: KaiOS is a Linux distro that only runs web apps. It descends from the botched Firefox OS project and uses Firefox’s browser engine.

      • clubb@lemmy.world
        2·
        3 hours ago

        You’re probably right, I’ve only used old nokias with symbian, so I wouldn’t know.

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgEnglish
      6·
      4 hours ago

      KaiOS is more like “Firefox OS” than Android, but otherwise, yes.

      I did a 30 day dumbphone challenge a few months ago. Was originally going to use a Nokia with KaiOS but wanted to be able to re-purpose it afterward so I went with an Android-powered flip phone.

  • JovialSodium@lemmy.sdf.org
    4·
    3 hours ago

    Matrix has a WhatsApp bridge and an SMS bridge. Perhaps it’s possible to combine these for a WhatsApp <> SMS bridge? I don’t know if these bridges can work in this way. I’m just aware of their existence. Even if it does work, I imagine it’d be pretty suboptimal. But it’s potentially an option.

    • 🔰Hurling⚜️Durling🔱@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      1 hour ago

      I feel like these devices are too annoying. For example, I dissabled notifications for almost all apps, but a couple of updates later, and the notifications are back (even though the setting is still dissabled), and I feel like when these apps are developed, they want to bundle critical notifications with non-critial ones (ie. Do you want a notification when someone breaks into your house AND when our sales team wants to upsell you something? Or neither?). Then there’s the data privacy aspect.

  • HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com
    2·
    3 hours ago

    I use a fire tablet for maps. osmand allows you to download whole states at detail and it does not take huge amounts of space. its not great for privacy but I use google voice. That being said I have a smartphone I had to get for work. I picked up the free talk and text thing. I basically keep it shut down until I need it.

  • CantWeJustCuddle@lemmy.world
    2·
    4 hours ago

    Still using a laptop? Isn’t there a WhatsApp download for a desktop app?

    Edit - although you would still need some sort of smartish phone to set that up I am sure.

    Haven’t checked the same might be true for the Authenticator app. If you are just dealing with one time number codes there are Firefox plug ins you can use.

    • Sergio@slrpnk.netEnglish
      3·
      3 hours ago

      Isn’t there a WhatsApp download for a desktop app?

      all I know about it is the following:

      While the messaging platform already offers cross-platform support, users were able to add a new contact only via the primary Android phone or iOS handset—by adding a phone number or scanning a QR code. … In a press release, WhatsApp notes that users will soon be able to add and manage contacts through WhatsApp Web and also through Windows platforms or their preferred device, like Android tablets.

      https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/whatsapp-likely-to-have-userames-soon

      unclear if/how soon you’ll be able to use it without a phone number at all.