I'm done with smartphones.

I got my first smartphone nearly twenty years ago. Steve Jobs stepped onto a stage and called it magical, and for a while, it genuinely was. I got my hands on one as soon as I could, and I’m ashamed to say I’ve used one every day since.

Lately, I’ve been eyeing my iPhone 11. It’s getting old, and I’ve been contemplating whether it’s time to allow myself to get a newer model. However, my relationship with the iPhone has become increasingly complicated, I’ve started wondering if I really WANT one. What was once a helpful tool has turned into a demanding attention-grabber that stifles my creativity. It hinders my social interactions, prevents me from reading longer texts, distracts me during films, disturbs my sleep, and … complicates my life in countless ways.

I want out.

I’ve attempted this before with a basic Nokia phone that I used as my “second phone”, on mountain trips or when I need to work undisturbed. Yet, I always gravitate back to the smartphone. I’ve stripped the iPhone of social media apps, but they inevitably reappear. These approaches are ineffective and impermanent.

Well, replacing the smartphone seems nearly impossible in 2026. We’re sort of trapped. You need it for logging in here and there, bus tickets, train tickets, flights, banking services, and so on. However, I found this phone from a Swedish company called DUMDROID. If this phone meets my expectations, it should fulfil necessary functions while allowing my mind some peace.

My plan is to switch off the iPhone for all of 2026, and then hopefully for good. My DUMDROID is in the mail, so this experiment hasn’t started yet. I’m looking more and more forward to it! Writing about it here will hopefully strengthen my motivation slightly, AND possibly help others who are in a similar situation?