Don’t purchase a $500 dumbphone. These apps will make your Android telephone calm

I actually like the thought of a “dumbphone”, or a minimalist telephone. It’s simply the necessities. The telephone, maps, calendar — solely the helpful bits. Not one of the time-sucky, doom-scrolly distractions.

However I don’t like the thought of spending $500 on a Gentle Cellphone or a Wisephone. As a substitute, I’ve been on a quest to show my Pixel 9a right into a calmer gadget. And the excellent news is, it really works.

Right here’s how I did it, and the apps that made it doable.

The very first thing I do is to guarantee that notifications for many apps are off, or at the very least restricted to an important updates (Android’s notification channels function actually helps right here). However that’s desk stakes at this level.

To maintain my very own consideration from wandering, I depend on Switchly. It’s a free, open-source app blocker that’s extremely customizable and helps NFC tags and QR codes. As a substitute of paying for one thing just like the $59 Brick, I can get the identical performance with a printed QR code. Switchly additionally has a neat function that permits you to block simply the addictive elements of social media apps, so I’ve set it as much as all the time block Reels on Instagram and Shorts on YouTube. Normally, I’ve a profile setup that robotically blocks distracting apps and web sites. One faucet and there’s peace.

The general expertise of putting in and testing utilities turned a lot calmer once I came upon about BlockAds. It’s a VPN-based world ad-blocker that works surprisingly nicely. It blocks these annoying full-screen advertisements that litter free Android apps. This itself is a large Android expertise improve.

Sure, Android apps can result in some extraordinarily area of interest customizations, highly effective options, and automations. However there’s additionally a flip aspect that’s simple to overlook.

You will discover a minimalist, ad-free model of any app that you simply use, and it’s not that tough both. Normally, I’ve discovered that free and open-source apps made by unbiased builders have higher polish, are ad-free by nature, and provide choices to disable options you gained’t use. They’re, typically, much less screamy.

I begin with the Fossify suite of minimalist apps. They’ve an ad-free primary model for Gallery, File Supervisor, Calendar, Music Participant, Messages, and even a substitute for the Cellphone app. I just like the default Cellphone and Messages apps, however I discover Photographs, Information, and Calendar a bit too clunky, so Fossify’s minimalist app variations assist.

In the case of climate, I choose utilizing the open-source and customizable Breezy Climate. As a substitute of being sucked into YouTube’s stellar algorithmic feed, I attempt to use NewPipe once I can. I’ve a curated listing of subscriptions on the app, and right here too I flip off the Reside feed and options like feedback. NewPipe lets me watch YouTube movies in peace, with out advertisements, and lets me obtain movies for offline use (though I pay for YouTube Premium, I like utilizing NewPipe on Android).

As for my keyboard, I’ve switched to FUTO Keyboard, and I actually prefer it to this point. Gboard is a bit bloated. FUTO is a free and open-source various that I can customise to solely present the instruments I actually wish to use.

Once I can, I additionally attempt to use Fennec, an open-source fork of Mozilla Firefox. It has not one of the telemetry, nor Mozilla’s additional options. Plus, I can add desktop-class advert blocking with the uBlock Origin extension.

Once I began utilizing the Pixel 9a, I went all in on lock display screen and residential display screen customization. I added widgets to the lock display screen; I personalized a number of pages on the house display screen. However most of that simply led to determination fatigue and compulsive scrolling.

More often than not, I nonetheless use Pixel Launcher. However I’ve disabled the At a Look widget (thanks, Google, for lastly letting us do that after years of pleading). The Uncover feed web page went away as nicely (and with it, numerous nervousness).

I deleted all of the widgets, and most days I hold a easy, single-page setup with themed icons. Launching apps with the swipe-up gesture on Pixel doesn’t take lengthy. Once I’m feeling a bit additional, I swap to the Niagara Launcher, with a minimal theme. I pin a few helpful apps on the highest, maybe a widget, and that’s it.

Some apps you may swap, some apps you simply can’t. Chrome is a primary instance. Despite the fact that I exploit Fennec, I nonetheless want to make use of Chrome sporadically, whether or not it’s for testing or as a result of an internet site simply gained’t open correctly in Firefox.

I’ve made Chrome as calm as doable. By default, Chrome is about up for the adrenaline junkie. The house web page opens to shortcuts and feeds; each web site needs to ship you notifications. However I used to be in a position to customise the house web page, eradicating nearly each aspect besides the search bar. Disabling the notifications popup additionally went a great distance in restoring some peace.

I attempt to do the identical in apps like Gmail and Google Maps. Disabling Gemini options and the Meet tab in Gmail helps. Whereas I depend on Google Maps to assist me get round, I’m not a fan of the growing push for the Discover web page and Ask Maps. Right here too, disabling options and suggestions helps.

That’s the recommendation I’d depart you with. Poke round in settings and discover customization options wherever you may. Likelihood is, there’s an choice to disable annoying notifications, options, and distracting options.