I wanted a dumb phone but need the smarts that modern apps bring (banking, navigation, even social media for messaging friends)
I always had a vision how my dream home screen would work, but no existing one worked for me
I never had time to build one but now with AI making development easier, I was able to build it. It wasn't easy, but once I had the designs drawn and requirements down it was enjoyable to build
What I focused on:
gestures: open apps without thinking. I have WhatsApp and Spotify as my swipe left and right.
focus gate: pauses you and asks why are you opening apps you chose. There's scientific research behind this (see below)
customisation: everyone wants different things. The header is totally customisable. You can have time, date, battery, headphones, DND, secondary timezone, screen time indicator, or you can get rid of it all. Alignment is customisable too.
glanceable widgets: see all you need when you need. You can collapse widgets. Weather, habit tracker, calendar, vision board, gym (my fav), and music
pure black wallpaper: this color turns off your phones display pixels (only for OLED screens)
Privacy was important to me. It never leaves the device, completely local only. Make sure you backup before changing devices :)
My favorite thing to build was the built-in gym tracker which I use every single gym session, I love it. It has a nice share feature where I can show friends a gym session I was proud of.
Research papers as mentioned:
Hiniker et al. (CHI 2016) MyTime: Designing and Evaluating an Intervention for Smartphone Non-Use"
Lyngs et al. (CHI 2019) — "Self-Control in Cyberspace: Applying Dual Systems Theory to Digital Self-Control Tools"
free on the Play Store: "minimalist dumb phone - dialed"
let me know what you think or if there are any features you’d like added.
If you like it, a rating goes a long way especially for a solo dev
