this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2024
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Or bring back flip phones. Calling and texting but does basically nothing else.
They still exist! Most of them are designed to be extra durable too, perfect for kids.
I'm considering a Linux phone, like the Pinephone. I use Linux at home, so I'm comfortable locking it down to only have what I trust them to use. It looks like a regular smartphone, has terrible battery life (so limited late night time wasting), and most Android apps don't work anyway, but it makes calls and texts just fine. I may even just not get a data plan at all.
Hopefully they'll think it's cool since it'll be able to run a Minecraft server and whatnot.
Pinephone owner here. The pinephone is not meant to be, not is it suitable for being, a phone you actually use. It's a developer device.
As you say, the battery life is dreadful. If I actually do anything on it, it lasts maybe an hour and a half with the screen on, maybe up to six with it off.
It is slow. And I don't mean omg it can't multitask or play mobile games slow, I mean sometimes you type and it takes a while to appear on the screen slow.
Call quality is abysmal if you even manage to get calls to come through.
I love the pinephone as a project, and the software has improved a huge amount. But it's not really suitable day to day.
Yeah, that's why I've never pulled the trigger. I'm interested in the PPP, but reports say that battery life sucks and the camera doesn't work. I'm honestly okay with the camera not working, but I need it to last most of the day.
I'm a developer, and I'd love to hack on it, but I need the phone to be usable as a daily driver first. For me that means: reliable MMS, good call quality, decent speakers, and all day battery life. I only need a couple Android apps, and even those may be negotiable (could carry a second phone to work if necessary). I can contribute to the rest of the nice to haves.
But the OG PP may be good enough for an emergency phone. Maybe. And it's cheap enough to take a chance on it.
Laughs in Android flip phone