Calm Code

Smartphone Blues

Slowdown #

Smartphones today have reached peak innovation. The battery endurance is a balance of power and how thin you want to make it. There are so many cameras that you don't know what to do with.

A slowdown is good for the environment. We don't need to upgrade that often because the phone you have is good enough.

If you plan to keep your phone for a few years, go for a flagship model. The hardware keeps up and you get updates for a few years down the line.

For basic features you might be fine with a budget phone. These days budget phones are pack a pretty good punch.

iPhone #

I'm on an iPhone XR at the moment and my last one was a 6s. I try to keep phones longer, which means I jump over a few models at a time.

Apple's operating system updates are predictable and are compatible with phones going back 4-5 years.

I don't like FaceID. You don't get used to it and it's annoying as hell. Worse it took away TouchID which was working well.

Siri is bad, but you already knew that.

Siri Shortcuts is a whole other thing that lets you program your phone. You can do all sorts of interesting stuff with it including home automation.

With shortcuts coming to macOS it'll make a real difference with day to day tasks.

Android #

The Google Assistant is great in the car. It's always spot-on and can access almost every feature you need including playing music or finding the next fuel stop.

Android devices are too fragmented and don't get enough updates. So things start to slow down quite fast and after about 2 years you stop getting any updates.

There are alternative operating systems you can load onto old Android phones to keep them ticking but it's not accessible to the average person.

Alternatives #

You could get a feature-phone and be that guy. You might loose some friends who only use iMessage but you will survive. There are a lot of good messaging apps these days that work across phone platforms.

My current cross platform messaging favourite is Telegram. They are doing an amazing job.

The Librem and Fairphone are also trying to turn the tide with regards to environmental impact, reparability and how the manufacturing process impacts people. If you are in a region that have access to these devices definitely have a look.

In closing think a bit more about your phone addiction usage and make the smart choice of device that'll last you a long time and has the feature set that you need.

Remember your phone is a tool and not something that should take over your life.

References #