Are you trying to say that an Apple Watch is NOT a smartphone by any reasonable definition of the term?
It depends on how you define "smartphone".
It's as smartphone in the sense that you can make/receive calls and run apps.
But, since the screen is so tiny, it isn't able to function as a source of distraction to anything like the same extent as a phone. You can't sit there browsing social media or reading random web articles with a phone. Watch interactions usually consist of briefly noticing a text message, or quickly checking your calendar.
So, if the main form of harm from a smartphone is the extent to which it distracts you from the real world, I think a watch is a lot less harmful, while providing most of the benefits of a smartphone (calls, calendar, maps, notes, siri reminders, etc).
I don't carry a phone, watch, or any other device. My smartphone is usually at home, powered off, just lying in a drawer. I turn it on only for two-factor login type of stuff and then turn it off immediately. It's on a prepaid contract and costs almost nothing.
In fact, I never carried a smartphone in my life. For a long while I had a dumb phone. When smartphones became dominant, I stopped carrying a phone at all. It just felt obvious from the start that this device was bad for me.
As for practicalities: when going to some unfamiliar place, I print a Google Maps screenshot, or just look at a map on my laptop and memorize it as best I can. It's a bit yolo-ish but I enjoy it. For messaging I usually wait until I get home and use the laptop. Airbnb can be used from laptop; Uber I don't use.
The most fun times were when I carried pen and paper instead, and made notes everywhere and drawings of random stuff. In fact, now that I'm remembering it, I think I'll try that again.
I'm impressed that you were able to pull that off in the modern world. I thought I was doing something cool by getting away with just a watch.
I started carrying a paper notebook and wearing a dumb watch. Since then I have no compulsion to pull out my phone unless someone messages me. If I have a chance of getting bored I bring a book. Phones really suck for entertainment. If I had a longer commute I would probably buy one of those handheld game emulator gadgets.
I’ve gone Phoneless. I still own an iPhone 14, but I mostly don’t use it. It lives on a charger by my front door and I only use it a few times a week to do things that sadly still require it.
So far the results have been great. I’m more present with the people around me, I read more books, I make less dumb impulse purchases on Amazon, and I’m blissfully unaware of whatever misleading and inconsequential outrage the ad-funded news media wants to distract me with. I think it’s also making it easier for my kids to detach from their screens.
Some people asked me how I did it – thus this post.
Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation” makes a pretty good case that smartphones are doing a lot of damage to the mental health of teenagers. I worked in the Facebook Integrity team and know the terrible harm social media does to people, but smartphones cause harm even without social media, by distracting people from the people and world around them.
I want my kids to never have a smartphone, but it’s hard to convince my kids they shouldn’t have one if I’m always using one myself. Everyone knows that kids do what you do, not what you say. And if smartphones are terrible for kids then they probably aren’t great for me either.
But getting rid of your smartphone is hard. A friend of mine tried to swap his smartphone for a flip phone a couple of years ago and had to give up. Twenty years ago it was easy to get by without a smartphone, but today everyone assumes you have one, so it’s much harder.
You used to be able to message people with WhatsApp using a flip phone like a Nokia, but WhatsApp has dropped support for everything except iOS and Android. You used to be able to get around with printed road maps or standalone GPS devices, but both of those have mostly gone away (the only roadmap I could find for my area is from 2008 and only available used). Without a smartphone it’s hard to ride an Uber, check into your AirBnb, pay for parking, or various other tasks that can be unexpectedly needed when on a trip.
So it’s mostly impractical to not own a smartphone, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be in your pocket all the time. It can be in your car, or in your backpack, or the hallway of your house. And if you usually don’t have it with you, you’ll likely break the habit of reaching for it, even when you do have it with you.
The main way I’ve been able to stop using a smartphone is by replacing it with an Apple Watch.
Lots of stuff works fine on the Watch:
Some stuff I can use Siri Reminders to defer until later:
And some stuff I’ve just changed my behavior:
At home, my phone lives on a charger near my door — never in my pocket. If I’m doing a short trip somewhere I’m unlikely to need my phone (e.g. school drop-off or going to the grocery store) I leave my phone behind. If I’m doing a bigger or more unpredictable trip, or might need to use the phone as a mobile hot-spot, then I’ll stick the phone in a backpack, or sometimes in my pocket.
Even though my phone is still sometimes in my pocket, the fact that it’s rarely in my pocket means I’ve mostly broken the habit of reaching for it. I’m used to it not being there, so I act as if it’s not there even when it is.
Less use of a phone can mean heavier use of a watch and draining it’s little battery. I have a magsafe watch charger on my desk that allows me to easily give the watch a boost if it’s getting low.
There are still some things that are hard without a smartphone, but the more people go phoneless, the more the world will adapt to people not having smartphones, just as it previously adapted to everyone having one.
I’ve only been phoneless for a few weeks, but so far I’m loving it.
I’ve mostly stopped reading things on my phone, which also means I’ve been reading a lot more books. I might know less about the inconsequential outrage that happened in the last day, but I have a much better understanding of the important things that happened in the last decade.
I’m a lot more present with the people around me. I’ve found myself talking a lot more with strangers, and getting to know people I might otherwise have ignored.
When I’m with my kids I’m fully present, and they feel it. Indeed my kids seem to have become notably happier since I stopped using my smartphone.
Since I’ve stopped relying on GPS navigation as much, I’m getting a better sense for my city, while knowing I can fall back on my watch map if I actually get lost.
I make fewer impulse buys on Amazon. The delay between reminding myself and sitting at my computer to order it acts as a filter, so I mostly buy only what I actually need.
I generally just feel better and more present in the world.
The only downside is that there have been a couple of times people got mildly annoyed at me for having not noticed things that were said in group chats, but I think people are gradually adapting to the fact that they need to iMessage or call me to be confident I’ve seen something.
I’ve also given my 8 year old son an Apple Watch (used SE Cellular). This is on paired to my phone, removing the need for him to have one of his own, and indeed I hope he never needs to have one.
His Apple Watch has allowed him to be more independent walking around town without adult supervision, knowing that he can call me if he needs help, can look at maps if he gets lost, and can buy things with Apple Wallet. To be honest, I’m less worried that he will need help as that some misguided person will think a kid on their own is neglected and cause trouble - which seems less likely once people see that he can call me and that I can see exactly where he is.
It’s time to go Phoneless. Ditching your smartphone is (mostly) possible, and you’ll be happy you did it.