The ultimate guide to getting around without a smartphone

In this detailed guide, you’ll how it’s not just possible to live without a smartphone, but also fun and rewarding too.

I’ve never owned a smartphone. Yes, we’re out there, and there’s more than one of us.

Actually, there are a lot of us, as the existence of r/dumbphones on Reddit confirms.

Smartphones are kind of like cigarettes for me, in that I get the same reactions from people. When people used to ask me, “Got a light?”, I would say I didn’t smoke, and they would say, in an atta-boy tone: “Good for you!”

These days, when someone asks me to scan a QR code or something, and I say I don’t use a smartphone*, they say the same thing in the exact same way. “Good for you!”

I think that alone is telling.

By this point, smartphones have been implicated from everything from disconnection and conflict among couples to kids not learning in school and having increasing mental health problems, to our partisan divide, and even the reason why people aren’t having kids.

And yet, there’s also this sense of fatalism. “Well, we all have to use smartphones. How else would we [insert reason here]?”

Hogwash. I exist, and I’m living quite fine, thank you very much. I exist, I eat out, I travel, I socialize, and I can do all of these things without a smartphone.

And you can too.

Living without a smartphone takes planning, intention, patience, a willingness to ask for help, and maybe above all, a comfort with being inconvenienced.

That may seem like a lot to ask, but for me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I recommend that people live without a smartphone, only to say that it’s worth recorgnizing that it’s an option. Beyond that, you decide.

So here’s how I’m living without a smartphone, years after it’s assumed that everyone needs to have a smartphone.

(* Note: I’ve long preferred to say “I don’t use a smartphone” rather than “I don’t have a smartphone”, as it telegraphs a conscious choice rather than something I can’t afford or have misplaced.)

A useful point to remember

Unless you’re in your 20’s or younger, you spent some time in your life living without a smartphone.

So you’ve done this before. The trick now is to remember how.

If you’re trying to do something without a smartphone, one good place to start is to ask “how did people do this before they had iPhones” That usually gives me a good starting point. It doesn’t always work, but it often does.

And if you’ve never done this before, ask someone older what it was like, or watch a movie from the 1990’s.

Carry more

A smartphone combines the functionality of a lot of different technology into one. Camera, music player, TV, clock, etc. And while some non-smartphones (see below) have some of this tech built in, many of them won’t.

In which case, you may wish to purchase and carry some additional items:

• Camera
• Music player
• Notebook

This doesn’t need to add too much bulk to your life. They have very small cameras that shoot really good pictures, and music players are cheap. You can even get a used iPod if you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem.

And of course, you don’t need to bring all of these things everywhere with you all the time.

To see how people do this, do a search on the r/dumbphones subreddit for “EDC”, which stands for “Extended Daily Carry”. People post pictures of what they carry around with them.

Getting around

We’ve outsourced our brains to our devices for navigation. To get this back, we need two items: a printer and a map.

Yes, I literally keep an old AAA map of my city in my car for those times when I don’t quite know where I’m going.

But for most things, I use my home printer. I look at Google Maps, screenshot the directions, and then just print them out.

Printing things out before you leave the house is a great hack. I print out directions, maps, tickets, emails, really anything that I might find useful in my travels.

(And before you start, please spare me the faux-outrage about using paper. The paper didn’t require rare earth metals to be strip mined using slave labor. Paper can be recycled. This is not a valid argument.)

And when printing things fails? Ask for directions.

I once was meeting some people at a bar in town, and I forgot to print out the directions or commit the location to memory. I knew roughly where it was, but I wasn’t finding it on my own. So I stopped in at a Starbucks and asked for directions. The guy behind the counter was perfectly happy to look it up for me.

QR codes

QR codes are seriously annoying. They are a brick wall of information and give you little indication of where they are taking you. It could be to the website you want or a malware site, and you’ll never know.

And they’re everywhere.

Restaurants now sometimes just have a QR code on the table, and tell you to order through that.

When I see this, I go up to the hostess and ask for a paper menu. Hot tip: They usually have them, but they won’t give them out unless you ask. For the locations that don’t have paper menus, just ask them how you can order food without a smartphone. There’s almost always a way.

Note that when you ask for assistance, you should always be cheery, polite, and patient. Smartphones are a way for businesses to not have to deal with customers, and by subverting that, you are technically making more work for people. So apologize and say thank you.

I can think of only a single time where I was literally not able to order something at a restaurant without a smartphone. As I was by myself and so not able to get someone to order for me, I (politely) let them know that I was leaving because I couldn’t order.

In general, if a QR code is required for information, access, etc., ask for accommodation. Usually there is another way to get access.

Sidebar: How to get people on your side

When subverting the expected way of living, you want to get other people collaborative and not adversarial. You don’t want people to get huffy and say, “well, just get a smartphone!”

I’m not generally a fan of lying, but if you detect the situation might not be going your way, here’s a white lie I use:

“Sorry, my phone is dead.”

Everyone understands this, and most people have been there. It’s a surefire way to get people on your side.

Also, you can use this white lie as a way to test out not using a smartphone before you ditch yours (if you’re interested). Give it a try; there’s no risk.

You don’t need the app

Every company on the planet wants you to use their app. They beg, cajole, and all but force you to use it. Is there another option? They won’t say.

But there almost always is another option. Most of the time, it’s the company’s website.

Airlines, Duolingo, DoorDash, Amazon, Spotify, ChatGPT, TikTok, Instagram, pretty much anything you could possibly want has a functional website.

Again, you can try this now without getting rid of your smartphone. You probably have another computer. Try using it.

Advanced: Sometimes you do need an app

There are a few cases when websites won’t cut it, as there are, unfortunately, an increasing prevalence of smartphone-only applications.

Uber and Lyft don’t have web versions. (Though here’s a service where you can hail them with a phone call or text.) Most online dating sites don’t have a working web version. (Bumble had one and is retiring it, but OKCupid is still going strong.)

For these situations where you actually do need the app, you may have to get a little technical.

I have installed an Android emulator for my computer. It’s just a program you can download that adds a window on your computer that looks like a phone or tablet. All the apps that are available for Android can be installed on that and used in the same way as on a smartphone. It’s not as seamless an experience, obviously, but it works.

Many people over the years have recommended BlueStacks as the software of choice for this. I’ve found I’ve had better luck with LDPlayer. Both are free, so give them a try.

Ticketmaster: The one that almost got me

Last year I got tickets for a show through a lottery system. This ticket was listed as “mobile only”, and there was no way to get around it.

Ticketmaster is really really annoying. They’re not satisfied with requiring a QR code; they have a bar code on their mobile tickets that change every few minutes. So you can’t just print it out.

I was really stumped on this for a while. I wasn’t going to bring my laptop to the show, was I?

Finally, I remembered my own lesson: the system is ultimately run by humans. I called the box office of the venue, explained my plight, and they told me to come in the day of the show. I dutifully showed up, and they printed out a paper ticket for me.

So not only was I able to get into the show, but I also got a souvenir of the show that thousands of people won’t ever have. Take that, Ticketbastard!

The “digital” hotel (still has an analog version)

Here’s another place where I was almost stumped. It was a random hotel on the Oregon coast where I had made a reservation on Booking.com.

When I arrived, the check-in person said, “we’re a digital hotel. You do everything through our app.” When I asked to check-in manually, she she said that they don’t have room keys, that it’s all QR codes. When explained that I didn’t have a smartphone and couldn’t do that, she said, “everyone has a smartphone!” When I explained I didn’t, she sighed…and then issued me a room key. I thanked her very much.

See that? Even when places say they “can’t”, they usually can. There’s always a way.

Being on the go

I know our life is ever in motion and people are going hither and yon, so returning home to print things out may not always be practical.

For those moments when I may want to be online while I’m out and about, I’ll just slip my laptop into my bag and use it wherever I am.

In this way have I gotten a Lyft when I’m out and about. I sat down, opened LDPlayer, fired up Lyft, and booked a ride. But the thing is: I could also have called a taxi. They still have those. Keep a number in your wallet of your local taxi service. You’ll be fine.

Get a dumbphone

Lest you think that a smartphone is the only kind of phone you can buy, every major phone carrier has non-smartphones that you can buy and use. You can usually buy the phone through the carrier itself.

Here’s the one I’m using today. And it’s 5G too!

If you want to see the galaxy of options that are available today for people who want a phone but don’t want a smartphone, check out the Dumbphone Finder. You’ll be amazed by what’s out there.

This is a US perspective only

Here in the US, we’re fortunate in that we’re not reliant on WhatsApp as the primary mode of communicating with people. We use wonky—but non-proprietary—SMS.

Elsewhere in the world, people aren’t so lucky. They literally require a product from Meta as their means of connecting with other people.

Obviously, you can imagine how I feel about that.

This isn’t a discussion on what phone you should get instead of a smartphone, but in this case, I will note that some feature phones (meaning, what all phones were before the iPhone) do have WhatsApp capability on them. The Dumbphone Finder allows you to search by what features/apps are must-haves for you.

Inconvenient but workable

All of these tactics work, but you may think that some of them are inconvenient.

And you’re right.

But when did convenience become the most important consideration? Why is that more important that being present, being in the moment, and connecting with others?

Remember, smartphones are implicated in most of the ills affecting our society. No one is happy on their smartphone. People are resigned to them, and I think that’s a shame. And unnecessary.

I can’t say that I saw all this from the beginning, and that’s why I never bought in. I just didn’t want one, and didn’t see the need.

Still don’t.

Anyone want to join me?