Join the conversation & let us know your thoughts.
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I think the internet is like an addiction and the smartphone is the fix.
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Great post - I have many friends who are digitally exhausted and fedup with subscription model life now. I am one of a couple who have actively tried to find devices that remedy this and the inconvenience is worth the trade off.
Today we’ve cancelled Netflix and Spotify and bought DAB radios and (even) more books. We are going to spend our weekends on family adventures and playing board games.
At 43 years old, I’ve seen the best of the 90’s tech and entertainment and the worst of the late 2020’s. I am absolutely for reversing this toxic and miserable existence for my immediate loved ones starting now.
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@chrisrose83 Thank you! You just gave me an idea…I’d really love to explore the subscription model life in an article. I find the topic extremely interesting, like you pay for something, but you cannot use it. I watched these videos awhile ago and it very eye opening.
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One also can “minimal-ize” a smartphone in 2026.
For example, yesterday I removed seven apps from my deGoogled smartphone after thinking about your blog post and then identifying an alternative to each of those apps.
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@kirkmahoneyphd I was inspired by you to also have a Mininmal/B&W only smartphone for things that require apps.
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I really enjoyed reading through this blog post. It’s eye opening. I wasn’t sure where to post this question, so I’ll post it here. I have been in a pretty intense process of deGoogling my smartphone (Pixel 9a) over the past several weeks, and honestly love the idea of switching to a deGoogled phone like the Mudita Kompakt. I am wondering, how does this phone do with the few apps I would need to sideload into it, like GroupMe and Microsoft Teams? I need these apps for work. Would it be too cumbersome for this phone to be viable for me?
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@btyree9, given that Google Play Services does not run on the Mudita Kompakt, you will not, per Brave AI, be able to use the Microsoft Teams app on the Kompakt:
Ditto for the GroupMe app:
But, if you have a separate Google Android cellphone for work, then you could use those apps on that cellphone!
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Gotcha. This is helpful info. Thank you very much!
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