hello,
I’ve got the kompakt on the way! I’ve been very excited for it. however, somehow after all my research I did not see anything regarding the hotspot until literally today. I definitely understand the value of something like wifi access for other devices, but it is so important to me that there might be a way for a parent or accountability/guardian type person to control access to this. unfortunately I will have to cancel this order if it is not an option to have control over access to this, or if there is no promise of it becoming possible in the near future… (insert appropriate sad emoji)
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I can’t see a setting to lock this down. I have heard that some carriers or plans allow hotspot and some don’t. One option could be choosing an appropriate carrier/plan where hotspotting isn’t allowed.
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@adamkump I just want to understand your problem. What I don’t really get is what kind of control you desire. I mean you can turn hotspot on and off. You can set up a password, so no device can access your wi-fi hotspot until you share your password. You want to disable hotspot functionality as a whole? Why?
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Perhaps because a child can turn it on and burn through data resulting in enormous data charges.
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@adamkump Welcome to the Mudita Forum & thank you for your question. Let me see if I understand your dilemma- Are you looking to be able to DISABLE the HOTSPOT or you just want to control who has access to it?
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that’s not a terrible option, if that’s all I got. I will look into if that is a possibility where I am.
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what I’m trying to do is have a way to disable the hotspot FEATURE entirely from the phone so that it is not an option for the user to turn on.
The reason I’m getting the mudita kompakt is to cut myself off from internet access when I am away from home, or as-needed. this serves a purpose for me in curtailing compulsive device/data/internet usage. Unfortunately, pretty much every ‘dumbphone’ that has the other features I need still carries some access to the internet. I’ve had the gabb phone and currently have the pinwheel phone. these phones are geared toward protecting children, and unfortunately with all of the updates those companies do, they either lock it down so much that even basic messaging becomes too highly filtered (gabb), or they inadvertantly create loopholes to internet access with how they have to keep up with regular OS updates (pinwheel). when I originally found the kompakt, I was excited that maybe I had found exactly what I need. it doesn’t sound like it does what I’m looking for quite yet.
sight unseen, here’s one way developers could implement the functionality I’m referring to:
allow for the mudita center to be password protected to then set the phone’s permissions to access to certain features, ie, hotspot.
doing this could allow for many people I know who are looking for a better option for their own ‘internet detox’ or to have control over their childrens access! thanks
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That would take up considerable resources though and Mudita seems very stretched on resources. Perhaps the best course of action is to use a sim card that is only for call/texting and to use a router at home that has a parental controls section which can limit wifi access for certain devices. I hope your compulsive device/data/internet usage improves though despite having a device that minimizes but not eliminates internet usage. Though it is none of my business, it is perhaps of value to research the psychological kickstarter of your compulsions. I found that when I feel a certain amount of unrest/lack of control about life, my internet usage increases as does my media consumption.
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heeey, thanks so much.
I don’t know enough about what features constitute a sizable burden on coding, developing, or implementing… so I hear you.
your solution of getting a non-data plan was something I was never able to find before. although this does remove the ability to receive MMS, which is a pretty massive downside. having hotspot functionality controllable on the mudita end would give everyone the ability to implement this, regardless of phone data plan, if needed.
Mudita cares about providing privacy and mindfulness. I think this target market I represent, those attempting to detox from internet, online addiction, is only going to continue to grow. There is currently no option, that I’m aware of out there that has the potential to fill this void for adults/teens like the kompakt could. I believe this is something worth investing in for the team. thank you for attending my TED talk 
PS, check out the book ‘dopamine nation’ if you haven’t already.
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I hear you and thought your idea was intelligent well put. However, there is considerable debate on how to improve on the Kompakt and for some a minimally viable product was delivered so I believe priority for the coming period (if not longer) lies in creating a fully working phone with the promised features. Judging from the team page, Mudita also seems to work with only 2 or 3 developers so it seems logical to me that extending Mudita center to allow for hotspot control is far away. Though I must confess that your idea of remote limiting of internet access for teens is a smart and perhaps commercially interesting idea. Another option worth investigating is a prepaid card. If you then use a lot of data you will hit a barrier.
I heard about that book but have not read it. Perhaps the Kompakt is a great avenue to finally read it!
Whatever the case, I wish you the best!
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that’s completely fair. The most critical and show-stopping bugs have to be worked out first of course! The kompakt just rolled out, so that’s the stage we are at.
I know this is a critical phase for the team, but I’m hopeful that everything can work out! It’s understandable that the type of tool I’m requesting wouldn’t be able to be worked on (hypothetically) for some time. If I can’t find a feasible workaround (which I will earnestly try and share with the community), then I will likely have to return the device until something like that could possibly be implemented.
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Had the same struggles and I have decided the following:
- my children don’t have any phones, MK or a dumbphone when they go at like 6th grade or high school,
- multiple non-admin local accounts for family members on the laptop passwords I only know, with MS family safety stuff in place, with hosts file blocking plenty of stuff (Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck (as much) (0.0.0.0 version)) and no admin rights = no option to install much - at this point we are limited to browsing the Internet together at their age.
I get that at some points kids need to gradually get a bit more access (?), if that’s the case, then on-the-laptop filtering like with hosts file, and contacting ISP for any safety filtering is a must. But it won’t help against all the possible brainrot. In fact, it could’ve been easier to invent a whitelist of websites rather than the opposite.
On the other hand, I believe there should be a way to use ADB or rooting to impact wireless interface of the phone, or to modify firewall (iptables) to prevent all IP communications of the device.
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dear @adamkump . I totally understand your desire to be able to control the hotspot feature. I would love to understand your situation.
There are 2 scenarios in my head:
- MK is your phone. In this case just do not switch on hotspot, or do not tell the password.
- MK is the phone of your child(ren). In this case, as others have recommended, I would just choose a call and text only data plan. Or maybe better, if your goal is to cut off internet access entirely, to get a real dumb-, or feature phone (i.e. Nokia). They do have camera, able to send SMS/MMS, but many has no hotspot/tethering functions.
Also it can be that the Mudita team listens to your prayers and makes it possible to disable hotspot somehow. My very personal note: if this is your only concern do not cancel your order. It is a lovely phone.
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@adamkump, if you live in the USA or Canada and want granular control of the features that your children’s cellphones will support, then check out the variations of Sunbeam Wireless F1 flip-phones for your children.
- I used for three years in the USA the now-discontinued F1 Orchid before getting my Kompakt.
- @minimalist4life in Canada had the F1 Horizon Bluebird before getting his Kompakt.
Sunbeam makes reliable flip-phones with handy functionality, but:
- they work only in the USA and Canada, plus somewhat in Argentina and Israel;
- their screens are half the size of the Kompakt’s screen;
- their screens are NOT readable in bright sunlight,
- they do not support sideloading of apps; and,
- the user must enjoy the flip-phone form factor (which I enjoy but @minimalist4life does not).
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Yeah I would highly recommend this phone and company, great first phone for kids as well, yeah this phone literally checked off every box for me but I just don’t like flip phones, or i would have been my phone for years, of course until the Kompakt
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You could possibly use ADB to disable the hotspot feature. That wouldn’t be a think you could easily turn on off and does take tech knowledge to do. I did something similar to disable the default launcher to use a minimalist launcher that is only text based.
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got the phone, tested it out anyway. this phone unfortunately was not the right fit for my needs.
the sunbeam as mentioned by @kirkmahoneyphd has proven to have the prioritized customizable features I need. I’ve used the sunbeam spruce for a few days now, this is what I’ve been looking for ever since 3G was phased out where I live. thank you for that recommendation as I had never heard of them before!!!
truly wish that I could have used the mudita, I prefer that form factor to the flip-style, along with the e-ink and everything else… it’s still a cool device and I would recommend it to most everyone besides myself lol. I’m aware that I’m the tiny minority, someone who was specifically not wanting the hotspot. I do not want to create other private backdoors to internet access if I don’t have to. Even though internet access is nearly ubiquitous in the US, it still feels psychologically powerful to have the sense that I don’t always personally have it on me.
thanks everyone. this is a cool community. hopefully in the future ,the kompakt (or some other future mudita device) will be more geared to someone like me. or maybe I will wake up a changed man… I can only hope 
I’ve received the phone last week and a day or two later sent the request for return to the mudita team. am I going to get a return label? or am I expected to pay for shipping myself and hope they approve the return after I’ve already sent it? that would be very weird…
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My pleasure, @adamkump! (Sorry, Mudita! Then again, I have switched from the F1 Orchid to the Kompakt, and I will persist with the Kompakt as long as Mudita keeps addressing the Kompakt’s defects and deficits!)
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@adamkump If the return is within the 14-day window, you don’t have to worry about acceptance. Anyone wanting to return a product under the 14-day satisfaction guarantee, you can just email us at support@mudita.com with the item you’re returning and your order number. Once that’s done, feel free to send the package our way (include your order number and contact info in the package). The return date is considered to be the date you send us the email. You are free to use the carrier of your choice.
I just went to three different places to find out how much this will cost to ship from where I live in Arizona to your return address in Warsaw
fedex: ~$273.00
ups: ~$297.00
usps: ~$29.00 if I were to state that this does not contain a lithium ion battery which it does. otherwise USPS is not allowed by law to ship this…
you guys have never provided a return label. and you have not stated that you would reimburse me for the cost of shipping.
as it stands this is very upsetting and is akin to a scam from mudita.
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