How to turn your Android phone into a dumb phone

We all love our phones and how smart they are. It’s just that sometimes, the notifications, doomscrolling and sketchy ad serving can be a bit… much. Wouldn’t it be great if your Android phone could go back to being dumb for at least a little while? You know, so you can maybe focus on work, or walking the dog or a screen-free Sunday. Well, we’ve got some incoming dumb for you, because we’re about to show you how to turn your Android phone into a dumb phone. 

Customize your home screen on Android

Your home screen is where all the madness starts, so why not set it up with a more minimalist approach? You can download a third-party app that will simplify your home screen with a list of text-only items instead of the tempting apps you’re used to seeing. You can still search for apps you have installed, or, you can hide them so you aren’t reminded that your For You page is waiting.   

Set your Android to grayscale

Ahh, everything on your phone just got a little less interesting. That’s because you went into your Android’s Accessibility Settings and turned on the grayscale feature. It just takes everything down a much needed notch and helps you focus on other things.  Here’s how to turn it on for Samsung and Google models:

1. Go to Setttings
2. Accessibility
3. Color and motion
4. Color correction
5. Grayscale

Turn on focus mode for Android

Speaking of focusing on other things, there is an actual ‘focus mode’ you can enable to set yourself (and your phone) up for success. Just go to your ‘Digital Wellbeing’ settings and turn on ‘Focus Mode.’ You’ll be able to turn it on immediately, or set up a schedule for a daily routine. Depending on your Android device, you’ll be able to allow apps, block apps or even create multiple focus modes. Kinda ironic how this pretty smart feature has dumb in the details. 

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap on Digital Wellbeing
3. Tap on Parental Controls
4. Focus Mode

Only keep essential apps for your Android

This is the part where you use your phone mostly as… a phone. If you can do that, you’ll be able to eliminate or ‘disable’ any app on your phone that isn’t essential. Yes, we know this is gonna be hard, but that’s kinda the point. Nobody ever got addicted to their phone using the calculator or weather app. So, if you can treat your phone more like a tool versus an entertainment hub it’s going to dumb your phone waaaaaaaay down and move the likelihood of you touching grass waaaaaaaay up. Simply hold down an app and select ‘disable,’ or if you dare, ‘uninstall.’ 

Turn off notifications for Android

If you don’t want to get rid of an app or disable it, you can simply turn off its notifications. Just toggle the ones you want a break from to off and this will significantly reduce your distraction time:

1. Go to Settings
2. Notifications
3. App Notifications

Block web pages on Android

You can set up a DNS content policy to select categories that should be blocked. Typically, this is used for security threats or adult content, but there are more than 200 categories to select depending on how restrictive you want to get. Additionally, you can block certain sites by setting up parental controls on Androids via Family Link. You can also block specific domains and URLs by downloading a browser extension that allows you to block sites containing your disallowed words. 

Other ways to turn your Android into a dumb phone

As if everything we’ve gone through so far isn’t enough, there are a few more things you can do to take the “smart” out of your smartphone. 

• Turn off data or Wi-Fi to keep the internet away from your phone
• Set up an app timer to limit doomscrolling or YouTube sessions (this can be done in the ‘Digital Wellbeing/Parent Control’ section of your device)
• Use a third-party app

Mint helps you stay phone smart

Well, we’ve given you everything you need to be smarter about making your phone dumber. If you need anything else like a digital detox or some phone stress relief, those articles are pretty great for your mint-al health. But seriously, all puns aside, Mint is not only here to look after your wallet, but your overall wireless wellbeing too. Stay dumb out there.