I gave my iPhone a digital lobotomy (and you should too)

How to make your iPhone into a ‘dumb phone’
Follow the steps below to give your phone a ‘dumb mode’

On average, Americans spend roughly four hours and 37 minutes on their phones per day. Though other studies claim screen time ranges anywhere from three to six-plus hours daily, let’s just look at that number for the sake of some simple math: four hours and 37 minutes a day equals one whole day per week, roughly six days per month, or about 70 days per year.

When you add all that up across a lifetime, newer generations of smartphone users are looking at losing more than a few years to checking notifications and constant doomscrolling — especially considering the national life expectancy of 78.4. My iPhone screen time averages six hours and 16 minutes, and when I plugged that into a screentime calculator, I was baffled.

At my current rate, those six hours a day will cost me 14.25 years of my life — and that doesn’t even account for the fully-online, fully-remote nature of my job. Still, it’s borderline impossible for me to completely unplug since I work in tech journalism — unless I plan to go off-grid entirely (and even then, I’d need a signal).

Users everywhere face the same dilemma: we know we spend too much time on our phones, but it feels like we can’t escape the scroll. Willpower alone doesn’t stand up well against the phone-addiction behemoth. Luckily, with an app and a few settings tweaks, you can turn your smartphone into a “dumb phone” to help you focus or cut down on screen time.

How to make your iPhone into a ‘dumb phone’

A few steps to kick the habit

It’s the opposite of a smartphone — capable of only the essentials: calling, texting, taking photos, writing notes, and adjusting settings. It’s a reminder of the era before TikTok — when the dinosaurs (apparently) still roamed the earth.

If you’re an iPhone user, you already have two of the software items you need to get started: the built-in focus feature (likely hiding in your Control Center already) and the Shortcuts app. You’ll also need two third-party apps: a screen-time limiter and a widget tool. I used Opal for blocking apps and Blank for simplifying my home screen.

Fair warning: after I signed up, Opal casually told me that I was on track to spend 31 years of my life looking down at my phone. As if I didn’t need another reminder.

Follow the steps below to give your phone a ‘dumb mode’

Blank is a simple widget app specifically designed to make you focus on the essential apps and take your attention away from the ones that don’t matter. During setup, it’ll ask you to choose the apps most essential to your day, so only select the ones you don’t want to be distracted by.

I chose Messages, Calendar, Photos, Safari, Notes, and Spotify.

Next, download Blank’s custom wallpapers. You can skip this step if you want to keep your background the same. This is mostly for users who want just a black or white screen.

Then, customize your widget: I changed my font to Georgia, centered everything, and adjusted spacing to my liking.

2. Add the widgets to your homescreen

It’s time to make the widget useful. ap and hold anywhere on your home screen to make the apps jiggle. Scroll to a blank page, then tap Edit in the upper-left corner and select Add Widget.

In the search bar, type “Blank” and select it. Add the first widget labeled “Add this on top” to the top of the blank screen. Then repeat the process to add the widget containing your essential apps. Tap and hold the screen again to rearrange them so the smaller widget sits on top of the app list.

3. Create a new Focus mode

Here’s the part that makes your phone truly ‘dumb’ — it’s time to make a new Focus mode. Go to Settings and scroll down until you find Focus. Tap the + icon in the upper right to create a new one, and select Custom. From there, you can name and customize this focus, which will enable the ‘dumb’ mode. I called mine ‘dumb phone,’ and customized it with a gray asterisk icon.

There are plenty of customization options, but here are the key ones:

Customize Screens: In this section, there will be two miniature versions of your lockscreen and homescreen. Click the homescreen on the right to edit. From there, uncheck all screens except for the one displaying the ‘dumb’ widgets you just made. This hides the other app screens and eliminates distractions. Select Done when you’re finished. I’d also recommend only keeping only non-distracting apps on your iPhone’s sticky bar at the bottom.
Focus Filters: Scroll down to the bottom to add Focus Filters. Here, I added an Opal filter to block all apps on my Block List when the ‘dumb phone’ Focus was enabled.

Now, it gets a bit personal. No, literally — spend some time editing this focus mode to personalize it to you. You can select which people you receive notifications from, which apps to allow notifications from, and even set a schedule to automatically turn on and off.

Finally, try it out. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to open Control Center, and enable your new ‘dumb phone’ mode. Between the power of Opal, your fancy Blank widgets, and your own customizations, you’re one step closer to reducing your screen time and winning back those years of your life from your phone screen’s grasp.

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