Disclosure: Reset is ours. The advice works with any app, or with pen and paper.
In short
Keep calls, messages, maps, music and your bank; remove everything else from the Home Screen; turn off almost every notification; switch to grayscale; and block the feeds with an app built on Screen Time so there’s no “Ignore” button. It costs nothing and you keep the camera and maps a real dumb phone would take away.
- One Home Screen with only tools.
- Notifications only from people.
- The feeds blocked — not just hidden.
Why not just buy a dumb phone?
Dumbphones work because they make scrolling impossible. But you also lose maps, a good camera, banking, boarding passes and group chats. Many people who switch buy a second device and end up carrying both.
An iPhone can behave like a dumb phone for the parts that hurt you and stay smart for the parts you need.
Step 1: one Home Screen, only tools
- Press and hold the Home Screen, tap the page dots at the bottom and untick every page but one.
- On that page keep only tools: Phone, Messages, Maps, Camera, Music, your bank, a notes app.
- Drag everything else off with Remove App → Remove from Home Screen. It stays in the App Library if you need it.
Leave the dock nearly empty. Fewer icons, fewer impulses.
Step 2: notifications from people, not apps
Open Settings → Notifications and turn off everything that isn’t a person: shopping, news, games, social apps. Keep Phone, Messages and the chats you actually use. Put the rest in a Scheduled Summary once a day.
Step 3: make the screen boring
Turn on grayscale: Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters → Grayscale. Feeds are designed in colour; without it, they’re far less interesting. Set the Accessibility Shortcut to Color Filters so a triple-click of the side button switches it back for photos.
Step 4: block the feeds for real
Deleting Instagram lasts until the next bored evening. Screen Time limits come with “Ignore Limit”. What works is a block with no escape hatch: the app disappears and a Screen Time shield appears if you open it from a link.
Block the feeds all day to be a true dumb phone, or only at the hours you lose — evenings and first thing in the morning.
Step 5: a lock screen with nothing to read
Remove widgets from the Lock Screen, set notifications to show as a count (Settings → Notifications → Display As → Count), and turn off Raise to Wake in Display & Brightness. The phone stops calling you over.
How to block the feeds with Reset
- Tap the apps that make it a smartphone. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, X — or “Choose from your phone” for any app, whole categories and websites.
- Pick how long. An evening, until 7 AM, a whole day, or “until unlocked” for a true dumb-phone week.
- Choose who can end it early. Me, Nobody (it opens when time’s up), or a friend with a one-time PIN Reset texts them.
- Or make it daily. Schedules block their own apps every day, even with Reset closed — Mornings and Bedtime are quick starts.
Choosing who can end it and per-schedule apps arrive in Reset 2.3. Reset is free, with no account and no subscription, and blocks are held by iOS, not by the app.
Common questions
Can you make an iPhone a dumb phone for free?
Yes: one Home Screen of tools, notifications only from people, grayscale, and the feed apps blocked with a free Screen Time app like Reset.
Will I lose my apps?
No. Apps removed from the Home Screen stay in the App Library, and blocked apps come back when the block ends.
Is a dumb phone better than a blocked iPhone?
A dumb phone makes scrolling impossible but takes away maps, camera and banking. A blocked iPhone keeps the tools and removes only the feeds.
Can I still use WhatsApp and Maps?
Yes — you choose exactly which apps stay open.
Published · No affiliate links
MMA.socialUFC fan ratings
TrendingPunjabiPunjabi music charts
BoldOpinionAnonymous hot takes
brolic.ioGym leaderboards