A smartphone is like a Swiss army knife on steroids. The list of things needed to replace a smartphone also works backwards: These are the things that the smartphone can replace in one device. Why would anyone in their sane mind replace it?
For many people struggling with smartphone addiction, setting the display in greyscale, using blocking apps, screen time, leaving the phone by the entrance door, or just pure willpower alone will be sufficient. For someone as deep into the addiction as me it's just like putting the alcohol on a higher shelf. It may help temporarily, but soon in a weak moment I will find a way.
I have also tried social media detox, dopamine detox etc. The first days are painful. Once finished, it works for a couple of days. The smartphone feels like a miraculous tool again. "Wow, I can use the GPS and not spend 10 min planning the route or 15 min stuck in traffic." "Wow, I don't have to turn on the computer to check the weather forecast or email." But very soon I watch just one video, which turns into just this evening, and pretty soon I am back to square one.
It may be possible to live completely without a smartphone - after all, there are pensioners who still do it and they don't consider it special. However, the extra hassle of going 100 % without it instead of 90 % is too much even for an addict like me. I have a backup smartphone that I keep away from sight and on top of a shelf, so that there is friction. In occasions when that doesn't work, I bring it to my workplace and leave it there when I go home. I use it for 2FA for banking and other apps.
An alternative may be using an "official" dumb smartphone, such as the Light Phone. But those are quite expensive. I may use them in the future if they can provide 2FA and GPS services.
In the end, I enjoy not receiving constant notifications. I was always slow to reply, usually prefering calls over text (despite having social anxiety as a teen and rehersing every call), so this way I don't feel guilty for not replying for hours despite having the means to do so. Now I can only reply from my computer, which I check only a few times per day at most. Also it is way easier for my huge fingers to type on a big keyboard than the ant smartphone keyboard, so I may even reply more often.
The 15 min that I would save by using a GPS and avoiding some (but not all) traffic is just not worth the 4 hours I would spend doomscrolling. Often I think: "I would have done this thing if I had my smartphone right now." And then pull the smartphone back in action for a week and I still don't do that thing.
So yeah, it may seem crazy to some, but for me so far that has turned to be the best way. After all, if I cannot live without a smartphone, do I even have a life?
See also How to replace a smartphone
