Show HN: The modern flip phone – but it's an iPhone
dumbsmartphones.comI built dumbsmartphones.com for people who want to use their phone less — without switching to a clunky flip phone or giving up iMessage.
The idea is simple: we take an iPhone and configure it through Apple’s device management tools to remove addictive apps and lock down distractions. You can still text, call, navigate, and take photos — but no TikTok, no Instagram, no YouTube, no app store rabbit holes.
There are two service levels: • $20/mo: standard digital minimalism setup (core apps only) • $50/mo: fully customized setup (you choose what stays or goes)
It’s part product, part lifestyle experiment — helping people reclaim focus and attention without sacrificing Apple’s ecosystem.
I’d love feedback from this community on: • Any technical gotchas you see in using Apple’s MDM/ABM for this purpose • Ideas for privacy or autonomy safeguards so users always feel in control • Whether you think there’s real demand for “managed minimalism” vs. DIY solutions
Site: https://dumbsmartphones.com > we take an iPhone and configure it through Apple’s device management tools $20-$50 / month to point an LLM at Apple Configurator is wild. $20/month for an AI-programmed app that disables features on my phone is nuts. Your project is dead-on-arrival. The idea is that the damage done by addictive social media apps is far greater than $20/month. And people already buy dumbed down smartphones based on Android that don’t allow most apps. "Far greater" - then price it that way. Good luck getting anyone to pay $50/month though, or whatever you think it's worth for a few lines of Swift that Claude could make. You're frankly asking a lot making it $2.99, but I'll let your customers speak to that more than myself.