A day in the life of a non-smartphone user

Don't bet on it Sparky, I've managed to do all sorts of things that are supposed to be near impossible!

IMM, We can get Irish telly and radio, one of the problems is that some of the places where you can only get access via Ireland is that they're where app based car parking places are, so many people get cross and confused.

Sporadic Sparkly said:

it wouldn't be automatically assumed that one was accessing a website via a smartphone.

I find that assumption in lots of places too and it's just wrong as it makes so much inaccessible to people or at the very least a battle, as you had.

I have friends without smartphones and there are young people who reject them.

It shouldn't be the case that you can only function smoothly in society, especially within 'official' channels, if you have one.

There have been occasions when my son has used his smartphone to order a takeaway, and has handed it to me so that I can choose what I want to order. I always seem to end up getting into difficulty and requiring his assistance because something unexpected has happened. You may well be heavy-handed, but I do think the touch screens on smartphones can also be too sensitive.

Debbie said:

I get this every time.

Yes, there are so many websites where this happens now.

Previously, if one wished to set up two-factor authentication, it wouldn't be automatically assumed that one was accessing a website via a smartphone.

I can understand your reasons for choosing to turn off the internet on your smartphone. If I owned a smartphone, I know that I would definitely feel uncomfortable with the notion of my every move being tracked, although as I seldom take my non-smartphone mobile out with me when I go anywhere, it's unlikely that would change if I had a smartphone.

I think the area where I live is pretty good in terms of mobile phone coverage, but I do remember a time when I would see neighbours wandering about outside in an attempt to get a signal, or else having to travel further afield. If I have remembered rightly, you're based in Anglesey aren't you?

There are three methods my medical practice offers for ordering repeat prescriptions; the NHS app, Patient Access, or by depositing a paper repeat medication slip in a box at reception. Although I live within reasonable walking distance of my medical practice, I'm not always physically capable of it. In addition, if I'm feeling particularly low on spoons, I just don't have the energy to justify making the effort to have a bath and get dressed to do something that I can do at home.

Somehow, I doubt that you would actually cause a global banking crisis, but I can understand why there are some things that you would rather not feel forced to do online.

Search terms when looking for something on Google drives me mad 

Besides the mobile signal in North Wales jumps all over the place, connecting to any U.K. or Irish networks and you can pick up Irish radio stations in Wales like RTÉ on AM 

During Covid there was discussions online as to whether or not tech and smartphones were really about controlling people and I’ve wondered about this - for a time, a vaccine passport was required to do anything, you had to log on to the shop’s wifi or scan a QR code which was the only reason I got an iPhone 12 Pro - when I went home to Ireland on the ferry, I had to show my vaccine passport at Dublin (paper versions of this were not accepted at Dublin) and other crazy stuff - but very often, even though I’m fairly tech savvy myself at age 54, I have found that most tech these days is a pain in certain situations and just gets in the way - I only got this iPad Pro during Covid as a way of keeping in touch with family in Ireland as Windows and the Chromebook were useless 

On the topic of the dreaded Captcha, my task had been to select all the squares featuring a motorbike. The Captcha image had consisted of one solitary motorbike. It was impossible to miss as it took up most of the squares. Well, somehow I failed that particular Captcha exam. Personally, I feel sure that I'd got it right, but that the Captcha software thought it would have some fun with me and subject me to another exam that wouldn't be as easy. 

There are occasions when I do think it might be useful to own a smartphone, but not as a replacement for my desktop PC. My vision isn't the best, so the ability to look at things like photos on a larger screen has its advantages. Also, there's no chance of me accidentally dropping my computer monitor and shattering the screen. 

I don't use a smartphone either. That's because I have great difficulty getting the swiping right. My daughter says I'm too heavy handed. I have a Guwet  big button senior phone for receiving codes.

To be honest, I see smartphones as tools, much like many others we either have or haven't got. 

We like them, we hate them, but they can be useful when fully utilised to their full potential, yet to many, they are lifelines which can or can't be good. 

To others, they're coping mechanisms, being able to stay in close contact with loved ones, or a means to reach out when the going gets tough or when we need help in some form or another. 

I agree they can be rather finnicky and troublesome, but I like to think we can learn much with what they have to give when it counts. They're handy and clever things, but they aren't life, and as such shouldn't be either. 

Sporadic Sparkly said:

As I don't own a smartphone to download the app onto, the only other option available is to select, "Remind me next time". It would just be great if there was another option provided that enabled me to bypass the reminder after signing in.

I get this every time.

I own a smartphone but my sight is failing - I equally don't want everything to be on my phone.

Modern life REALLY p's me off sometimes.

I hope that life is treating you well otherwise S.

I do have a smart phone, but most of the time I operate it as a dumb phone by turning off the internet, for these reasons:

It improves the speed and works better for calls & texting. If I link it to the internet, it initially freezes for a while and I can't even send or read a text message during that time.

I don't like being tracked everywhere I go as I resent my privacy being invaded, and I believe it's more difficult to be tracked with the internet off, and I've also set location to off. I understand that cell towers can reveal the general area you are in, but that's less invasive than my phone having a record that I'm now in Tesco for example, and what I bought there (if I used one of those payment apps)

I don't need to be connected to "the net" every moment of the day wherever I am, I can use the internet at home on my laptop, tablet, or games console when I wish. A phone is for phoning or texting.

One drawback is that my phone won't now let me send photos by SMS text message (it needs internet connection to do this) but I can always send a photo by email, so it's not a big deal.

My doctor's surgery also has online services, but I can use my tablet to contact them with a query or appointment request, and they then text a reply to my phone. The only problem I had with this recently was that they sent a link in a text for me to use to book a nurse appointment - which needs the internet - so I had to link the phone to the internet for that and then wait half an hour until it unfreezed itself before making a booking.

I don't have one, I have been given a couple, one I couldn't work out how to switch it on, the second I did a bit better with but couldn't work out how to answer calls, I cancelled the contract for lack of signal, the chap on the other end of the phone tried to disaude me, but I said to him, the most basic need for a mobile phone is to be able to call for help in an emergency, not much good if I have to walk five miles in the dark to be able to find a signal! Due to the geography of my area there are lots of signal blind spots and being on the coast, some places have no UK signal, only an Irish one. Also we're near an RAF base and mobiles don't work if you're to close ot it.

I get fed up of being told they're intuitive, they're not, or maybe they are if you've had every generation from the begining and they seem to breed like rabbits.

I refuse to order repeat prescription online, I refuse to do lots of things online, its making life increasingly difficult as everyone thinks everyone has a smart phone, it does feel like it's becoming mandatory, but until government legislate and pay for them I don't want one and I don't see why I should have to use one. I refuse to have any sort of remote banking, with my ability to crash things, I could accidently cause a world wide banking crisis! In all honesty I don't know what I'd use one for, it seems an awful lot of expense and hassle to go to and a waste of precious rare earth minerals so as I can what? Phone the AA once every 3 years or so? I can do that on my dumb phone.

I agree about captcha and I hate those things that have about 8 pictures and you have to pick the ones with a bit of bicycle in it?

Good for you, Sparkly, phones are an absolute pain! I also hate the Captcha, half the time it insists I got it wrong, when I'm 99.9% sure it was right. And when it asks for SMS verification I'll almost always lose signal...

That being said I do use my phone a lot, way too much truth be told. Though unlike most women my age I'm not on social media all day long. On my phone I'm normally either Googling stuff (how to do this...), or on the ebay app, listening to music on Youtube or I'll be taking photos with the phone camera.

My phone is used for a lot of stuff though. I use internet banking and I literally now couldn't access my account without it. Because my family is so scattered we all keep on touch via WhatsApp like once a month, send everyone a message to let them know I'm still alive. My phone also has this handy app which connects to the doorbell so that when it rings whoever's out there appears on the phone screen.

The downside is when it all goes wrong-which it does all the time!-you can't access or do anything. And if the phone breaks they are not at all cheap to replace. Overall though as an actual phone it's hardly used. I never make calls. I always have it on silent and almost never answer it unless it's a family member and we've prearranged the phone call. My family know I suffer with anxiety so know never to call me up randomly.

But I do use it too much though with my sight I can't use it as much as I did so that's a good thing. My favourite thing about it is the memory card is huge and I've got over a thousand pictures of my little girl on it which I look at to remind me of better times. Knowing they are on there makes her feel close all the time.

Progress should be voluntary. Therein lies the issue; mandatory progress.

With so many hacking attempts, plus spam emails/calls from God-knows-whom, it's harder to maintain autonomy.

Though I do use Smartphones, one concern I have is the shoehorning of App use, for products, as opposed to using them on a browser. It's a Machiavellian attempt to avoid AdBlockers. Using Spotify on a browser is so much better than the App; no ads promoting all the BS of the day.