// hello

Dumb Phone Life.

Dad of two, former engineer, flip-phone evangelist, and the human who points at things while AI robots build them.

The short version

In December 2024 I noticed my one-year-old reaching for my phone — presumably because he saw me on it constantly. That was the wake-up call. I upgraded from an iPhone 13 Mini to a 1990s-style flip phone and never looked back.

The only thing I missed was being able to text for work without fighting T9. So I built dumbsms: the dumb phone keeps the SIM and the signal, and my computer becomes the keyboard. Texts, pictures, and group threads — typed like a human.

About the "built" part

I used to be an engineer, and I'm still tech-savvy enough to know what I'm looking at. But this project is nearly 100% AI-developed. I bring the taste, the constraints, and a real flip phone to test on; the AI writes the code. I review, run it on hardware, and push back when something's off.

The principles

  • The phone is the source of truth — the computer is just a nicer window.
  • No cloud, no account, no telemetry. Local-only.
  • Nothing puts a distracting feed back in my pocket.
  • It's a hobby, not a startup.

How I got here

  1. Dec 2024 Traded an iPhone 13 Mini for a 1990s-style flip phone. Never looked back.
  2. The problem Loved everything about the flip — except answering work texts on a T9 keypad.
  3. The build Started dumbsms: type on the computer, send from the flip. Mostly written by AI.
  4. Now Two kids, zero smartphones, and texts I can actually type without T9 frustration.

Curious about going dumb?

I'm not affiliated, just a fan: Noble Mobile makes the jump to a dumb phone even better with a giant data rebate. If this site talked you into it, start there.

Visit Noble Mobile ↗