Dumbify 4+

I appreciate how clean this looks, bit launching an app is not a very smooth experience. The app supports a handful of potential apps out of the box, but if you want to add an app that isn’t on there it can get somewhat technical (either url schemes or you make a shortcut). My biggest gripe is likely a limitation of iOS itself, but the widget doesn’t launch your desired app directly. It launches the app which then redirects you to the app (or sometimes it redirects you to a shortcut that redirects you to the app for another layer). You’re definitely choosing style over seamlessness with this compared to using a shortcut widget. I set this up so that it shows the home screen and wallpaper using a focus mode so I can quickly toggle between this and my unrestricted phone access. I highly recommend that for those who are on the fence, but I do seem to be stuck with the same app dock on my home screen (again, this is an iOS issue more than anything but i’m mentioning it since this app aims to essentially reskin iOS) Definitely worth the money and it seems to do everything it can but it does have its limitations.

edit: I just realized that enabling “Reduce Motion” in accessibility gets rid of the animations when launching an app which makes the experience much smoother and also removes more distracting eyecandy on your phone!

So far, I enjoy this a lot. Seems like a good compromise between the Light Phone interface with the functionality of the iPhone. I don’t mind it jumping to shortcuts, but of course I would love if it didn’t (thanks apple).

Here is an improvement I would love to see that does not seem like it would be difficult to implement:

Various widget sizes. It would be nice to have the big square on top with the medium size rectangle on the bottom to have 2 widgets on one screen (iPhone 12 mini if that helps)

I do have one actual issue, the supplied background is slightly different than the dark mode widget and dock. It is just so slightly off that I can see the border of the widget and dock. I have made sure blur is off and no ‘reduce transparency mode is enabled’

I’ve been trying to dumbify my phone in fits and starts for a while now. I was in another fit and start a couple days ago. I tried one app I had read about but it was clunky to use and couldn’t find/link to simple apps that come with the iPhone. Found another and tried it and the process was convoluted and confusing. While trying to find out how to work it, I discovered Dumbify. It is heads and tails over anything else I’ve seen or tried. Simple, elegant user interface. In just two days, my phone use has already gone down.

I asked a question on the Reddit post where I discovered the app, and the developer was quick to respond, which was awesome.

A few (not all) of the iPhone native apps require going though Shortcuts (this is an Apple thing, not a Dumbify thing), and seeing that burst of color interrupt my calm minimalist phone drives me bonkers. It’s very quick and temporary, but come on, Apple!