When I came to upgrade back in February, I was this 👉🏼👈🏼 close to getting a dumb 4G Nokia because my addiction to my apps was killing me and I wanted an out. I already use a Kobo for reading, and have a couple of classic iPods for music, so I was kinda set.
But when it came down to it, I realised that I’d have been offloading an awful lot of tech admin to my wife, and that I’d have to start remembering to take my wallet everywhere, and to have cash for car parking and that. On top of that, my wife bought me an Apple Watch for Christmas, so I’d have needed to keep an iPhone around for syncing that anyway, and for using as a GPS when driving anywhere unfamiliar. I thought about getting an iPod touch instead, but ultimately that just seemed like it would be stupid.
So in the end I got an iPhone 13 mini, on the basis that the smaller screen might make me less inclined to spend hours scrolling. And that seems to have worked for me, somewhat. Also, the mini is a fucking beautiful little handset, with a lovely camera, and it only costs me £30 a month.
The offline maps experience is generally worse though. The real solution here is to just not install apps that waste your time. Plus turning off notifications.
I’ve turned off so many notifications and restricted so many permissions that my smartphone can get a little buggy, but no notifications and Do Not Disturb mode can go a long way. Now I just need to break my social media addiction, and that has proven to be a long battle.
I’ve never found an app that works as well as Google Maps. I’ve tried a bunch and none of them provide so much useful information during a drive. Like telling me what lane I need to be in for an upcoming direction, letting me know the speed limit and what speed I’m actually going (motorcycle speedo reads high). Giving me info on slowdowns ahead and letting me reroute if there is a faster route. Speed trap notifications.
When I came to upgrade back in February, I was this 👉🏼👈🏼 close to getting a dumb 4G Nokia because my addiction to my apps was killing me and I wanted an out. I already use a Kobo for reading, and have a couple of classic iPods for music, so I was kinda set.
But when it came down to it, I realised that I’d have been offloading an awful lot of tech admin to my wife, and that I’d have to start remembering to take my wallet everywhere, and to have cash for car parking and that. On top of that, my wife bought me an Apple Watch for Christmas, so I’d have needed to keep an iPhone around for syncing that anyway, and for using as a GPS when driving anywhere unfamiliar. I thought about getting an iPod touch instead, but ultimately that just seemed like it would be stupid.
So in the end I got an iPhone 13 mini, on the basis that the smaller screen might make me less inclined to spend hours scrolling. And that seems to have worked for me, somewhat. Also, the mini is a fucking beautiful little handset, with a lovely camera, and it only costs me £30 a month.
You can buy a phone and leave it in the car for navigation. You can download maps and use it offline.
The offline maps experience is generally worse though. The real solution here is to just not install apps that waste your time. Plus turning off notifications.
I’ve turned off so many notifications and restricted so many permissions that my smartphone can get a little buggy, but no notifications and Do Not Disturb mode can go a long way. Now I just need to break my social media addiction, and that has proven to be a long battle.
Depends on which app you’re using
I’ve never found an app that works as well as Google Maps. I’ve tried a bunch and none of them provide so much useful information during a drive. Like telling me what lane I need to be in for an upcoming direction, letting me know the speed limit and what speed I’m actually going (motorcycle speedo reads high). Giving me info on slowdowns ahead and letting me reroute if there is a faster route. Speed trap notifications.
OSMAnd has all of those features.
I tried that and the UI felt janky as fuck. Definitely not something I’d want to mess with during a ride.
That’s too bad. Works really well for me.
A ride? Like on a bike? If so I’d recommend a cycling to computer.
Motorcycle, as I mentioned in the previous post.