iPhone Dumbphone: How to Turn Your iPhone into a Focused Utility (September 2025) Overview The author used Apple Configurator to transform their iPhone into a "dumbphone" by restricting access to only essential apps and websites. This setup halved their screen time from around 4 hours to 2 hours per day, drastically reducing distractions while maintaining useful features. --- Motivation Typical phone usage can consume 4+ hours daily, amounting to 5 years of life over 20 years. Desire to keep utilities like Google Maps, Spotify, Uber, Kindle, ChatGPT, and WhatsApp without access to distracting social media. Social media disrupted work flow, quality time, and solitude due to constant notifications. --- Failed Attempts to Reduce Distraction Self-control was ineffective against engineered social media engagement tactics. Apple Screen Time limits were easily bypassed, resulting in no real behavior change. Switching to dumbphones caused loss of key iPhone-only apps essential for daily use (e.g., Things 3). --- Apple Configurator Solution Originally made for organizations to impose device restrictions. Allows disabling of App Store and strict content filtering. Requires physical connection to a Mac and a factory-reset phone to configure — acts as a strong deterrent to casual changes. User can selectively keep desired apps (Discord, GitHub, Waymo, etc.) while blocking distractions. Free and personally usable despite being designed for enterprise. --- Pros of Apple Configurator High friction for modifying restrictions deters impulsive removal. App Store can be disabled completely, stopping easy app installations. Full iPhone functionality with chosen apps lets the phone serve as a custom humble utility. --- Cons and Challenges Must factory reset the iPhone before use, which takes time and effort. Configuring perfectly takes weeks of tweaking to catch forgotten apps or websites. Some "semi-important" apps like email remain tricky due to volume of irrelevant notifications. May occasionally need others' phones for access to unapproved web services. --- Observations After Two Months The Good Phone feels like a valuable utility, free from distracting "attention gravity." ChatGPT and Claude are invaluable for info retrieval without distraction. No desire to remove restrictions due to effective friction and controlled setup. Remaining Issues Email remains problematic — most messages are unimportant but must be checked. Possible future solution: an email app that filters for importance with LLM assistance. Overall Screen time reduced by half. Remaining usage is mostly productive or meaningful communication, judged as time well spent. --- How-To Guide Summary Initial Commitment: ~2 hours + 2 weeks for fine-tuning Factory Reset iPhone Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Erase All Content and Settings. Install Apple Configurator on Mac Download from Apple Store. Open and select "Get Started." Prepare iPhone for Supervision Connect iPhone to Mac. In Configurator, right-click device → Prepare → Manual Configuration → Supervise devices. Skip signing into Apple School/Business Manager. Enter your own name as organization. Deselect any setup assistant steps. Set up iPhone Without Restoring from Backup Install only apps you want (e.g., Audible, Kindle, Uber, Discord, ChatGPT, Gmail, GitHub, Spotify, Things). Create Restriction Profile in Configurator File → New Profile. General: Set Security and Auto Remove Profile to "Never." Content Filter: Enable "Specific Websites Only" with safe whitelist. Restrictions: Disable "Allow Installing Apps" to remove App Store. Add Profile to iPhone Right-click iPhone in Configurator → Add → Profiles → Select your profile. App Store will vanish from