Dumbify

It is complicated to setup and you won't even find the settings you are looking for.

Investing time in setting up Dumbify was a mixed experience for me. I had to configure shortcuts and adjust settings by turning off the pleasing graphics and eye-catching motions on my iPhone (disabling "Reduce Motion" in Settings). While the app works seamlessly for some people and proves to be a valuable tool, it didn't integrate well into my workflow. Despite its potential, it just didn't fit my needs. It's essential to consider how it might align with your specific requirements before making a purchase. If it suits your workflow, it’s a fantastic app. If not it’s useless.

Instead of purchasing a "dumb" phone, the best one is using the one you have. This is a good idea but this app has been draining my battery. Not sure if it's Apple's widget/shortcut efficiency but I did notice my battery performance drain after a month of use.

it’s just… widgets. it’s nothing helpful.

It does the job. But what people mean by clunky is that the way it relies on shortcuts it either opens shortcuts then the app or dumbify, shortcuts, and then the selected app. You can make this a little more seamless in the accessibility settings but it does kinda make the rest of the phone clunky as a trade off.

when tapping the name of certain apps in the widget it opens the shortcut app brielfy before opening the actual app. turning reduced motion on doesnt fix this issue only makes the jumping between the widget, the shortcuts app, and the desired app faster. will improve my rating when this is fixed.

Clunky to use

This app has helped tremendously in cutting down on my screen time. Not seeing those red bubbles on my apps reduces the need for useless pickups. Only issue I have is when I go to my settings using this app it goes into the settings for the dumbify app instead of going to the main settings screen which is slightly annoying.

Turning your phone to grey scale and removing apps you don’t use/want does the same thing. You can swipe away from this launcher to your other apps so it’s not really making your phone a “dumb phone lite” or giving much friction to getting to the rest of your phone.

It’s not a seamless experience because it depends on the shortcuts app to function. It’s half baked at best.