Hey everyone, I was entertaining the thought of going away from owning a smart phone.

I already have a modded ipod classic that I use as my main music player.

I also know how to use a paper map.

I also have the Microsoft authentication app for work (I could just use my phone on wifi mode for this)

The last issue I have is WhatsApp where I communicate with friends and family around the world.

Is there a way to use WhatsApp on a non-smart phone? Or should I just buy a pixel and install a secure rom?

  • clubb@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    1 month ago

    There are kaios phones, which are basically very weak smartphones (like 512 mb of ram weak) that run kaios, which is android. They perform poorly enough that you wouldn’t want to use for social media, and you can run whatsapp on them

    • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      KaiOS is more like “Firefox OS” than Android, but otherwise, yes.

      I did a 30 day dumbphone challenge a few months ago. Was originally going to use a Nokia with KaiOS but wanted to be able to re-purpose it afterward so I went with an Android-powered flip phone.

    • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 month ago

      Correction: KaiOS is a Linux distro that only runs web apps. It descends from the botched Firefox OS project and uses Firefox’s browser engine.

      • clubb@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 month ago

        You’re probably right, I’ve only used old nokias with symbian, so I wouldn’t know.