this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2026
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So I can receive an Email but if it has a link to a website I can't click it? That's just silly, Commodore. You're doing a fine job being memeable and appealing to our nostalgia. Trying to "protect us from ourselves" like that kinda destroys that vibe. And no, the inevitable custom ROM circumventing your blocks won't make up for it.
Did they ever try to use a browser on a 2" clamshell at 480*640 with a T9 keypad??? It's so painful that it's already for emergency use only, don't need to protect me from myself...
yeah, i'm intrigued by the idea of a pseudo-"dumb" phone to reduce mindless usage, but this is too restrictive to really work as a phone for a lot of people. those banned work and social apps have and will continue to supplant the phone features of a modern phone. if i got one of these, it would have to be a supplementary device, defeating the whole point! and for those of us who can use a "dumb" phone, they can just got get one for a fifth of a price
It says "Email and work apps are not offered through the Commostore app store". So you can't receive email unless you sideload an email app. And you could also sideload a browser as well to open a link. At which point you just have a smartphone.
You sure you didn't misread? To me it looks like they allow sideloading Email apps but disallow sideloading web browsers.
How are they determining if an an app is a browser?
A hard-coded list of known browsers would almost certainly work. There aren't that many of them. Or better, a list of the common support files that get installed alongside the main browser executable(s), so you can't just rename the main one and have it work.
Anything cleverer than that is about as technical as removing the custom OS and installing standard Sailfish.
Being a flip phone with a T9 keyboard is already a lot of built-in friction. And some people want a device that might intentionally limit them further. But I must admit, this phrasing (and a lot of their phrasing) is kind of weird.
Funny thing is, a T9 keyboard is actually a selling point for me. Current keyboards suck without any feedback and their prediction always causes so many typos I have to go back and correct. T9 I could type without needing to look at it and know I had it right.
Only if the T9 software is good though. KaiOS, a Mozilla initiated project to get web apps on T9 capable phones, absolutely failed with simple things like capitalizing the word "I" for example.
I didn't realize how unintuitive dumb phones could be until I was trying to explain different functions that were triggered by different arrow keys on a KaiOS phone to an elderly person
My daughter has a flip phone with KaiOS and she texts well on it, but she also never used the older, better T9 implementations.
I swear you have to tap the shift key maybe six times if you use the word "I" in the middle of a sentence. If I use that phone seriously, maybe muscle memory would kick in, but it's just so unintuitive.
It's unfortunate because I swear you can design a feature phone well. There just isn't a lot of thought put into it now that Android can (or at least could) mostly overshadow that marke.
Back in the day, feature phones were top of the line, and many of them were great, but I suppose that could be nostalgia talking.
Its not made for you
Its made for those who wanna listen to music and take a few photos and not spend time on their phone
I am literally that guy, but even I rarely need to look up something simple while I am out of the house. I don't need to be protected from myself. It is both condescending and dumb.
You forgot lack of discipline. Since that person can literally just do this with any phone.
I mean we say this, but I myself cannot do this. Its nearly impossible with a smart phone. Becuase you internally know you can do more.
Same thing with recording. I like my 4 track tape machine sometimes and I say "I/we are making a song, we have 4 tracks, we will utilize that best we can."
Try doing that in a DAW and really restrict it to 4 tracks. I almost guarantee NO ONE would be able to. Theres a reason modern music has over 150 tracks on average (different discussion but its idiotic IMO). Some folks like me need a physical barrier.
And those people want to spend $500 on a handheld device?
I doubt this sells enough that anyone bothers with a custom ROM.