Life was simpler before we had smartphones. Here’s a trick that gives you a little taste of what it was like.
Have you heard of a hack called “LANDLINE MODE”? Google says searches for it are through the roof this month after a TikTok mom came up with it.
It’s a custom setting that’s supposed to make your phone feel more like a landline, or a cell phone from the late ’90s.
Apps like Dumb Phone do it too, but the hack just uses your iPhone’s built-in “Focus” feature. You’re essentially putting it in “Do Not Disturb,” but your phone still rings. Here’s how to do it . . .
1. Go to the “Focus” feature where you’d turn on “Do Not Disturb,” and look for a plus button that lets you create a “New Focus.” Then choose “Custom” and give it a name. The TikToker who did it called hers “Landline Mode.”
2. Set it so it turns off alerts for everything except phone calls. Or, you can let text messages come through too if you want.
3. Turn the volume all the way up, and leave it in a specific spot in your home. So if it rings, you have to get up and go answer it, or let it go to voicemail. That’s where the “landline” part comes in.
Once it’s set, you can toggle it on and off just like Do Not Disturb. Android phones have similar options and should be able to do it to. It’s supposed to make you be able to focus like it’s 1999.
(Here’s her how-to video, and here it is in action.)
@kassadig Replying to @Melissa I made this into a custom focus mode and it is much easier! now I just turn it on before I leave my phone in my designated spot in my house when I’m wanting to be on my phone less . #landline #oldtech #phoneaddict #iphonehack #simpleliving #slowliving #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Kassadi
