CheckMag | Turn any Android device into a Light Phone without sacrificing the features you can't live without

Awareness is increasing around the impact that social media and phones have on our mental health, which has prompted a resurgence in "dumb phones". As a result, companies like Light are trying to capitalise on a market looking to step away from the draw of a smartphone. With reviews of the Light Phone 3 beginning to trickle in, it is becoming clear that you have to be very committed to stepping away from a smartphone to use one.

Given that many banks, payment services and even public transport require the use of an app (or make not using one extremely difficult), not having a smartphone becomes a serious commitment. That's before we consider that many of us have spent a good chunk of money on a top tier smartphone because we love the cameras, need the navigation and use services like Telegram, WhatsApp and Slack to replace SMS. Committing to a Light Phone means relinquishing almost all of these features.

However, there is a handy, free app called Olauncher: Minimal AF Launcher (where AF stands for Advertising-Free) that replicates the Light Phone experience on any Android device. The app replaces your existing launcher and offers a simple text based interface similar to the Light Phone. You can add up to 8 shortcuts to your home screen, which can also display the date and time, as well as a running total of your screen time. The app drawer also becomes a text based list of apps in alphabetical order, with the option to use the keyboard to search quickly for an app.

There are some other quality of life features, like swiping left to access the camera and right to access your contacts. Multitasking is still present (unlike the Light Phone) and you can also add a daily wallpaper, but that seems counterintuitive when trying to reduce how attractive the device is.

You still require an element of self-control when using Olauncher. You obviously have to uninstall any apps you don't need or want to stay away from and even then, there's nothing to stop you going back into the Play Store to re-download them. But then to be committed to spending the $599 (early bird) or $799 regular price for a Light Phone, you have to have some degree of self-control anyway.

Of course, there are alternatives. Niagra Launcher is a popular choice that has been around for a number of years, offering a similar (albeit more attractive) way of accessing your apps. Indestract: Minimalist Launcher and LessPhone: Minimal Launcher offer similar experiences to OLauncher, but all of these require some form of "in-app purchase" to unlock all the functionality. 

OLauncher is free from ads and financial commitment (and will stay that way, according to the developer). It can be downloaded from Fdroid and Google Play and the source code can be inspected on Github.

The Light Phone is certainly not a cheap way to test the water on whether you can live without a smartphone. For that, you may be better with a Nokia 3210, but many people will likely be put off by the maddeningly frustrating T9 text input. 

For Android users, it's good to know that there are distraction free alternatives that still allow us to keep the essential features and the great cameras of our existing smartphones.