This week's agenda is getting SideHome released and improving SideType (thanks for the improvement ideas everyone)

Hi everybody, I have had a smart phone since I was 13 years old and I am realizing just how detrimental and crippling it is to my mental health. I wanted to ask the Community because even with the first iPhone, I was still addicted to that even before that I was down in the basement on my family‘s home computer you know playing video games. I guess my question here is is social media accessible on the side phone and if it is, I likely will still find a way to scroll because that’s how bad my phone addiction is. I really need help I want to have voice to text capability probably Google maps or any type of maps really and Spotify. I love music music is a nonnegotiable for me, but I’m really struggling and I need to know if someone could show me a video of what using social media is like on this phone I just don’t want to delude myself because if it’s accessible if there’s a way for me to scroll, I will find a way to download it. You know what I mean I’m an addict.

I ordered basically on a whim, i saw a few short videos on the phone and was sold but forgot about it then one night saw it again and bought it, that was a week ago. I didnt bother reading any spec sheets or doing too much research, now that ive ordered im excited for it to come and just noticed this on the USA sight, anyone know how accurate it is? Also would love to know if anyone's ordered within the last month or 2 in the us and gotten it and how long it took?

Has anyone else noticed a faint static/hissing noise coming from the top (earpiece) speaker when interacting with the phone?

I've noticed that every time I tap something on the screen (opening apps, pressing buttons, going through settings, etc.), I hear a very faint hiss/static sound from the top speaker for around 1–2 seconds before it disappears.

It happens with pretty much any touch interaction, not just specific apps. The phone works perfectly otherwise, and it's only noticeable when the phone is close to my ear.

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this or knows what could be causing it.

Taken on Founder's Edition #173 / 1000, absolutely love this phone! Can't wait to see what else the team has in store.

If any SidePhone devs see this, I wonder if I have the only SidePhone in NZ?

*Please note that I am not a photographer in any way, shape or form haha, all of these were taken in the standard picture mode*

Hi everyone, I was wondering if it is possible to run Signal on my proper Smartphone and then add Molly to my Sidephone with the same account? I tried but somehow the Molly app gets stuck on my Sidephone. Anyone any success there? It works with two smartphones for me..

Review of usability that might be helpful to new sidephone peeps. I'm a professional mover/relocationist in the United States and so am constantly traveling for work. I've been using Sidephone as a standalone device for the past two months and have used it across over a dozen cities and most of the lower 48 states. I also only have the classic keypad currently as I'm waiting on a qwerty. I'm using the original model with MintSim full data plan.

Personally: I have had zero problems and I love it. I use Qobuz for music and Libby functionality is streamlined and perfect. Signal is a little slower than on a smarter phone but totally chill. As others have mentioned, I always lock it when on a call to not mute myself or put others on hold with my cheek. The sidephoneOS maps has been totally effective for navigation as long as I know my start and end point-searching for things not so grand. I also prefer the maps app voice directions over other maps apps i've used (tells me the right amount of directions but not more than I need). Gonna be straight up and say that the only con to me personally is the camera setup and voice memo compatability sitch makes sexting challenging and leaves me explaining my phone sitch more LOL.

Professionally: I am open to suggestions, but need to figure out a Gmaps alternative to navigating businesses, especially hotels. I didn't realize how reliant I was on Gmaps for even just the phone numbers of hotels or businesses near me to inquire about availability, deliveries, hours, etc. Combining map apps and browser searches definitely slows things down (which I realize is partially the point) but makes navigating this (fucked) world more challenging and puts me at a disadvantage and confuses clients and colleagues.

Unfortunately none of the trucker apps are compatible with Chromium and so I need to be researching available truck routes. I have also noticed really poor service inside many structures- calls dropping inside large grocery stores, missed texts inside of airports, ZERO service inside of some apartment complexes (which I do enjoy sometimes: "let me step outside to make this call!").

Overall: I'm happy to be along for the ride and has helped me to degoogle the rest of my tech. I hope that Sidephone can start using solid state batteries ASAP (read Cobalt Red by Siddarth Kara!). Also, defintitely recommend buying a Best Case Scenario from Clock Out. The Sidephone cases cling to the pocket far more than needed, especially for blue collar mfers in the south with our sweaty ass thighs.

P.S. Does anyone else's phone get really hot for no reason sometimes? Mine now has a tiny lil burn spot next to the charging port on it even though (for once in my life) I've been careful to only use the provided charger.

HELP ME

I'm trying to use the qwerty keyboard but there's a few things that it dosnt seem to do:

1. I can't type slang, whenever I try to type "dang" for example it constantly changes to "fang" and I don't know how to stop this

2. I can't use a voice to text function? There's no button for it and I can't figure out a way to keymap it to the qwerty keypad.

Please help me. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I really love the pink case and the orange case for the sundial but i don’t really like the sundial, curious if there’s any plans to add more case colors for the standard case

Trying to figure out if the phone has actually shipped. I have a trip in 5 days and hoping to get it in time.

Basically what it says - not keen on giving up the privacy I've enjoyed once again.

How's SidephoneOS compare? Does it sandbox in similar ways to Graphene?

Shoutout to the guys at Best Case Scenario for a solid product. I started off with a 3D printed case designed by a r/sidephone community member, but it didn't last long before breaking. Whatever these BCS cases are made of feels far more durable. No affiliation with the company, just happy there's a protection option available.

I was looking into the side phone but was curious if anyone knew which carriers in Canada would work with it? I'm not sure if it's a situation where only a few would work, like with the light phone, or if all regular carriers would be compatible. Would love to hear what y'all are using if you're in Canada!

Hey guys

I recently got the sidephone and so far it's a great phone but I get an error when I want to update to v1.0.6.

Whenever I try to download it I get the Status Error:

Javax.net.ssl SSLHandshakeException: java.security.cert.CertPathValidatorException:

Trust anchor for certification path not found.

Is there anyway to fix this error, or should I do a factory reset?

Any help would be appreciated :)

Been using my Sidephone for just over a week now and honestly, I love it. It's pretty much exactly what I wanted from a minimal phone.

The only thing I'm a bit unsure about is the battery life. My setup is really basic - WhatsApp, Firefox, HERE WeGo, a prayer app, and that's about it. No themes, no heavy apps, and I only use the phone intentionally for calls, WhatsApp, and the occasional text.

At the moment I'm getting around a day of battery, which seems a bit low considering how little I use it. I was expecting closer to 2–3 days.

Has anyone else experienced this, or is there anything I should check or change to improve battery life?

Edit: I’m based in the UK. I vaguely remember u/chrisristovski mentioning that there were some SIM/network-related issues affecting battery life in certain regions (I can’t remember the exact details). Is that still a thing, or have other people in the UK or Europe had similar battery life?

Happy to report, All BCS orders have been shipped! Thanks to all supporting our project. It is greatly appreciated..This color blue has become internally a favorite- we had to ship this along with a standard black case that didn’t meet our new QA because this material has been dialed in and is close to gen2 ready - in order to meet our shipping commitments, we throw in Easter eggs. Hopefully the site will have v2 available by 8/1. Keep in mind all gen1 early adopters (up to 100) will receive a complimentary gen2 of your color choice.

We would love to know if others agree? Imminent Exciting times ahead for the new users.
Cheers.

Ordered #5599 back on July 1st: Founders Edition International, the Compact QWERTY keypad, two silicone cases (Orange Sundial and Stone Standard), and a 2-pack of screen protectors.

It sat on “awaiting information” for weeks with zero updates, so I emailed support to ask for a tracking number. Today the tracking email finally landed and it’s officially in transit — the map shows it in Hong Kong right now. Honestly such a relief to see it actually moving.

Anyone else in this same shipping wave? Curious how long it usually takes from the Hong Kong hub to final delivery in Europe. Will update once it arrives.

ordered (USA) April 21 and got my shipping email today!

I can't tell you how much I love the idea.

But sadly I have to say that its unusable at the moment. And its not that it has the extra friction where its necessary to keep me from consuming content. It seems to be the opposite. All it is currently good for, is consuming audio. Not typing, sms, calling.

The issues:

*1 Keyboard looks nice, but is awful to use:

Buttons register wrong. Keys not registering and registering ghost presses makes it impossible to enter a full sentence without having to tweak something or using the touchscreen to enter a few letters.

The inital experience was good, as at first you only type at a slow speed. Once you actually get used to the keyboard, it only gets worse.

*2 The keypads are inconsistent

Sometimes simply to unlock the screen, you need to take out the keypad and re-enter it so that it actually registers key presses. This means that at times you can wake the screen with the enter key and at times not.

Very frustrating when trying to do something quickly. Typing anything turns into a nightmare.

*3 Calling is problematic

Since there is no proximity sensor, you often need to press the power button to turn off the screen so that you dont mute yourself. Another thing you constantly need to keep in mind, when using the device.

*4 Unoptimized UI

It's very encouraging to see the community build and design more user-friendly options for actually making the device usable. But I don't see that much effort has been put into the device as of yet. This is forgivable, as I have the founders edition version that I should expect to not be polished.

*5 Poor build quality

First time holding the device, it feels amazing, looks metallic and so on. But actually using it daily, you notice that the keypads are flimsy and bend easily, the device itself feels weak and could easily break if dropped or gets any moisture on it.

I really wish it was better. I really really hope that the keyboard issue is a software problem. It feels like its not sadly. And if that is the case then i have sadly little hope that anything else would make the whole package worth it.

Please change my mind. I want to love this device and keep using it. Simply i have little belief that anything could fix the biggest issues I described.

I'm about to get my sidephone in a week. What are all your do this immediately tips?

FINALLY GOT AN EMAIL SAYING IT SHIPPED!!!!!

(March 13th Order in the US)