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2022-06-30
Dumbphones are becoming extremely hard to come by in the US. 3G networks were shut down, so an entire class of devices are obsolete here. Many carriers are selling Kyocera and other dumbphone devices at extreme prices ($200+), while giving away overkill smartphones for free (one can only imagine that there is some kind of incentive structure at play there...).
KaiOS devices are a bit scary, as KaiOS has huge Google investment, and they are becoming almost functional smartphones with quite a lot of functionality and apps - distractions and news are what we're trying to get away from.
US Mobile has very affordable service and they were offering the NUU F4L for $80 in June, 2022, so we thought we'd give it a try and share details and technical tricks we've discovered for anyone considering the purchase.
Here's the hardware we received. This information was acquired from the Settings/About Phone menu and the bootloader menu (hold volume-down when booting).
The device has no USB-OTG support (tested with 3 different cables and a USB mouse).
The following information was found scattered across the web:
To enable APK installation, go to the phone app and dial *#666#. A popup will ask if you want to enable APK installation. Now just share an APK over Bluetooth or copy it to the device over USB.
To get to the developer options menu, go to the phone app and dial *#777#. Here you can enable adb connections. Once enabled, scrcpy works flawlessly and allows you to control the device with mouse and keyboard.
https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy
To remove Facebook and Whatsapp, use the following commands:
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.facebook.lite adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.whatsapp
The '--user 0' means uninstall for the current user. Omitting this flag won't work because Facebook and Whatsapp are baked into the recovery image (?).
May as well try to remove these known spyware packages while we're at it:
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.adups.fota.sysoper adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.adups.fota
We wish someone would explain how they figured out those codes to dial; if there's been some decompiling work done, it's not easy to find.
F-Droid works very well and is completely usable.
Can't type a meeting ID. Calls connect when opened via link, but app crashes (out of memory?) after being on a video call for 5 seconds.
Navigation is impossible on K-9 Mail and FairEmail. Monocles Mail works well but there are issues with scrolling downward in a message that is longer than the screen is tall.
Navigation is hard/impossible, but if you set up your parameters with scrcpy, then you can easily start/stop tracking from the device. GPS lock is faster than other Android devices we've used in the past. It successfully tracked and uploaded to a HTTP server a full day of riding a motorcycle through the woods, in and out of cell coverage, with minimal impact on battery life (about 15% from 9am to 5pm).
Most apps have partial or fully hampered navigation. Some stop playing music when the phone is closed. We're just going to download MP3s and play them with the stock music app for now.
Can't navigate to the on-off switch in the title bar.
Here are all of the packages installed on the phone as reported by adb (no Google!). If anyone has any recommendations about which packages should be removed for privacy reasons, we'd love to hear about it.
com.android.fmradio com.mediatek.gba com.mediatek.ims com.android.cts.priv.ctsshim com.android.providers.telephony com.adups.fota.sysoper com.mediatek.camera com.android.providers.calendar com.android.providers.media com.mediatek.location.lppe.main com.android.wallpapercropper com.mediatek.schpwronoff com.android.protips com.mediatek.videoplayer com.android.documentsui android.auto_generated_rro__ com.android.externalstorage com.mediatek.ygps com.mediatek.simprocessor com.android.htmlviewer com.android.companiondevicemanager com.android.mms.service com.android.providers.downloads com.adups.fota com.mediatek.engineermode com.mediatek.omacp com.android.browser com.android.soundrecorder com.mediatek.op.telecom com.mediatek.wfo.impl com.android.defcontainer com.android.providers.downloads.ui com.android.pacprocessor com.mediatek.dm com.android.certinstaller com.android.carrierconfig android com.android.contacts com.android.egg com.android.mms com.android.mtp com.android.stk com.android.launcher3 com.android.backupconfirm com.mediatek.bluetooth.dtt com.android.provision com.android.statementservice com.mediatek.op12.telecom com.mediatek.mdmlsample com.mediatek.op12.settings com.android.calendar com.mediatek.providers.drm com.android.systemui.theme.dark com.android.providers.settings com.mediatek.batterywarning com.example.lxn.sagerealagingtestnew com.android.printspooler com.mediatek.op.phone.plugin com.android.dreams.basic com.mediatek.op12.phone com.android.webview com.android.inputdevices com.android.bips com.mediatek com.android.musicfx android.ext.shared com.mediatek.nlpservice com.android.server.telecom com.android.keychain com.android.printservice.recommendation com.android.dialer com.android.gallery3d android.ext.services com.android.calllogbackup com.android.packageinstaller com.android.carrierdefaultapp com.svox.pico com.android.proxyhandler com.mediatek.engineermodecmas com.dyc.factorymode com.android.managedprovisioning com.mediatek.calendarimporter com.sagereal.lidui com.mediatek.op12.ims com.android.systemui.auto_generated_rro__ com.mediatek.thermalmanager com.mediatek.callrecorder com.mediatek.webview com.iqqijni.dv12key com.android.bookmarkprovider com.android.settings com.mediatek.mdmconfig com.android.calculator2 com.mediatek.lbs.em2.ui com.android.cts.ctsshim com.android.music com.android.phone com.android.shell com.android.wallpaperbackup com.android.providers.blockednumber com.android.providers.userdictionary com.android.emergency com.android.location.fused com.android.deskclock com.android.systemui com.android.exchange com.android.bluetoothmidiservice com.mediatek.location.mtknlp com.mediatek.filemanager com.mediatek.mtklogger com.mediatek.cellbroadcastreceiver com.mediatek.sensorhub.ui com.android.bluetooth com.android.wallpaperpicker com.android.providers.contacts com.android.captiveportallogin com.mediatek.op12.dialer com.mediatek.mtklogger.proxy com.mediatek.dataprotection
This thing sucks. Mediocre build quality. Predictive T9 input is slow - the input lag is incredibly irritating when trying to send a text. The Nokia 3310 3G (which had a half-baked OS) was much better on both points. Call quality is fine as long as you aim the microphone towards your mouth; when you're holding the phone naturally the person on the other end says they can't hear you. Battery life is pretty good but not as good as the Nokia. Android was not designed for directional input; navigating menus is cumbersome and there's a lot of junk hidden under the kebab menus. The Nokia felt a lot faster to navigate, and it had hard buttons instead of mushy rubber ones, which feels like it's also having an effect on the input speed. The mushy rubber buttons require a lot of force to push, making input even more tedious.
You can't disable the chime it makes when plugging in to charge; too bad if someone is sleeping nearby when you need to charge.
The following is not exactly NUU's fault because they specifically intended for it to never run third-party apps, but it's still chops off the device's capability at the knees:
Screw Android. Screw the US telecom industry. This is the only less-than-smart phone we can get our hands on for a half-reasonable price, without Google, and it's crap.
Although, if you just skip the apps altogether and use it for calls and texts only, you can live a more intentional life. Not carrying the internet in your pocket is liberating.
PS: We tried the Nokia 225 4G. The OS it runs is a half-baked clone of the half-baked 3310 3G OS, leaving you with a grand total of a quarter-bake. Call quality was good, but it suffered from a timezone issue that made it impossible to have a conversation over text message, as messages would appear out of order.