How to turn your iPhone into a dumbphone (no new phone)

Decide what your dumbphone keeps

Start with two short lists. Keep: calls, Messages, maps, camera, music, banking, the authenticator you need for work. Block: the apps where a “quick scroll” turns into half an hour, such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and games.

Be honest about the apps you switch to. If Instagram is blocked and you open X instead, X belongs on the block list too.

Simplify your Home Screen

1. Touch and hold an app you want out of sight, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. The app moves to the App Library and still works from there.
2. To hide a whole page, touch and hold an empty area, tap the dots near the bottom of the screen, then tap the circle under the page.
3. Keep one page with only the apps from your “keep” list.

Turn on grayscale

Apple provides Color Filters as an accessibility feature. Grayscale changes how everything looks, including photos and videos. It does not block any app.

1. Open Settings, then Accessibility → Display & Text Size.
2. Tap Color Filters, turn it on, then choose Grayscale.

Use a Focus with one Home Screen page

1. Open Settings → Focus and choose or create a Focus.
2. Tap Home Screen, turn on Custom Pages, then select your simple page.
3. Tap Apps to allow notifications only from the apps you keep.

Block the apps you would still open

A hidden app is one search away. To make the dumbphone setup hold, block the apps on your list. With Screen Time, Apple notes that limits can be ignored once reached by default on iOS 26; Block at Downtime with a Screen Time passcode keeps apps closed during Downtime (why limits get ignored).

In Bouncer, create a Rule with the apps on your block list and a scheduled window. A blocked app shows a shield with no unblock button. For the hours when you want a real dumbphone, choose Lockdown: no temporary unblock until the window ends, except one Emergency Pass that returns seven days after use.

A dumbphone for some hours, a smartphone for the rest

You may not need a dumbphone all day. Evenings, weekends or work hours can be enough. Use a schedule for those hours and keep the phone fully useful the rest of the time. See how to stop doomscrolling to choose the moment.