Galaxy, how to turn your phone into a dumb phone
Galaxy (One UI 8) / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Checked on 2026-09-15
Everything worth trying before you buy a flip phone. Calls and texts stay as they are.
This app cannot block other apps. What it can do is show you the shortest way to turn the phone you already own into a dumb phone, using settings it already has.
Taken from the maker's own support documents. We have not held these handsets ourselves, so if a menu name differs, search for the word below.
1. Open Digital Wellbeing
Settings > Digital Wellbeing and parental controls
Everything below lives on this one screen, so finding it once is most of the work.
Type this into the Settings search box: Digital Wellbeing
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Google, Android Help, manage how you spend time on your phone (from the official document)
2. Put an app timer on everything you reach for
Digital Wellbeing and parental controls > Dashboard > everything you reach for > Timer
When the budget runs out the icon greys out and the app stops opening. Nothing is deleted.
Type this into the Settings search box: App timer
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Google, Android Help, manage how you spend time on your phone (from the official document)
3. Schedule bedtime mode
Digital Wellbeing and parental controls > Bedtime mode > Set a schedule
At the hour you set the screen goes grey and notifications go quiet, without you switching it on.
Type this into the Settings search box: Bedtime mode
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Google, Android Help, manage how you spend time on your phone (from the official document)
4. Turn the screen black and white
Turn on greyscale inside Bedtime mode. For all day, Settings > Accessibility > Visibility enhancements > Colour adjustment
Without colour, thumbnails stop pulling at your eye. It is the quickest change here and the easiest to undo.
Type this into the Settings search box: Greyscale
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Google, Android Accessibility Help, adjust display colors (from the official document)
5. Set up focus mode
Digital Wellbeing and parental controls > Focus mode > pick a mode and choose allowed apps
A timer covers the day, focus mode covers the next hour. While it runs the chosen apps will not open.
Type this into the Settings search box: Focus mode
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Google, Android Help, manage how you spend time on your phone (from the official document)
6. Bundle your night with Modes and Routines
Settings > Modes and Routines > Add mode
Instead of flipping switches one at a time, one mode changes them together on a schedule. This screen is Galaxy only.
Type this into the Settings search box: Modes and Routines
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Samsung, Samsung Support, use Modes and Routines on your Galaxy phone or tablet (from the official document)
7. Turn on Do Not Disturb
Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb
What pulls you back is usually a notification. Calls and texts can stay as exceptions.
Type this into the Settings search box: Do Not Disturb
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Google, Android Help, Do Not Disturb (from the official document)
8. Take the icon off the home screen
Press and hold the icon, then Remove from Home. The app itself stays in the apps screen
It empties the spot your thumb remembers. Opening it now needs a search, and that pause is the point.
Type this into the Settings search box: Edit home screen
Checked on 2026-09-15 / OS version One UI 8 (Android 16) / Source Samsung, Samsung mobile device support (from the official document)
Every change here can be undone in the same place. That means it is not enforcement, and we are not hiding that.
Other troubles on this phone
If the settings are not enough, the next step is a different handset. Here is what each one costs you.