There’s a trend of people buying intentionally dumb phones. Sometimes it’s for a kid who needs a way to call home but not a portal to the whole internet. Sometimes it’s an adult trying to claw back their own attention. I understand the impulse. I also think buying a separate dumb phone (at least for adults) is usually the wrong answer.

Ben Lovejoy at 9to5Mac laid out a better one. Your iPhone already ships with a feature called Assistive Access that turns it into a simple, locked-down device. You pick which apps show up. Leave out Safari and there’s no web browsing, even if someone sends a link. You decide who can call and be called. The interface even switches to big, friendly tiles.

Buying a dumb phone throws away a lot. The iPhone has a great camera, Crash Detection, Emergency SOS, and location sharing with a worried parent. That’s the whole reason to want a capable phone in a kid’s pocket, and a dedicated dumb phone tosses all of it.

Set up right, an iPhone gives you the calm of a dumb phone and keeps the safety net. There are exceptional cases where a separate device makes sense. For most people, most of the time, the phone you already own will do the job.