I turned my Pixel into a dumb phone without buying a dumb phone

Device owner mode, patched apps and a plain launcher

2026-11-02All writing

I was tired of doom scrolling and I realised I had claude code on my side.

I've been a dumb phone fanatic. I ran with the CAT S22 for 2 years, but it always has so many issues and I have to break out the actual phone to do anything.

So instead of hardware locks, I just used software.

This is my 3 month journey.

My first step: What is my problem?

Seriously. What is it?

  1. Doomscrolling reels.
  2. Excessive usage of social media apps (X)

Just uninstall and never reinstall?

Bad news, Android has no "never install this app" switch. There is no per-app install blocklist.

Ask claude what to do next?

So, I did the simple thing, just got claude to search github for solutions.

I found 3.

1. Dechainer.

It sets Android into a device owner mode meant for company phones. One app gets admin control over the whole device: it can block app installs, factory reset, safe mode, adding new users, and a few dozen other things.

How does it restrict everything else? It uses a 16-character recovery code to keep you out.If you lose the code, there is a forced-removal option that takes 48 hours, which is long enough for an impulse to pass.

It also does per-app time limits, allowed time windows, a reopen cooldown, grayscale schedules you can't turn off while they're active, and blocking individual screens inside an app by class name. That last feature is where I thought Shorts would be easy.

2. Patch irritating apps with Revanced

ReVanced takes an app's APK and rewrites it with a set of patches. You end up with your own build of the app, signed with your own key.

This was a piece of cake. Two commands and I don't have to worry about youtube or instagram.

YouTube. I just disabled Shorts.

Instagram.

This one turned out better. I hid everything except the messages. So I can text my friends, but that's it!

3. Custom Launcher that's simple

I took OLauncher and tweaked the code to make my own version that had grayscale mode built in. Then had a bit of fun with it and made it look like Ratio.

Three months later, where am I?

This was god damn epic. Yes, certain apps are older and didn't get patches.

But my screen time was way down, I haven't watched brain rot in a while and I'm actually much happier than with a hardware swap.

Tools

Chandrahas Aroori · San Francisco

chandrahas.aroori@gmail.com

X · GitHub

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