What is phoneHome?

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>searching for modules...

phoneHome is a suite of tools to make dumbphones smarter

phoneHome runs on any old computer you have lying around and executes this main loop ad infinitum:

1. listen for incoming SMS text messages from registered users
2. attempt to interpret incoming messages as commands
3. compute responses to parsed commands
4. send responses back to users as SMS text messages

phoneHome is multi-user

Commands are evaluated in the order they are recieved, and multiplayer, text-based games are possible (2 player, SMS text-based Chess has already been implemented, and a Multi-User Dungeon Crawler has been imagined about).

phoneHome is modular

phoneHome's modular design allows you pick and choose the features you want, rendering your phone "just as smart as you want it to be."

Okay... but Why?

Smartphone Addiction is a very real and very serious condition that affects an estimated....... everyone.

The obvious-but-hard-to-swallow cure is, obviously, ditching your smartphone.

But unless you're a cave hermit, you'll probably still want to carry something around in your pocket for talking to people... just maybe something with a few less distracting features... something so uninteresting that you won't get addicted to it... something like

A dumb phone.

There is a very real honeymoon phase.

You've got everything you need, and nothing you don't.
It's elegant!
It's nostalgic!
It's... ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ.

You won't miss Facebook or the incessant notifications, but soon enough you'll find yourself missing the useful tools that those so-called-smartphones come with as standard:

"It sure would be nice to know today's weather forecast....."

"I wish I didn't have to call my brother to ask for Google Maps directions......"

"WTF is a 'kumquat'.....?"

"ok....... what if I could summon an uber............. from a dumbphone..............."

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better Too

Use these and other modules to augment your abilities.

weather feature

finally, an answer to the age old question: will it rain today?

encyclopedia feature

can you remember a time before the internet?

when, if you had a question, you just had to wonder for a while..?

well those days are long over.

tip calculator

camera feature

almost everything you could ever want to capture with a photograph has already been captured in a photograph.

phoneHome uses an advanced image generation algorithm (aka Google images) to "generate" images based on your text description of the scene you see before you.

images are uploaded to The Cloud™ where your friends can like™ and comment™ on (approximations of) your exciting life.

magic 8-ball

chess

a game of skill for two players.

snake

that old Nokia 3310 standby, reimagined for the modern age.

as it's played on a frame-by-frame basis, this version is more of a "thinkin' man's game"

(Josh wrote this part!)

uber

Get from "where you are" to "where you wish you were" in no time flat.

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Credits

phoneHome is one part joke, one part real-life useful tool, and two parts cool party trick.

developed by Hunter and Josh Irving in 2018!