TLDR;

Drawbridge is a personal open-source project I made for myself consisting of a device policy controller to turn an Android device into a minimalist phone in varying degrees. Because it works well, I'm making the project available for free for everyone and I gave it a small website, a one-click webADB installer and some custom options I wouldn't have otherwise.

It's inspired by the concept of 'Balance phone' but I gave drawbridge more flexibility.

Through drawbridge you can solve the use cases of:

• having a phone with no addictive apps or websites but have all the rest available
• have a phone with only a few apps
• have an offline device which can only call and text, but still has an MP3 player and offline maps etc.

Drawbridge has no account, no telemetry, no data is uploaded. The block policy is fetched from the website (Github). Blocking happens on-device.

This software is still in beta testing phase and I'm already testing with a small group of friends. I realized it would be worth it to test also with a wider more global audience. Those who install it: congratulations, you're now also a beta tester. While beta testing, drawbridge can still be removed through a menu option in the unlocked state and without a factory reset. You can still use it 'for real' by locking. I've used drawbridge on a Moto G15 (test device), Dumber Mini, and Nothing Phone (3a), the latter is my daily driver.

I hope this is helpful to some of you. Let me know what you think. In terms of functionality, I don't want to expand too much because I feel it's already complicated.

Website with installer, FAQ and screenshots

https://drawbridge-project.pages.dev/

If this gets popular, I may give it a proper domain name and swallow the cost (or put a donation button). Yes, the image is AI-generated and I hate that fact. But I'm not a designer, I would have gone for stick figures if not. I'm open to use someone's artwork.

Introduction

First and foremost, especially for this audience in r/dumbphones: Personally I still adore low-maintenance, lightweight, simple, real dumbphones. They are absolutely the best to keep me focused. Preferably flipphones so I don't have butt calls to emergency services (don't ask). My Panasonic flipphone is arriving soon.

Unfortunately, like most of you I do sometimes need a smartphone e.g. to keep WhatsApp logged in or to navigate in new cities. My Mudita Kompakt was not ideal for the latter and broke after less than a year, so I ordered a Dumber Mini. To my surprise, the Dumber Mini has a simple but effective app blocker. But it doesn't block websites. For this reason I started making my own browser with a built-in blocker for social media etc. which moreover is monochrome, and then I would have that as one and only browser. As I was building this browser, Claude suggested building a DPC, too. (NOTE: I work in software development as an analyst and know a bit of code, but I had to use Claude to help me make an Android app. This is a well-tested personal project which I make available for free under MIT license, so I want nobody to complain).

I got excited for this DPC. It means I could actually turn my Nothing phone into a custom version of a 'Balance phone'. Good, because my Dumber mini has screen issues and I have to return it. This is the problem with all those niche devices: quality control and bugs. My Nothing phone has zero issues and none of my other smartphones had problems (except my Nokia one, screw that brand). In general I am really disappointed with the current state (and prices!) of the minimalist and dumbphone market.

What is a DPC?

A DPC (device policy controller) is an app that controls an Android device as device owner. It is used by MDM solutions and for kiosks. They are not difficult to make and are quite common. The only problem is that since last year Google actively started blocking custom DPCs in favor of their own enterprise solution, leaving a lot of developers in the cold. The balance phone team uses Knox as DPC, a Samsung enterprise solution, so they're good. Many others (Sleke phone, Wisephone, Focusphone etc.) will be forced to stick to AOSP (they already do). In my case you have to load the DPC through webADB, a pathway that for now still works also on Googled devices. We'll see in the future.

Functionality

Drawbridge has a locked and an unlocked state. Adults with only mild distraction problems may keep drawbridge unlocked. The locked state is for those who want to go more minimalist or those managing a device for a teen. For the latter group there are age recommendations given in the app coming from a team of pediatricians and neutroscientists I work with. Adults may ignore those, of course.

Unlocked state

• As soon as it's installed, drawbridge keeps out social media, games, pornography, gambling, dating, and AI companions. All such apps will be uninstalled, and the web traffic to such websites is blocked. The core logic is that you don't need to have these things on you as a person. Use them on a PC.
• Deletes any 'forbidden' app.
• Uninstalls most browsers, too, except for some I picked and which do not have a VPN to circumvent the web filter. I've also made a custom browser for drawbridge, herald, which is a minimalist browser with only core functionalities and an ad blocker. List of allowed browsers (I'm open to add others): Chrome, herald, herald mono, Vivaldi, Firefox Focus, Comet, Via.
• WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube and video streaming: allowed. WhatsApp and Telegram are used in some regions instead of phone and text, and it makes sense to have them on a portable phone if you need to. YouTube is used by many as an manual-on-the-go: recipes in the kitchen, DIY in the garage, fixing a bike on the road, etc. and even a lot of instruction manuals of devices these days come with QR codes leading to a YouTube channel. Also, some people enjoy watching movies on their tablet or stream something while in the gym exercising.
• VPN settings, DNS settings, additional users, safe boot: unavailable
• Factory reset: allowed
• As long as we're in beta testing: USB debugging available (so I can read the logs), and clean uninstall of drawbridge also available

Will my app run?

Aside from its blocklist of social media and popular games, drawbridge checks all other apps against the information in the play store and will delete an app if it's not PEGI-3 (all ages) or if it's a game. There is a whitelist of allowed apps which do carry a 'parental guidance' rating: podcasts apps, music apps, Strava, e-reader apps, messengers. Let me know if your utility app doesn't work.

Locked state

• Optionally block WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube and/or video streaming
• Optionally set an internet curfew or even have a completely offline phone
• Choose to have no browser at all and/or:
• Choose to have only a few apps: uninstall or disable all the apps you don't want, install those you need, tick the box, and lock drawbridge. No further installs will be possible, but already installed apps will still update which is quite important for security updates of e.g. banking apps. For this reason, you may wish to keep the Google Play store available.
• Of course any combination of the above
• System clock is forced to network time
• USB debugging becomes unavailable
• Factory reset unavailable except now during beta testing, just in case

Locking and lock timer Every time you lock, drawbridge gives you a new, random code to unlock. The code is too long to remember at sight, you need to write it down and then store somewhere difficult to reach. There is also an unlock timer: set a timer for drawbridge to unlock automatically, between 2h and 6 months, and then you may forget the code on purpose (a code is still given, though).

I use the unlock timer all the time to force my phone offline for a few hours to focus, and then I 'forget' the code. Other people may want to lock for a much longer time, though. Try out some settings for a week, change if needed, and then e.g. lock for 3 months.

Note that while locked, there is no way to uninstall drawbridge, not even factory reset (except now in beta testing). The only way out is to unlock by entering the code or waiting for the timer to run out. If you haven't set a timer and you forgot the code, you can start a 30-day timer from the menu. The point is not to brick devices.

Note on the toggles for WhatsApp, the browsers, etc.

When you switch off the browsers, WhatsApp, video streaming,… a lock does not delete but rather suspend those apps. Your data, account, bookmarks, messages etc. are kept. You can hence choose to temporarily not use a browser or WhatsApp but switch back on without consequence.

How to install drawbridge?

Drawbridge makes use of standard Android DPC functionality and should in principle run on any Android phone or tablet. The Chinese models (Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi) sometimes do not use standard Android so have caution. My test device is a Moto G15, and my main phone is a Nothing Phone (3a). It works flawlessly on both. Again, drawbridge is free and open-source .

To install drawbridge, you can start from a new Android device or one already in use. When in use, you will have to remove all accounts and all other users including a guest user, if applicable. Accounts can be re-added later. You then activate usb debugging (instructions on the website, it's all in the settings and no coding required). Then, you connect the phone through a usb cable to a computer and push the button on the website. Done.