Clicks Communicator - Worthwhile?

Hardware Reviews
1

I’m a church minister and need to communicate a lot. This device caught my attention. It sounds ideal for communication and I do miss my BlackBerry Bold!

What do you think? Would appreciate some comments or thoughts.

My thinking is that it would be great to have all my communication in one place without all the other noise. And I do like an external keyboard. I would use this alongside my iPhone rather than as a separate phone.

2

I’d get this before I bought a dedicated device:

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3

I have actually pre-ordered the Power Keyboard. If I don’t like it I’ll blame @ryanjamurphy who put me on to it with his post :grin:

My reason for also looking at the communicator is two-fold:

  1. The power keyboard will double the weight of my phone and make my phone bigger. This is generally ok but a smaller pocketable device would be nice.
  2. There’s a lot of noise on my phone. I go to send a text and get distracted. If the Communicator had all my messaging and email in one place with a purpose built notification screen, a keyboard and light notification to let me see at a glance if I need to check it in a meeting it would make things easier. It would also mean I could leave my main phone in my office or bag in meetings or after hours.
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4

The Communicator didn’t appeal to me for the same reason eReaders no longer appeal to me: you can configure a more powerful/multipurpose device to work like a simple/single-purpose device. It takes some finagling and sometimes some willpower, though.

If the Communicator is catching your eye, consider what it might be like to use Focus Modes and automations to achieve a similar experience on your phone as it is.

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5

I put an icon in my dock on my iPhone that has all my messaging apps (which are also, not coincidentally, the only apps with badge counts). That way I get a combined badge count that lets me know if there’s something I need to look at.

And as @ryanjamurphy said, there are lots of other way to tweak your phone. If you Google “minimalist launcher” you’ll see a number of apps that will just give you a configurable text list of apps. It basically installs as a homescreen widget, which can be auto-surfaced with automation.

I absolutely get this. The thing I keep bumping up against is that I’d almost certainly be carrying both devices anyway. If I thought I could get away with a single device, I’d be on board. But that’s not how I’ve found my life works.

When a lot of people say “I need my phone,” they mean “I need some game/Facebook/etc.” I literally mean that, a majority of the time, I need to be able to take phone calls. I don’t take just any call, but certain people need to be able to get through. :slight_smile:

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6

I’ve tried minimlist launchers and they’re PITA. Their focus is to reduce your screen time. Mine is to have all my communication apps notifcations easily accessible and easy to deal with.

7

I’d get this as a solo device if my wife and I didn’t manage our lives via notes/photos and iMessage.

8

I’d try a dedicated home screen then. :slight_smile: