how can I limit my mobile phone to a phone only device
 

I have recently purchased a plan that include an HTC U11 androidone mobile/cell phone. I asked if there was instructions in the package on how to use it and was told that there was not since "all Android work the same" and I could find what I need on the Internet but when it may be somewhere on the Internet, finding it seems impossible.

What I need is very simple, I want a phone and nothing else, mainly in case I need to make an emergency call and I want to make sure the @#$% advertising does not pop up at the wrong time.

Can anyone suggest suitable info?

Thank you for your help.

Ads are the least of your problems. The government requires telcos and ISPs to keep all meta-data for 2 years (last I looked). Then there is google (and everyone else) tracking your phone via gps.
Not to mention all the Westfield shopping centres using your wifi footprint to track as you move. Et al.

I like the camera in my phone as well as the phone - the best camera you have is the camera you have in your hand. Have a look at what's available in custom ROMs - Lineage look like they support that phone, and it'll still work with Aussie telcos if the phone is unlocked.

1. Take sim card out of phone, put phone in box.
2. Go buy one of these: https://www.amazon.com.au/Hanbaili-B.../dp/B0778M7YDJ
3. Put sim card in phone.

Sorted!

Great solution, had no idea that was possible.

I purchased one and was never able to get a light in it after charging the battery although I may (just 'may' but unlikely) have accidentally pushed the switch inside whilst in the off position when trying to open the SIM card space as instructions are non-existent in the box or on the Internet. I can see no switch when looking at the switch space with a magnifier but the main problem for me was the tiny size of the device and mainly the size of the keys for which you need to have your finger nails shaped accordingly.

Not knowing anything in that area, I discovered that there are "flip" and "unlocked" cell/mobile phones with "keypad" and bought 2 ASPERA F24 (supposed to be the same phone than the KONKA U3 if my recollection of the model is correct), they come with SIM card adapters and no SIM card in .au, I was able to insert the sim cards of my partner's old phone and of my own (both now in the box and ready for the trash/rubbish bin) and got these new phones working as expected. So far so good although instructions are poor and some guesswork is necessary which seems to be a general trend that consumers seem to accept (they should revolt) and the SIM cards had to be pulled out and pushed back in a couple of times to make contact in both machines. Maybe the contacts are covered at the factory with a thin coat of vaseline to prevent corrosion while waiting on the shelf to be sold if contacts are cheap plain copper.

Hope this helps someone.

I see Nokia are releasing their "retro" phones here. Bad timing for you I guess.

Pfui! (To quote Nero Wolfe.)

All Androids do not work the same. There are differences among various versions of Android, plus different manufacturers and cellphone companies can tailor the interface and add their own applications. T-Mobile phones, for example, come with special T-Mobile apps for checking your account, etc.

For another example, on my HTC cellphones, the "all apps" display scrolls vertically; on my friend's Samsung, it scrolls horizontally.

You can download a complete manual for the HTC U11 from the HTC website.

By the by, all my smartphones have been HTCs; their quality has earned my brand loyalty. I currently have a U11 and am quite happy with it.

Almost every phone that I've seen will let you disable data in the Settings area.

Isn't it possible to tell your phone company that you don't want data in your plan?

In the US, carriers are supposed to let emergency phone calls go through even if the phone has old sim or what ever reason. I used to keep an old phone in my truck like that just for 911 calls if needed. It's free.

Thank you for the latest suggestions, it's always good to know.
So far, one big advantage of the flip/keypad/unlocked phone is that it's less tiring on the arm to hold it to the ear in a conversation, easier to hold because of its smaller width, more convenient to speak and listen due to its elongated shape and no risk of activating anything by accident and loosing the conversation. Another big advantage is the emergency button at the back which, if set up accordingly, makes the phone ring the emergency if pressed for 3 or 4 seconds. In my and my partner's case, these are the most important aspects.

The touch screen phones we are proposing to dispose of humanly (in the bin) may be the Rolls-Royce in mobile communications but they are physically and technically useless to us, only the attached "plan" is. I am also sure that the likes of google will have made it complicated to definitely disable the Internet and I would not be surprised if they managed to somehow have pop ups checking, for your own good of course, after you have done so that it was really what you intended or that you do not regret having done it.

I have also read an article explaining that these sophisticated phones have a tendency to turn people into zombies as some, amongst other things, check their personal emails every ten minutes whether at work or in their own spare time and this has a bad social and economic impact.
Someone said something like: "We do not have conversations, we only have intersecting monologues." and that is what the way this technology is used is driving us toward trying to rivet you to the phone by any possible means.

Hope this helps someone.

it isn't that simple, not by a long way.
there's many aspects you are ignoring, here are just 2:

1. a smartphone is still smart even when it's not connected to the internet
2. android is still able to transmit data to its mothership Google

Answering jefro:
I anticipate it's possible to disable data but I may use it for the wifi internet connection of my PCs (the only local choice) as I was told it automatically cumulates with it. But as for ringing emergency on the android, you're certain to die if you don't know how to convincingly clear all the unwanted stuff first and, like myself, you live alone. I am sure the emergency call is free and unimpeded - if you can make it. My partner (android #2) is in a similar situation but in a room in a nursing home. You'd think one is protected in a nursing home but that's not the case, it's just another way of making business profits by providing as little as possible. To my astonishment, I have discovered their bad reputation is deserved. She had very little success with the android but is on top with the new phone and, even from her room at the nursing home, she can easily ring emergency if she needs to (which I advised her to do).

thanks

Not to mention all the Westfield shopping centres using your wifi footprint to track as you move. Et al.

Thanks for the information.

buy a flip phone, or root the android, and delete everything in it but the phone part.