Boox Plama: Week 1
I've been using the Palma for the last week, and I'm still trying to determine what I really need. To back up, I had been torn between the following options:
Option 1: A phone-sized device with an e-ink screen.
Option 2: A phone-sized device without cellular service.
Both options aim to reduce distractions, but each has its own pros and cons.
Considerations
New York Times Games: I had hoped to play games from the New York Times app on my Palma. However, I didn't appreciate how many of these games rely on color, which the Palma obviously can't display.
Capture & Note-Taking: The goal is to have a quick capture device for when I want to offload random thoughts while walking my dog or taking a stroll. Typing on the Palma is just slow enough that it takes the "quick" out of "quick capture."
App Availability: To date, I've just had one app not work on the Palma, for my local bus service. I had dreams of using only the Palma between the hours of waking up and commuting, but I'll now have to double fist my iPhone to get to work.
Sign in With Apple: Signing into accounts on Android has mostly been fine, but I had to email one developer to help me get into an account that had been set up with Sign in With Apple.
AirPods Support: I've regrettably gotten into the habit of falling asleep to podcasts while wearing one AirPod. But it's a good way to distract myself from my own thoughts. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I just pinch my AirPod to restart a podcast and fall asleep again. With the Boox I have to open up the Bluetooth settings to restart the connection, which is a bit cumbersome and keeps me up longer during my listlessness.
Given this, a decommissioned iPhone Plus without cellular may ultimately better fit my use case. I'm going to give the Palma a little more time to settle in, but that's where I'm at after one week.