Finding the best WordPress theme for basic phones has been as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, but I eventually found it, and I am sharing the details in this article.
I have read somewhere that there are over 30,000 WordPress themes available for you to pick for when building a website. But if you are targeting traffic from people who use feature phones and entry-level smartphones, you are mostly out of luck. Most of these WordPress themes are choked full of JavaScript and extra functionality that make them overbloated and unsuitable for the most basic cell phone broswers.
Why is anyone recommending a theme with parallax effects, moveable headers, grid styles, as the best WordPress theme for basic phones? What would these basic phones do with parallax effect or with those grids? Where would they get the required processing power and supported browser capabilities from?
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My long, tedious search
I have tried out theme after theme, from Astra to GeneratePress, to Neve, and more. All of them are unsuitable for creating a website meant to load on low resource mobile devices. During my search, I would run into article after article listing the best 30 (or 10) WordPress themes but not one of them addressed the need for a theme for basic phones.
As a matter of fact, eventually I realised that when an article has a title that says it lists multiple WordPress themes, it was likely no good for my search. What I was looking for was very specific, and if you are reading this article, it is likely what you are looking for, too.
I needed a theme that would strip off all the bloat and present lightweight pages that would load easily on the tiny screens of basic phones.
The ideal WordPress theme for basic phones
The ideal theme for basic phones will be one with no JavaScript, no complex or complicated, advanced features that put a strain on the low-end processors that basic phones use. I did hunt for such themes and found only one or two old discarded projects. The developers have up on them and moved on.
WPtouch is the best WordPress theme for basic phones
WPtouch is not a theme per se. You do not upload it as a theme. It is a plugin that activates a basic mobile-friendly interface for your WordPress blog. It strips off all the junk that is loaded with the theme that your blog is using, and gives it a more lightweight, faster theme that works extremely well for the most basic phones.
One of the great things about it is that it leaves your website’s desktop theme intact and continues to display that for non-mobile visitors. The mobile-friendly version displayed for mobile visitors works excellently on basic phones. And because the plugin removes junk from loading on mobile devices, what you end up with is a website with a small footprint and that passes Google Mobile test. This is exactly why I am convinced that it is the best WordPress theme for basic phones.
After downloading the plugin, upload it as a plugin (not as a theme) and activate it. After activating it, find it in your WordPress dashboard and click on Settings. This will open a page that lets you set it up, select a basic phone friendly theme, and customise it to your taste.
WPtouch makes your WordPress website load faster on mobile Web browsers, including: iOS (iPod, iPhone), Android Stock & Chrome Browsers, Firefox OS & Mobile Browser, BlackBerry Browser, Windows Phone (IE), Opera Browser (Opera on Android/iOS, Opera Mini on iOS, Coast), among others.
The basic WPtouch plugin is free, but there is a paid Pro version that provides you with more themes, extensions, extra features, and support. The Pro version is available for $45 only. If you do not need the Pro features, just use the free WPtouch plugin like that.
Having put it to use extensively, I heartily declare that WPtouch provides the best WordPress theme for basic phones. I have tested it on entry-level Android smartphones and feature phones, and it performs admirably.
WPtouch is not necessarily for everyone or every website. I do not use it on all my websites. If your target audience are mostly Apple iPhone users, for example, you really might have no need to install this plugin, as they have adequate processing power and Web Browser to handle the average bloated WordPress-based themes that you probably already use. Of course, using WPtouch can still translate to a better browsing experience for even iPhone users.
But you will get the best results when you want a website that will load fast and work smoothly on more basic mobile devices.
Free Download
Download the WPtouch plugin for free by clicking on this link.
If you will be so kind to let me know how your experience with WPtouch is, I would be most grateful. And should you know another theme that is great for basic phones, do mention it in the comments section below, so I can go give it a try.