YB i had the same situation about 1 1/2 yrs. ago, i had been with Verizon for 7 or 8 yrs and speaker went bad on my flip phone. They said they didn't have a comparable and insisted on sending me a smart phone with all the garbage you're talking about, i had it for about 2 weeks and said hell with this. So went looking and i found a flip phone at AT&T at $43.00 a month ( no texting but after 2 mo's they gave it to me anyway for free) Since i already had AT&T home service and DSL, i went with it. I save $15.00 on my combination phones and DSL and Verison lost a customer.
If i would have kept the smartphone i would have had to pay more for sure.
Bottom line, i'll never go with a smart phone with all the stupid apps, that i don't need
Zip.