Adults and teenagers choose dumbphones to combat their social media addiction

His new phone only has text, calls, maps, and a few other limited tools.

“My friends' usage lasts about four to five hours, I think, and that's the same amount as mine before I got this,” he said.

“Now mine lasts about 20 minutes a day, which is really good because I only use it for what I need.”

Parents are also turning to dumbphones, not only for their children, but also to be more present with their family.

Lizzy Broughton, who has a five-year-old son, recently bought an old-school style Nokia 'flip' phone.

“It’s helped me recalibrate my own habits, I have a lot more quality time with my son,” she explained.

She says that when it's time for him to get his own phone, she'll choose a model that's just as sleek.

“Starting with a smartphone doesn’t seem like the best idea,” she said. “It’s like we’re putting the world back together, like we’re trying to figure out how to navigate it.”

Sales of dumbphones have increased in North America. At Dumbwireless in Los Angeles, store owners Daisy Krigbaum and Will Stults cater to customers looking for low-tech devices.

“A lot of parents are looking to get their child that first phone, and they don't want it to get lost on the Internet,” he said.

But giving up the smartphone is easier said than done. Mr. Stults said some schools require students to have certain apps. And it's hard to hold on when kids see their friends getting expensive smartphones, Ms. Broughton said.

“This is going to require a community of parents to really ask themselves: Can we do things differently? she says.

One workaround is to use a device called “unpluq,” which you press on the phone to wirelessly block certain apps, like social media.

“Parents can control the smartphone with this tag and also monitor its usage,” Stults said.

There are several phones that have now been developed specifically for users who want to avoid an addiction to mindless scrolling.

Chris Kaspar founded the company Techless to develop an “intentionally boring” but stylish device that looks a lot like an iPhone. The latest version is called “Wisephone II”.

“It has no icons, just words, two colors and two fonts.” He describes it as “very peaceful, very quiet”.

It will have some limited third-party tools, such as the taxi app Uber, but no social media.

“We ask ourselves this question: what is really good for us? » said Mr. Kaspar.

He first developed the phone with his adopted teenage daughters in mind and says 25% of their sales are to children, but it is marketed towards adults.

“If you own a phone designated as a children's device, there is a certain shame in that. So we created a very adult, sophisticated, Apple-style device, really cool,” he said.

With revenue from apps and social media advertising running into the billions of dollars, big companies have little incentive to encourage different habits, he said.

Meanwhile, Canadian teenager Luke says he plans to stick with his new device, much to the amusement of his friends.

“They think it’s pretty weird, but at this point I feel like it doesn’t really matter because it’s helped me so much,” he said.

“It’s definitely put me in a better place right now.”