When Lydia Peabody saw her friend pull out a flip phone at a party last year, she burst out laughing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018Girl, what are you doing with that thing? That has to be a joke!\u2019\u201d Peabody told TechCrunch. But it wasn\u2019t just a prop \u2014 her friend was participating in Month Offline<\/a>, a community challenge<\/a> in which a small cohort of people exchange their smartphones for flip phones.<\/p>\n Peabody couldn\u2019t fathom giving up her smartphone, but her friend inspired her. A year later, her life looks different. She left her career as a licensed therapist to become the founding CMO of Dumb Co<\/a>, the flip phone company that grew out of Month Offline. She\u2019s happier.<\/p>\n \u201cI did Month Offline, and I was like, \u2018Whoa, why am I suddenly not anxious? Am I feeling good?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know that this is what I needed, and that spending this much time on my screen after work was causing me to feel so yucky.\u201d<\/p>\n Dumb Co sells flip phones that sync to your smartphone, rather than replace it, forging a happy medium between the infinite connectivity of the iPhone and the unrealistic limitations of an early 2000s relic. Funded by friends and family, the company is run by a small team in their 20s and early 30s. Like their peers, they\u2019re dissatisfied with the fast pace of plugged-in, frictionless life<\/a>. They grew up with iPads and Instagram but now crave something simpler<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the humble shell of a $20 TCL flip phone<\/a>, Dumb Co loads its own software so that users can access apps like WhatsApp, Spotify, Apple Music, and Uber. You can even access iMessage through a third-party app (shh, don\u2019t tell Apple). By packaging familiar comforts like music streaming, maps, and blue bubble texts in a flip phone, Dumb Co is creating something for people who want to reduce their screen time and be more present but struggle to fully disconnect in a world built for the smartphone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are trying to make something where you can leave your smartphone at home and literally just live your life and engage with other people,\u201d Afreka Ebanks, Dumb Co\u2019s communications director, told TechCrunch. \u201cAnd when you want to be on your smartphone and you come back home, you can use it, because the feature for call forwarding and text forwarding can be turned off.\u201d<\/p>\n I spent over a month testing the device \u2014 which Dumb Co calls the Dumb Phone \u2014 buoyed by the knowledge that in case of emergency, I always had my iPhone on hand. I didn\u2019t use the Dumb Phone that much at first, but as I carried it around to show my friends, I noticed that they weren\u2019t confused by my flip phone \u2014 they were envious of it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been getting into a lot of interesting conversations with people as I\u2019m walking and someone sees me at the stoplight like, \u2018What is this thing you have?\u2019\u201d said Ebanks, who bedazzled her flip phone. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great conversation starter, and I think it\u2019s incredible watching people \u2014 myself included \u2014 work through the awkwardness of socializing with others, because I\u2019m no longer distracted because I\u2019m looking down at my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dumb Phone is clunky at times. It\u2019s slower than I\u2019m used to, and I end up spending more time typing T9 texts than if I just used my iPhone (what I really want is a dumb Sidekick<\/a> with a QWERTY keyboard). Yet there\u2019s something undeniably refreshing about knowing that if you want to open social media, take a picture you\u2019ll never look at again, or check your email, you can\u2019t.<\/p>\n When I talked to Peabody toward the end of my month of dual iPhone\/flip phone ownership, she asked if I had ever left the house with just my flip phone. I confessed that I had not. I explained that sometimes I need to check public transit schedules, or keep up with Slack if I go to an appointment during the day.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is, when you say the word need, it almost gives the same meaning as like, \u2018I need food or shelter,\u2019\u201d Peabody told me. \u201cYeah, sure, it\u2019s actually helpful to know when the buses are coming, but if you don\u2019t have that information, you turn to your neighbor and say, \u2018Do you know when the next bus is coming?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Peabody dared me to leave my iPhone at home. The day we spoke, I had already planned to report on an event at a library<\/a> across town. I tried to explain that I had never been to this library and wasn\u2019t sure what subway stop to get off at. She told me to just write down directions before I left. I worried that I wouldn\u2019t be able to record interviews at the event. She told me that the Dumb Phone can record audio.<\/p>\n \u201cI really, really want you to do this, because I know that this is something that\u2019s best experienced,\u201d Peabody said. \u201cWhen I switched to a Dumb Phone last summer, I did not use my smartphone for seven weeks, and I went on a cross-country road trip to New Mexico. I did not think I could do that, but I\u2019m telling you that you can.\u201d<\/p>\n I was running out of excuses. Peabody drove thousands of miles without a smartphone. How could I tell her that I needed my iPhone so that I could triple-check that Tasker-Morris is the right train stop?<\/p>\n Smartphones and social media are not a one-sided evil. There\u2019s real value in connecting with friends online, sending pictures of your dog to your grandma, and using Apple Pay when you forget your wallet. While researchers don\u2019t classify smartphone dependence<\/a> like they would a substance addiction, there are certainly parallels. Not everyone has an adversarial relationship with their phone, but for people like me, more screen time often makes me feel more anxious, unfocused, and less grounded. Peabody even compared her relationship with her phone to getting hooked on Juul<\/a> in college.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really, really hard, but I totally broke that addiction, and now when I see a vape or something, I actually detest it \u2014 I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh no, I do not want that,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I turned off my smartphone for seven weeks, I would think about using it again, and I felt that same repulsion. I actually didn\u2019t look at it or touch it.\u201d<\/p>\n I was nervous to leave my iPhone at home, but I trusted my knowledge of the transit system and managed to get myself across town without my iPhone (I will admit, I texted someone just to be extra super sure<\/em> that the library is off the Tasker-Morris stop). When I needed to send a text that was too long for T9 typing, I sent a voice message. I felt more connected with the world around me, and nothing went wrong.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t see myself exclusively switching to the Dumb Phone, but I find it valuable as a tool to help me pay more attention to how and when I\u2019m using my smartphone. The Dumb Phone ships with a black velour pouch, which you\u2019re supposed to put your smartphone in when you leave it at home. I can\u2019t quit the iPhone cold turkey, but I tossed the velour pouch in my bag on a beach trip, just in case. I used it for a few things, like ordering food and checking train times. But while I enjoyed a day on the beach, I didn\u2019t take out my phone. I had a book, a sandwich, two bottles of water, some sunscreen \u2014 what else could I need?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. 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