Smart Dumbphone

I designed my own minimal smartphone. It has a great camera and every feature I need day-to-day, but it has cut my screen time by a third, from 3 hours to less than 1 on most days.

I'm more productive, my head is clearer, and my relationship with my phone is much healthier. Before, it was a daily struggle with wellbeing timers, which were annoying and often bypassed.

I used a mix of the Niagara launcher, accessibility features, customisations I built with Claude Code and a paperfeel screen protector to create an experience that feels truly mine.

For me, true zen is looking at the ocean. So, to finish it off, I designed a piece of digital art for the home screen that responds to the tide at my favourite beach.

This is the story of how I got there.

Tuesday

It happened in a flash. Before I knew it, my precious Pixel had been dislodged, my fingers grasped closed on thin air. I looked up in a daze at the back of its captor's head, zooming merrily into the distance. Until he stopped to wrestle a purse off another unsuspecting victim. Then off he went on his trusty e-bike, to sell my phone to China (probably).

Maybe I could take some comfort in the idea of it returning to its homeland?

Nope, not really, I was in central London without a smartphone, which is basically like not being a real person.

A PSA for anyone reading: he stole 15 phones in about 3 minutes. I called the police. They took half an hour to arrive and then told me to get another phone. Be careful out there people.

I made it back to my hotel, but not before getting hopelessly lost in the maze-like intersection that is Tottenham Court Road. Back in the comfort of my subterranean, windowless “cocoon”, with the Underground thundering past, seemingly in the bedroom next door, I adjusted to my new reality. I had a week in London, then a day in Brighton, with no way of getting a new SIM.

How would I pay for anything? Get anywhere? Talk to anyone? Set an alarm?!

Wednesday

I can't claim a full detox. I had my laptop, and I could do enough on it to get through the week. The hardest parts were banking, as my main bank is app-only, and getting around. I took to drawing paper maps. Reactions from friends and colleagues were varied, ranging from "Cool, real wayfinding!?" to "What on earth is that?", until they heard the full story.

Turns out, not having a phone is actually pretty great. Apart from the few things that are basically impossible, it's a relief not being bombarded with inputs every minute of the day.

For those few days, I found myself taking in my surroundings and interacting with the world in a way that felt fuller. It also meant talking to strangers. I'd usually avoid this at all costs, but it was fine, maybe even nice?

I decided to see the silver lining and started pondering: how could this change my life for the better?

Saturday

I returned home to my boyfriend, who looked very concerned.

“Where were you? I was worried something had gone wrong. I wasn't sure when you'd be back!”

Something had gone wrong. My train had ground to a halt at Fratton!? The all-too-familiar voice of the guard came over the tannoy with news that we wouldn't be going any further. I had to find a new way home. Thanks to a friendly guard and a kind stranger, I worked out a new route and got through a good chunk of my book.

Before I could start espousing my newfound philosophy, he surgically inserted his old Huawei into my hand. Looking at the home screen felt like walking into the digital version of a candy store.

There must be a better way. Surely someone has designed an experience that is functional, beautiful and doesn't completely take over your mental faculties?

Turns out it's harder to find than you'd think.

There are the E-Ink phones, like Mudita, Boox and Bigme, with their papery feel. The Mudita is pretty elegant, but I knew the limitations would get annoying fast.

There are the “BlackBerry” style button phones, like the Unihertz Titan and Clicks Communicator, but the price tag is hefty for the support, longevity and overall specs.

The final category is the truly hideous old-school burner phones the QIN Phone, TTfone and Nokia 6330. These run old versions of Android Go, often aren't supported and the hardware is flimsy. They're unlikely to be a sustainable option.

Most of these are degoogled and lack basic functionality like Android Auto, quality image capture, and the ability to run everyday apps like Monzo and WhatsApp.

So I took matters into my own hands, picked up a second-hand Samsung on Backmarket and designed my own.