28-Year-Old Australian Curbs Smartphone Addiction With Dumbphone, Then Adopts 1-SIM Rules
Updated
Updated · 7NEWS · Jun 13
28-Year-Old Australian Curbs Smartphone Addiction With Dumbphone, Then Adopts 1-SIM Rules
2 articles · Updated · 7NEWS · Jun 13
Summary
After losing his smartphone at a music festival, 28-year-old bar manager Robbie switched to a flip phone and said the break from constant notifications made him feel less anxious and more present.
Scrolling apps such as TikTok and Instagram had left him feeling like a “slave” to his phone, less creative and less willing to leave the house, prompting him to seek a hard reset.
Several months later, work demands at his bar — including WhatsApp staff management — pushed him back to a second-hand smartphone, but he limited it with one shared SIM and no scrolling apps.
That stripped-down setup leaves the device mainly for calls, texts and Messenger, a middle ground Robbie says preserves some of the control and focus he found while using the dumbphone.
Robbie’s experience reflects a wider trend of Australians turning to basic phones to cut digital distraction, even as jobs and social life still pull many users back to smartphones.