YOU WANT to spend less time on your phone. But what is the best way to slash your screen time? The internet (ironically) has some ideas: chain your mobile to the wall; print out your Instagram feed on dozens of pieces of paper; or practise “appstinence” by ditching the device for long stretches. The latest method to go viral promises a more concrete solution: youngsters are turning to the Brick, an app-blocking device.
Representational image. (Pexels)
Reviewers declare that “the Brick changed my life” and “I won the war against my phone.” The grey cube, which costs $59 and is about the size of an AirPods case, claims to reduce screen time by three hours a day on average. To use the device, you choose the apps you would like to disable and touch your phone to the “brick”. When you are ready, you can tap your phone against it to “unbrick”.
The Brick has built up a following, especially among people aged 20-35. Downloads of the Brick app in January were up nearly 600% year on year, to 170,000, estimates Sensor Tower, a research firm.
And the device is part of a broader trend: the rise of anti-tech tech. There are a plethora of tools designed to remove digital temptations. Opal—an app that does the same thing as the Brick—claims it has kept users off their phones for over 200m hours since its creation in 2020. Others offer incentives or gamified experiences: on Forest, another app, the longer you stay off your phone the more virtual trees grow; nurture enough and the firm will plant a real sapling in Africa in your honour. Some people are foregoing flashy phones entirely: “dumb” phones without touchscreens, once a symbol of elderly tech ignoramuses, are now seen as a cool, wise choice.
There is a “big urge to disconnect”, says Ilya Kneppelhout of the Offline Club, a group that hosts hangouts and getaways where phones are forbidden. (The club has spread to 19 European cities and Bali since launching in Amsterdam in 2024.) Devices are also locked away at “unplugged” restaurants and cocktail bars, and on “digital detox” retreats. Anti-screentime influencers are packing #AnalogueBags (otherwise known as purses and backpacks) with pens, notepads, cameras and other curiosities from a bygone age. There are even rehab programmes for social media, which pledge to help phone-addled clients “engage more with the physical world”. It may sound a bit like Alcoholics Anonymous. Or better yet, Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous, which is a real thing.
You do not need to google to understand the reasons why people are trying to get off their phones. Many are experiencing what researchers call “digital overload”. There is a feeling that you must “always be reachable, always be connected”, says Zeena Feldman of King’s College London. Most American adults under 30 say their phone is the first and last thing they look at every day, according to a recent YouGov poll; nearly 40% sleep with it next to them in bed. Even internet lingo captures how bad this feels: phone addicts are said to be “chronically” online and “doom-scrolling”.
Concerns about data privacy and misinformation are also becoming more common. According to a study by EY, a consultancy, those seeking digital detoxes are worried about data leaks and rampant harmful content. Instead of juice cleanses, people are opting for data detoxes to get rid of “data bloat” (unwanted information about them online).
There is a paradox at the heart of the current trend, however. Gen Z may have declared 2026 “the year of analogue”, but they have done this on TikTok. The Brick has gone viral on social media; the Offline Club communicates largely through social media and email; and anti-screentime influencers make their money (you guessed it) on screens.
Perhaps that is why most digital detoxes fail: people are quickly drawn back to screens and apps. However, many say the Brick is the best tool they have tried yet. The secret is to place “distractions out of reach”, says Thomas Driver, the company’s co-founder: “Temptation is sidelined until you physically return to the Brick.” In a digital world, this bricks-and-mortar approach has merits.
