Less Online

A guide on getting space from your phone.

About

This guide is intended to simplify the process of changing your relationship with your phone. It covers minimalist phone configurations, behavioral systems, and apps to help you figure out what changes are most sustainable to integrate into your life.

No ads or affiliate links. We made this initially to share with friends and family.

The Paths

Path 01

A phone lying on a wooden table, its screen blank

Make Your Smartphone Minimalist

Tools for Headspace

Read →

Path 02

Get a Minimalist Phone

For outings, or instead of your iPhone

Read →

For either pathBehavioral Changes Read →

// Us

We are artists who care deeply about regaining the depth and awareness of the analog mind for ourselves and our community.

We built Decaf, a desktop software that attempts to a) make texting feel more intentional and b) solve one of the reasons people find dumb phones impractical.

The Why

Selected essays from people going less online — the philosophy, what's to gain, and how it's going.

The philosophy On The Death of Daydreaming Christine Rosen · After Babel Phones have filled the in-between minutes when our minds used to wander. She argues a little boredom is good for us, and ends with a simple "just daydream" experiment. Read → The philosophy How Social Media Shortens Your Life Gurwinder · The Prism Feeds break our time into disconnected pieces that memory can't turn into a story, so the days blur together and life feels shorter. Read → What's to gain Aren't You Lonely? Freya India · After Babel People ask if quitting social media makes her lonely. She argues the apps turned friendship into upkeep, and that logging out is how deep friendships come back. Read → What's to gain The epidemic of constant communication Amanda Brown · good riddance Being reachable has become an obligation, so love and friendship get measured by how fast we reply. She argues for trust that doesn't depend on replying right away. Read → How it's going My first year without an iPhone Katie Lowe · RAYON She moved her SIM to a $25 Nokia, left every group chat and kept her messages on her laptop. A month-by-month account of what changed in her work and her head over the year. Read → How it's going Why It's Basically Impossible to Not Have a Smartphone Tom Froese · Mr. Tom Froese An illustrator and dad on why his switch to a basic phone didn't last (group chats stopped reaching him), going back to a stripped-down iPhone, and 10 tips. Read → All 51 essays →