Robbie is one of a growing number of Australians using \u201cdumbphones\u201d to try to disconnect from the onslaught of notifications and distractions that come through modern day technology.<\/p>\n
Reflecting phones more popular in the 2000s and early 2010s, so-called dumbphones lack a lot of the features of modern smartphones such as touch screens and even internet connection and social media applications.<\/p>\n
Robbie said those modern conveniences caused him to lose contact with the real world, and that losing his phone at a music festival was the perfect opportunity to try something new.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow I was living my life was actively frustrating me,\u201d he told 7NEWS.com.au, saying he felt like a \u201cslave\u201d to his smartphone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a smartphone it feels like it\u2019s attached to your hip, you always have it, it\u2019s always in your pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery spare second I would be pulling out my phone and going, reply, reply, reply, reply.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said a specific addiction to \u201cscrolling apps\u201d such as TikTok and Instagram had made him feel less creative and willing to leave the house.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9aa823792e10ff9893c337f1dc27638a7574cd3b.png\")
A young Aussie says switching from a modern smartphone to a \u2018dumbphone\u2019 paradoxically helped him feel more connected with the world. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n
Robbie said he decided to pick up a flip-phone for a fraction of the price of a new name-brand phone.<\/p>\n
He would still connect to social media through his laptop, but had lost the constant notifications while around the house or on the go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it, it made life so much better,\u201d Robbie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just blissfully offline, my brain was way more centred, focussed and less anxious.\u201d<\/p>\n
While disconnected from the wider world and the ability to instantly receive messages from friends and family, he paradoxically felt more connected with his immediate surroundings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt way more present … the way it felt when I was a kid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t all positives, though, as Robbie\u2019s job required connection to apps such as WhatsApp to manage staff at his bar \u2014 a task which grew more difficult without a smartphone.<\/p>\n
He returned to using a second-hand smartphone after several months, but with a new approach to make sure he wouldn\u2019t be as affected by it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got the smartphone back, I kind of resented it,\u201d Robbie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I did some things to make sure that it wasn\u2019t the same device that I was addicted to all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"While](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/89bad19b02a1214df784da8f8f22df6290d0eeaa.jpg\")
While he\u2019s had to shift back to a smartphone, he has made a number of changes to keep himself from becoming addicted to his phone again. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n
That includes only having one SIM card for both phones so he\u2019s only using the smartphone when it\u2019s needed and refusing to personalise it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy old phone had everything colour-coded and named and I had all these distractor apps downloaded \u2014 I just didn\u2019t do any of that stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is functionally a phone. It\u2019s got text, call and I do have Facebook Messenger on there, but I don\u2019t have anything that I can scroll with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those changes have meant he doesn\u2019t \u201cspend anywhere near as much time on the phone, just because I\u2019ve never touched it again\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with that middle ground, I feel like I preserved a little bit of what I had when I had the flip phone and still feel a bit more of the presence and a little bit more control of my time management,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Robbie said anyone else thinking of disconnecting from their smartphone should just \u201cdestroy it\u201d and quit \u201ccold turkey\u201d as it would reveal just how bad phone their addiction is.<\/p>\n
* Surname withheld for privacy reasons<\/p>\n