Guide
Gifts for someone who is always on their phone.
The best gift for someone glued to their phone is not a lecture. It is something that takes over one of the phone’s small jobs, or makes the time without it more inviting. None of the ideas below is an app.
In short. Give the phone fewer jobs: a clock for the bedroom, a watch for the time, paper for the plans, a camera for the moments. Then give the free time something to hold: a book, a game, a class or a day out together.
Things that take over one of the phone’s jobs
- An alarm clock. The phone’s best excuse for sleeping next to the bed is the alarm. A clock ends it. More in your phone before bed.
- A watch without notifications. Checking the time is a common reason to pick up a phone, and a simple watch answers it without a single feed.
- A paper planner or a notebook. Plans and lists that do not ping.
- An e-reader or a stack of books. Long reading without a browser one tap away.
- A small camera. Instant or compact: photos of the day without the phone in hand.
- A music player or a speaker that plays the radio or a playlist without a phone to start it.
Things that fill the time without it
- A board game or a deck of cards for the table where phones used to be.
- A class or a workshop: cooking, pottery, climbing. Hands busy, phone away.
- A day out together, with one rule: phones stay in the bag. Some ideas in how to leave your phone at home.
- A charging station for the hallway, so the phone sleeps outside the bedroom. A small gift that changes evenings: an evening without your phone.
For someone serious about it
For a person ready to switch to a basic phone, the kindest gift is help with the switch: printed tickets, a paper map of the city, a list of numbers. What changes and how to cope: switching to a dumbphone.
A gift for later: Lychnos Ring
Lychnos Ring is being built to take over the phone’s small jobs from a finger: the time and the next meeting, an important email, a reminder, a quick answer. It is in development and will not ship this year; join the free list to hear when pre-orders open. See the AI ring you talk to.
Questions
What is a good gift for someone who wants to use their phone less?
Something that does one of the phone's jobs on its own, such as an alarm clock, a watch or a paper planner, or something that fills the time without it, such as a book, a game or an experience shared with you.
Can I give Lychnos Ring as a gift this year?
Not this year: it is in development and has no delivery date. Pre-orders are not open yet; the free list tells you first.