Light
- The Light Phone 2 is a gorgeous, minimalist "dumb phone" that can only do a handful of things.
- The phone doesn't have any apps. Instead, it can make calls, send texts, handle simple directions, and set alarms.
- Light, the company behind the phone, wants to make a device that is used as little as possible in an effort to get people off their smartphones.
- This is an installment of Business Insider's "Your Brain on Apps" series that investigates how addictive apps can influence behavior.
Brooklyn-based startup Light has set for itself an impossible goal: getting people to put down their smartphones.
Light launched in 2014 and debuted its first product a year later, the Light Phone. It could only make calls and tell the time. Light intended the phone to be something of a companion to your smartphone and a way to get people to leave their phones at home and go enjoy life.
Now, Light is back with its second product: the Light Phone 2, an upgraded version of its phone that might just replace your smartphone for good.
The second-generation device couldn't be coming at a better time. There's increased scrutiny on how too much screen time affects our brains, and a movement among even the most tech-savvy parents to limit how much access their kids have to smartphones. Apps that discourage too much smartphone use are gaining steam, and users are becoming wise to the tactics used our favorite apps use lure us in and keep us hooked.
This is why Light's new device is intentionally limited. The Light Phone 2 will be able to manage some of the key tasks that keep us connected - calling, messaging, and getting directions - while eliminating time-wasters like social media apps and games.
Here's how it works:
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