Flip Phone Makers Embrace Limits Rather Than Smartphone Escape

Dumb Co and Commodore are retrofitting basic flip phones to run a handful of essential apps—WhatsApp, Spotify, Uber—instead of positioning themselves as smartphone alternatives. The devices sync with users' primary phones at $20 retail, handling calls and texts while keeping the main device at arm's length. Earlier minimalist phones failed because total digital abstinence rarely survives real-world logistics. Whether this approach meaningfully reduces smartphone use or simply extends it across two screens remains unclear.