Parents turn to app-blocking phones to fight social media addiction

Mums group start business to launch Balance Phone in UAE

Samantha Bohnacker, Natalie Pietrobon and Amelia Haughey hope the Balance Phone can help cut screen time and improve quality of life. Victor Besa / The National

A Dubai mum who turned to a special smartphone that locks out the most addictive social media apps says no-frills handsets can cut screen time and improve quality of life.

Constructive hobbies and more time spent with her family are just two of the benefits enjoyed by Samantha Bohnacker, 44, since switching to a specially modified device which promises to reduce dopamine spikes through reduced phone use.

She said with the new software, which can only make calls, take photos and access closed platforms like Google Maps or ride-hailing and banking apps, her daily screen time plummeted from seven hours to three.

Ms Bohnacker, who is British and has two children aged 11 and 13, and her two business partners have now linked up with developers of the Balance Phone to bring the product to the UAE. Through their company, Kairos, they hope it can help other parents deal with concerns over children being exposed to harmful online content and limit their screen time.

“Instagram was my issue and I could get sucked in,” Ms Bohnacker told The National. She founded Kairos with two other mums facing similar challenges, Australian Natalie Pieteobon, 46, and Briton Amelia Haughey, 43. “Now my phone is just a tool to use when I need it.”

Ms Bohnacker has since taken up puzzles and knitting, and reads more in her free time. “I think we've all got slightly nervous about being bored, but there’s nothing wrong with being bored,” she said.

What is phone dependency?

In 2023, US think tank the Pew Research Centre polled 1,453 teenagers aged 13-17 about their screen habits. Researchers found 72 per cent found peace when not using their smartphones, while 44 per cent said devices made them anxious.

Meanwhile, almost half of parents and teenagers said they regularly argued about screen time, and 46 per cent of teenagers said their parents were distracted by phones when they tried to talk to them. Video-focused platforms TikTok and YouTube were the most popular apps.

Dr Jamil El-Imad, a fellow at Imperial College in London at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, said smartphones are neurologically engineered to capture and retain attention.

“They use the brain’s reward system since colourful objects and distinct notification sounds act as digital dopamine triggers,” he said. “When we see a notification or hear a ping, it creates a sense of anticipation and uncertainty. This intermittent reinforcement is highly addictive: it teaches the brain that checking the phone might lead to a social reward, releasing dopamine.”

Dr Jamil El-Imad, a fellow at Imperial College in London at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, said smartphones are neurologically engineered to capture and retain attention. Antonie Robertson/The National

Removing temptation

The Balance Phone's operating system currently only runs on Samsung devices. It is designed to be distraction-free with no colours or noises, removing the visual and audio tricks used by software developers to boost engagement time and drive advertising revenue.

“I realised when my daughter started secondary school, there needed to be a better option than an old Nokia-style phone,” said Ms Bohnacker. “I stumbled across the Balance Phone through my research, and it looked like everything we would want it to be.”

The Balance Phone was developed in Barcelona by two friends, Albert Beltran Feliu and Carlos Fontclara Bargallo. Since its launch in December, they have sold 750 phones and are looking to deliver more devices around Europe. The UAE is the first country outside of the continent to begin selling the modified Samsung handsets, which start at Dh1,160.

“We basically sell two solutions,” Mr Feliu told The National. “The first is just the software, so we can turn any Samsung into a Balance Phone. The other solution is handsets for parents that want to buy a first phone for their child.”

The phone remains compatible with all apps that have an endpoint. For instance, mobile banking apps that enable a person to log on, finalise a transaction and then put their phone away afterwards are enabled.

The only apps blocked are those that don't have such an endpoint. For instance, Instagram or Snapchat, which encourage a person to remain online and scroll for an unspecified purpose, for an unspecified period of time, are blocked.

The idea is that the Balance Phone enables you to have all the perks of a smartphone and the apps that ease quality of life in the modern world, but without some of the more addictive scrolling apps that can prove a distraction. “We wanted to create this sweet spot between these two categories, to create a phone that had the best of both worlds,” Mr Feliu said.

What is the UAE doing?

In February, government officials signed the UAE Children’s Digital Wellbeing Pact during the World Government Summit in Dubai. It looked to address serious risks to children’s online safety and well-being, and suggested that more than two hours of screen time per day increased the likelihood of higher blood pressure and type 2 diabetes in children.

Child protection was a central tenet of the pact, with 33 per cent of children in the UAE reporting being bullied online in a 2019 survey.

The UAE’s first digital detox clinic for children opened in Abu Dhabi in March, offering a programme to address the growing problem of screen addiction in young people.

The clinic, which is based inside the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre, Yas Clinic, offers a six-step system to help children and their families regain control over screen time. It begins with an attention span assessment, followed by a physical evaluation, physiotherapy sessions, psychometric therapy, eye tests, and finally long-term monitoring.

Making the internet safer

The WeProtect Global Alliance is a global network advocating for improved strategies for children to enjoy the benefits of the digital world, free from risks of sexual abuse and exploitation. Its executive director, Iain Drennan, said modified devices offering limited web access should form part of a broader approach to keeping children safe online.

“The Balance Phone is a tool that can be used to help achieve this aim, but should be considered as just one element of a multi-pronged approach to prevent online harm,” he said. “Our approach is to bring together experts from government, the private sector and civil society to collaborate to build effective solutions to the problem.”

Mr Drennan added that education is a “key element“ to preventing online harms and “needs to be considered alongside technological tools“ to equip parents, caregivers and children with the “knowledge and the means to engage safely and confidently in digital spaces”.