Generation Z is buying “locks” for their cell phones — and showing everything off online

Young people in Generation Z are trying to overcome cell phone addiction with the help of products that hinder the urge to scroll endlessly without having to give up their phone completely.

Amid the flood of videos preaching healthier eating, street running and sobriety, a phenomenon that has been gaining strength among young people — ironically, on social media — is the idea of ​​“digital detox”: spending time away from the most addictive apps on your cell phone to improve everything from your sleep to your ability to concentrate.

The trend has given rise to a wave of products that help people resist the temptation to automatically pick up their cell phone and open social networks at any time of the day.

One of the companies riding this wave is Bloom, creator of a US$39 device launched in 2024 by two university students. The stainless steel Bloom card works in conjunction with an app that allows the user to choose which apps to block and for how long. It is also possible to configure one, two or three five-minute breaks, during which blocked apps can be used. After the user taps the card on their cell phone, they are prevented from accessing these apps until they tap the card again.

Bloom co-founder Giancarlo Novelli, a senior at UCLA, said the product helped him reduce his cell phone use and solve his focus problems. He says Bloom could be an important tool for young people, given how serious smartphone addiction has become in recent years.

“In the 1900s, everyone smoked cigarettes, it was normal, until studies came out showing that it was harmful,” he said. “It takes time for these things to adjust, and I think it’s very similar with cell phone use.”

Short video apps like Instagram and TikTok — which, according to Novelli, are the ones he blocks most — only emerged in the last decade, he recalls. The consequences of the addictive nature of these applications, which he compares to “a slot machine in your pocket” because of the feel-good hormones they release in people, have not yet been fully studied.

In fact, a 2025 study by researchers at the University of Alberta noted that many articles published on the topic associate social media use with depression and anxiety, although this may depend on each person’s usage pattern.

Kristian del Rosario, a 28-year-old personal injury lawyer and digital influencer in New York, told AFP that she has seen a steady improvement in productivity since Bloom’s competitor, Brick, shipped one of her products — which normally costs $59. The company didn’t pay her to promote the item, although Del Rosario posted a video about the device earlier this month.

She says she likes Brick because the product creates an additional obstacle when she tries to automatically open her most used apps, unlike the iPhone’s Screen Time feature, which allows her to lock apps until she enters a password. As you need to touch your cell phone to the device to unlock apps, this helps to create a physical barrier and resist temptation in the moments when you need focus most, he said.

Brick founder TJ Driver told Brick that creating this separation between the person and the phone helps turn automatic doomscrolling into a more conscious decision.

“By adding this small moment of intentionality, Brick gives the user an instant to decide whether they really want to open an app or stay present,” said Driver in a note to the magazine.

At the same time, Del Rosario says he likes the fact that the product allows him to keep messages active — so he can talk to customers — and also turn off blocking when he’s on pause. The device even helped her reorganize her nighttime routine for the better.

“At night, instead of endlessly scrolling through my feed, it allows me to just relax, because I can’t access the apps,” he said.

Bloom and Brick’s physical devices can also represent an advantage among young people who increasingly prefer analogue to digital. From vinyl records to handwritten cards, Gen Z has been seeking real-world equivalents of services like Spotify or iMessage, both to reduce screen time and to recapture nostalgia for “tangible” things that many never get to experience.

The popularization of devices like Bloom and Brick also comes as the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, reacts to accusations that the app he runs is addictive. In a trial held this week against Meta, owner of the social network, in which a 20-year-old author claimed to have developed mental health problems because of an addiction to social networks, Mosseri said that there is a difference between “clinical dependence” and “problematic” use.

Whether or not it’s an addiction per se, Del Rosario says it’s clear that young people are having a hard time cutting down on their screen time, even when they want to.

“Generation Z, in general, is very obsessed with their cell phones, and this comes from the fact that it is through them that we consume information, discover what is happening in the world,” he said.

Novelli, for his part, wants to continue growing Bloom after he graduates later this year, including a possible expansion of features for laptops, which could also be a huge drain on time. According to him, even without scrolling the feed, you can get stuck in YouTube’s infinite autoplay or endless Netflix marathons.

Although the popularity of these app blocking devices is increasing — Novelli claims that the company has already sold more than 60,000 units — there are still doubts about their effectiveness, as most buyers discover the products online and talk about them on social media. This contradiction has led some, like columnist Alex Kirshner, a contributor to , to question whether influencers who say they use devices like Brick or Bloom are really being sincere.

“If I see an influencer post that they’re super committed to not being on their cell phones anymore, ‘look here my Brick’, I smell bullshit. I think that’s kind of made up, because the fact that you’re making that post goes against the idea that you’re trying to sell,” said Kirshner in an episode of the , (ICYMI) digital culture podcast.

Still, Novelli says he believes that social media, in itself, is not the problem. The real challenge, he says, is the automatic habit of picking up your cell phone to scroll through your feed all the time. Networks continue to be a great communication tool and can be especially useful, if used well, to spread the message that it’s important to cut back on excess screen time.

“There is no problem with the social network itself, as long as there is regulation. The question is: how do you regulate it in the best possible way for yourself?”, he concluded.