Balance Phone, the 'boring' alternative to mobile bans for kids 

Balance Phone is a new phone, partnered with Samsung, designed to block addictive content while promising to "give back three hours a day."

The operating system (OS) restricts access to social media, games, gambling sites, pornography, and streaming platforms, in a bid to halt people's "muscle memory" of opening addictive content.

The phone’s interface is intentionally “simple and boring, in a good way” to minimize distractions and ensure users focus only on what they need, according to Albert Beltran, co-founder of Balance Phone.

Amid ongoing debates over how to manage children's and teenagers' use of mobile phones, Balance Phone offers a middle ground between basic feature phones, designed mainly for calls, and full-featured smartphones often associated with such addictive content.

Beltran told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the goal is to create a device "focused on functionality and detached from entertainment."

Born from personal experience

The project was inspired by Beltran's and co-founder Carlos Fontclara’s personal experiences.

Two years ago, at the age of 23, they attempted to “detach” themselves from their smartphones by deleting addictive apps. However, they found the approach ineffective as they would continually reinstall the apps.

They tried implementing strict time limits, but these were easily bypassed. Frustrated, they turned to basic phones with limited capabilities, only to abandon them after two days.

What they missed, Beltran explained, were the apps that added value to their daily lives, such as banking apps, maps, or scheduling tools. This led them to design a device that kept all essential functionalities while blocking more harmful content.

The company favors "intentionality," Beltran explained, "which is only opening an app when you really want to open it. So not using muscle memory."

"It’s happened to us all, you take out your phone to go to the calculator and you don’t know how, but you’ve just spent half an hour on Instagram," he says.

Initially, Balance Phone was targeted at all mobile users, but it gained particular traction among parents concerned about their children’s exposure to addictive content. Currently, most Balance Phone users are children aged 9 to 16.

“Reclaiming three hours a day”

To curb excessive phone use, the company initially developed an app to transform Android phones into Balance Phones. Launched in March, the app was downloaded 15,000 times.

However, Beltran noted it only worked for those with strong willpower, as users could easily uninstall the app and revert to a conventional smartphone.

To make the solution more effective, they partnered with Samsung to launch pre-configured phones with the system built-in, making the decision to disconnect from addictive content “irreversible.”

The average daily use of a Balance Phone is one hour and 17 minutes, which the company claims allows users to "reclaim three hours a day."

According to UNICEF, 31.6% of adolescents spend more than five hours a day online, a figure that rises to 49.6% on weekends.

However, Beltran stressed that real change must come from users themselves. "This isn’t a product for the masses, it’s for people aware of their addiction and ready to address it," he said.