Gen Zers Are Snapping Up Flip Phones. They Might Be onto Something

> Osamah Qatanani, a 23-year-old content strategist in New York City, carries both an iPhone and a basic flip phone and estimates his usage is split 50-50. He views his “dumb” phone purely as a means for his closest contacts to reach him.

Mr. Qatanani, who already had an AT&T account for his iPhone, visited an AT&T store to add a $60 Alcatel Smartflip phone and its new line to his existing plan. He pays $30 a month for unlimited calls and texts, plus $1 toward the cost of the phone.

Sounds logistically complicated — he has two phones, two phone numbers, and has to pay more for it? That means texting conversations with friends are in multiple threads, which would be a PITA for all involved.

I can't imagine paying $30/mo (more than I pay for my iPhone's 2GB plan) for the privilege of adding a dumb phone.

There's something to be said for custom homescreens being the solution here, I impulse-bought a candybar phone, used it for a week, then remembered how awful hopscotch typing was. Far more useful is just using a minimal android launcher with phone, sms, a browser, maps and signal, etc. Then I went back to the normal android launcher with just those apps. I think it's more of a mindset thing than anything. I do miss physical qwerty though. (and yes, I am a gen-z-er)