Very curious to hear how you went phone-free and what your setup looks like
When I leave home for less than a day I pack no electronics of any kind and enjoy the peace in my own head to think about the next problems I want to solve in my universe.
I pay with cash exclusively in public so tap and pay is not an issue. If I ever need to be reachable for emergencies I can carry a pager but so far this has not been worth it.
I put that in the same bin as all the “Stop doomscrolling” apps. You can’t prevent doomscrolling by adding another app on your phone. Get rid of the phone (and all other screens), one does not need to be able to look up everything in a moments notice. Write it down on a paper and do it later.
Anyone can grab a remote and access to summon shared entertainment, order food, do shared research, fact check something, etc... but said screens are just linux machines with no proprietary software or magic addictive algorithms. Just tools.
Also when we walk away from them they do not follow us, and they cannot notify us.
It has completely changed the way my family and I interact with, and separate ourselves from, the internet.
If my phone battery died, I used to panic. Now with no phone, when I leave home, I am just... present, and can get lost in my own thoughts again. A skill I lost for decades with distractions always in my pocket.
Really just moving the screens further away, tethering them to walls, and ditching all proprietary addictive software is easier. Also a couple TVs and mini pcs cost less than one modern smartphone and covers the whole family.