Brick combats distraction

Have you ever considered trading in your smartphone for a flip phone? Gen Z startup founders TJ Driver and Zach Nasgowitz understand this longing.

“We’re always on our smartphones and for some reason we just can’t shake that habit,” Driver said. “There are existing solutions out there like Apple screen time limits and some other products. We tried them and we’re like, ‘I’m still just using my phone all the time.’ We had talked, kind of half seriously about getting flip phones.”

The pair are childhood friends and graduates of the University of Wisconsin with degrees in Computer Science. They decided to work together to solve this problem faced by most of their peers, digital minimalists, nostalgic millennials, and parents looking to limit screentime.

“We were ruminating over this and then we had the idea that we could make some sort of a solution that turns our iPhones into flip phones,” Driver explained. “We fleshed that out and settled on a separate device that you can pair with your phone. When you tap your phone to this device, it turns the iPhone into a flip phone… the whole point of having the device was that once you leave the device, there’d be no way around it until you come back to the device. The existing solutions out there set limits for the apps on your phone, or you can block apps, but the common downside that we found with all of them is you can just ignore them whenever you want.”

The result of the collaboration is the newly launched Brick.

“Brick is a small physical device that pairs with an iOS app to act as a “key” for blocking distracting apps and notifications. When tapped by the iPhone, the device blocks all apps besides those deemed most important by the user.” The app lets the user decide which smartphone capability can be accessed when it is in Brick mode. The phone returns to full functionality when it is tapped on the device a second time.

Brick is affordable at $49 per device and there are no fees associated with the use of the required app.

“A lot of the existing solutions that are app blocking software, most of them are subscription based. We chose not to go down that route, at least at the present moment. Now you pay $49 and that includes the device and full access to the app indefinitely,” Driver said.

The iOS version of the software is currently available. Driver and Nasgowitz are working on a Android version of the software.

The bootstrapped company is focused on lean startup practices and hopes to avoid fundraising.

“We have two 3D printers right now…” Nasgowitz said. In total it takes an hour and a half to make a Brick device. We’ve been running those printers 24/7 for the last two months. Obviously, it’s a little unorthodox. It’s a lean startup philosophy. Before we invest in the thousands of dollars of tooling costs and molding, we can get a quality(product), we’ll just start in this way.”

To follow the growth of this emerging company, connect with Brick here.