A $5 NFC tag might just fix my phone addiction

NFC tags have recently emerged as a novel tactic for beating phone and social media addiction. This week, I put one to work to find out if they can actually help.

Short for Near-Field Communication, these cheap plastic tags use a small magnetic field to transfer a tiny bit of data between two devices. No batteries or charging needed.

NFC technology itself has been around before smartphones were even a thing.

You'll already be familiar with tapping your phone on a terminal to pay for a coffee. Or you might remember a brief trend in the 2010s where we bumped phones to swap numbers.

Both examples of NFCs at work. Touch a thing against another thing, and trigger an action.

But how might you use it for a digital detox?

Popularised by plucky startups Brick and Unpluq, the idea is that you choose which apps to restrict, tap your phone on a small plastic device, and you're locked out until you physically touch it again. Simple, but effective. Put the tag out of reach, and you break the cycle of lazily reaching for your phone every few minutes.

With no workarounds like ignoring or snoozing, these apps fully lock you out, adding a physical obstacle between you and whatever time-sink you've decided to declare war on.

And to Brick and Unpluq's credit, they've done a great job of building something that works, with very usable companion apps to keep things simple.

However, considering how rudimentary the technology is (and how cheap unbranded NFC tags are to buy), the price will be an issue for some (if not most) of the target market.

One Brick device sets you back around $60. And with Unpluq, you're looking at a $65 annual subscription on top of the cost of the device. Yikes.

So there must be a cheaper way, right? Right.

Here's how to do it for the price of a beer (sorry, tech bros).

For iPhone users, download Foqos (for free), Android users will want to grab Switchly or Lock. Next, pick up a pack of blank NFC tags from Amazon or eBay for around $5. I like the ones on a keychain, but you can buy a roll of adhesive stickers instead if you prefer.

Once your tags arrive, simply register one or more of your tags to Foqos/Switchly/Lock, put it somewhere in your house, and tell it which apps to block.

No subscription, no $60 price tag.

It's early days for me, but after blocking my noisiest apps, my screen time and daily pickups are drastically down.

My phone can still be in my pocket or on my desk, but having to get up, walk to the kitchen, and tap the fridge is just enough effort to eat away at that pesky muscle memory.

It seems I'm pitting my addiction against my greatest superpower, laziness.

And when I'm out and about, I've got one on my keys should I want to unlock my chosen app on the go.

Less drastic than rage-quitting the whole app itself, more effective than soft limits, timers, or a greyscale filter.

And I have it on good authority that most NFC tags will last 10,000 to 15,000 scans before you need to replace them. Plenty of time to kick the habit.

~ Tom