Put Your Phone in an Envelope


I seriously have no idea right now what to think about this one:

In October, Google debuted experimental apps focused on digital well-being, including one that offered a notification mailbox, another that tracked how long you went between phone unlocks and even one that let you print the information you needed from your phone for the day so you wouldn’t have to use your phone, to name a few. Now, Google  has added three more apps to its unique collection with the launch of a Screen Stopwatch for tracking screen time, another that lets you visualize your phone usage as bubbles and a third that lets you put your phone in an envelope… wait, what?

The team’s new Envelope app helps you to still use your phone for basic functions, like making or receiving calls or using the camera to take photos. But all this is done from inside a paper envelope custom-designed for your phone. To wrap up your phone, there’s a printable PDF for Google Pixel 3a phones that you print at full scale, then cut, fold and glue. The end result is a paper phone sleeve that leaves room for the camera and offers a numerical keypad on the front, in case you need to make calls.

The app, meanwhile, helps to make the buttons light up to be seen through the paper.

(https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/22/googles-new-experimental-apps-focus-on-reducing-screen-time-including-one-that-uses-a-paper-envelope/)


So, people are going to wrap their phones in a cute little paper envelope so that usage is limited to just the camera and phone.

And if they have to look up a number or check an important incoming text or get walking directions to the nearest ATM, they rip off the envelope?

Then take the time to put-on a new envelope?

And what happens if the envelope gets wet?


Not sure I fully comprehend the reasoning on this one yet.  I'll let it simmer in the deep recesses of my noggin for awhile and see if a light bulb pops on.


Grace & Peace & Love to you all -

Matt