The old phone in your drawer is your kid's first phone (you just don't know it yet)

Ofcom's 2026 report found smartphone ownership jumps from 56% at age 10 to 83% at age 11. The move to secondary school is the moment most families give in. Most of us already have the hardware: an upgrade-cycle iPhone or Android sitting in a drawer. The problem was never the phone. It's what's on it, and when.

Brickify turns that phone into a brick phone: calls, texts and whatever you've both agreed. Then it moves to a more open profile at the times you've set. It's £4.99 once. It works on iPhone 8 / iPhone X or newer (iOS 16+) and Android 8.0 or newer.

You still need a SIM, a decent battery and I'd advise a factory reset before you hand it over. Also, if it no longer gets security updates, think twice. But despite this, Brickify is much easier than a brick phone and definitely safer than an open phone.