Brickify
My sons' school went smartphone-free. I thought that was brilliant in principle. In practice, I'd already promised them a safe phone for some particular apps at weekends. There was an old phone in a drawer, too good to throw away and too distracting to hand over as it was.
The options I looked at
- A basic phone was cheap, but it had no maps or music, and they'd have outgrown it by spring.
- A kids' smartphone was around £200, plus a subscription.
- Screen Time was good, but every change in their week meant re-editing settings, and our family isn't all on one platform.
So I built what I wanted
I'm an engineer by training (Cambridge MEng), so I built what I wanted. I began with a much more permissive idea, "Big Sister", which was very open but flagged dangers as the kids used the phone. However, there were just too many dangers! Testing that app, I realised it's just too dangerous to let my kids roam free online and then follow up if something bad happened.
So I made Brickify. It's on the phone with blocking profiles that swap themselves, and two keys to override them. I put a £4.99 one-off price on it, with no subscription, because I didn't want parents paying monthly for a rule.
What it can't do
The next part is what I'd want to know as a parent. I wrote a public page listing exactly what Brickify can't stop and how we mitigate those risks: factory resets, web content inside allowed apps, and on iPhone, a buried Screen Time toggle. If a product for children can't tell you its limits, don't trust it.
I use it too
Now I use Brickify for myself too! I tend to doomscroll the news at night, and sometimes install a game to binge on my phone really late. So I make sure I have a very Bricked phone at night. It gives me the pause I need before I open a news app or download a Sudoku game from the Play Store!
What's next
The school doesn't allow phones even in bags, but in future I want to work with them, and with the high schools my boys go on to, so a school can scan a Brickified phone to prove it meets their dumb-phone policy. More on that in time.
For now, my boys are happy, and I'm happy: I didn't have to buy a new phone. At Christmas they'll get a very Bricked phone. It opens up at weekends for the safe, fun apps I allow, has Purple Mash and Times Tables Rock Stars on school days, and can make calls at any time, like a landline. Gradually, as they grow up and build their digital literacy, I'll change the profiles and add things.
Ready to Brickify it?
On your schedule. One-time purchase, no tracking.
