google designs 'digital wellbeing' envelope that hides your phone from yourself

google has expanded on its digital wellbeing initiative with a paper envelope designed to conceal your smartphone. developed by london-based design studio, special projects, the envelope intends to give users a break from the digital world by transforming their phone into a simpler device.

images courtesy of google and special projects

it forms part of a series of envelopes design by special projects that limit a smartphone’s functionality. one envelope turns your phone into a very basic device which can only make and receive calls, while the other turns your phone into a photo and video camera with no screen. printed buttons subtly light up, allowing the user to dial or take photographs.

the intention was to create a calm but magical user interface that can be downloaded at home and printed out. the envelopes currently only support the google pixel 3a and can be downloaded from the app on the play store with the code also available on github.

‘we were inspired by a recent trend where people purchase a second, simpler phone for holidays and weekends, as a way of limiting their access to technology,’ the studio explains. ‘we wanted to create a more accessible version of this, which would enable people to try a day without a phone without committing to purchasing a new device.’

‘we explored the idea of making the envelope more durable, out of materials like tyvek but we felt that this would be a temporary product, not destined to be used forever,’ special projects adds. ‘we also felt we would increase the chances of somebody sticking to their goals by making the envelope destroy itself when it is unsealed.’

google also unveiled the activity bubbles app, which has been designed to help users discover what their phone usage looks like. each time you unlock your phone, a new bubble will be added to your wallpaper. the more you unlock and use your phone, the bigger the bubbles grow. other wellbeing experiments include a printable paper phone and a screen stopwatch to show you how long you use your phone for each day.