I held my breath as I walked into the concert venue and showed the bouncer a ticket barcode on a three-inch, square screen.
“If it doesn’t go through, I can try something else,” I said quickly, worried that the barcode wouldn’t work. But just as Meadow founder Shreyas Narlanka promised me, the code I scanned onto the startup’s minimalist phone earlier that day worked fine.
“Cool phone,” the bouncer said, ushering me inside.
I’d done it. With Meadow’s bare-bones smartphone, I had called an Uber, streamed Apple Music during the ride, and entered the show. Not once did I need to touch my iPhone, which I only brought with me as a backup in case the ticket scan didn’t work.
“With so many dumb phones, the Brick, and everything, the messaging is like, ‘Slow down, focus on your work’ or whatever,” Narlanka says, explaining why his company chose to build a minimal phone. “But the reason we’re different is because we’re all about getting outside and unplugging and having a sick social life.”
Image Credits: Meadow
Go online, and you’ll see a growing mass of content and comments from people across the world feeling suffocated by being constantly connected via their smartphones and social media feeds. That’s resulting in a new device category that promises a reprieve.
Some of these devices, like the Light Phone, require users to completely give up their smartphone and switch to a simpler device. Others, like the Wisephone, offer a modern touchscreen device with a minimal UI and a few apps.
Still others are embracing more tactile form factors, like the Commodore Callback, which is a flip-phone with a touchscreen.
Meadow, meanwhile, is taking the middle road, intending to simply supplement your existing device. It runs Android, and so supports apps like Maps, Strava, Uber, Apple Music and Spotify.
It also has native apps for utilities like the camera, voice memos, notes, camera, text, calling, location sharing, and ticket scanning. 5mm adapter.
“I knew there were going to be times where I needed my phone,” Narlanka said. “I didn’t want a full replacement.”
You can’t make calls and send texts with your usual phone number, though — you’ll have to set up a new plan through a subscription plan with Meadow, which gives you a separate number to use while you’re on the go.
