Cyber celibacy, digital minimalism, dumbphone summer - whatever you call it, there's one snag. This page is about the snag.
You switch to a flip phone or a Light Phone, delete the socials, and life gets roomier - until you need one fact. Directions-adjacent questions, a recipe ratio, whether the pharmacy's open Sundays. The old answer was "ask your smartphone", and the whole point is not having one.
GumLeaf is the workaround: a number any texting phone can ask anything.
It can't become a feed. GumLeaf only ever answers what you asked. No notifications, no infinite scroll, no "while you're here". The interaction has a floor and a ceiling: one question, one answer.
It works on the dumbest phone you can buy. If it sends SMS, it's enough. No app store, no data plan, no account, no login.
It keeps the exits sealed. The usual relapse starts with "I just need to look one thing up." Now you don't need the browser back - the lookup comes to you as a text.
It forgets you. No conversation history is stored on any plan. A tool, not a relationship.
"Substitute for buttermilk" · "weather in Portland tomorrow" · "what time is sunset" · "how late is walgreens open usually" · "BART Rockridge" · "settle a bet: how many hearts does an octopus have"
1. Save +1 252-486-5323 as "GumLeaf" before you retire the smartphone.
2. That's it. That was the whole setup. Feels good, right?
10 answers a month free (30 your first month); Plus is 75 for $4.99 - still cheaper than the data plan you just quit.