Go ahead and open your screen-time and see what the most-used apps are. Mine, by far, are Instagram and YouTube. Tik-tok\u2019s blocked where I live, so that\u2019s probably the only reason I don\u2019t have it there, but I log in at least 4-5 hours of scrolling and videos every day on my phone. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s healthy, I don\u2019t even recommend it. But it\u2019s the reality and I\u2019m sure there are a bunch of people just like me who use their phone predominantly for staying connected, and secondarily for productivity.<\/p>\n
The \u201cThreads Phone\u201d by NARZ dives headfirst into that logic, offering a phone tailor-made to the social experience. Designed mainly for browsing, it borrows from another device that was tailor-made for browsing \u2013 the iPod. As much as the iPod was a music player, it was also insanely good at letting you browse through a massive collection of music. Thousands of songs in your pocket was quite literally Steve Jobs\u2019 pitch, so it was important for the iPod to let you toggle through those songs effectively. NARZ simply took that logic and applied it to all of Social Media.<\/p>\n
Designer: NARZ<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The phone comes with a screen, but also sports actual controls to let you access and interact with social media posts. A jogwheel enables scrolling, the like and comment buttons are self-explanatory, and a repost button works best within Threads, X, Bluesky, or the Fediverse. There\u2019s also an easy to access Back button so you aren\u2019t reaching for the top of the screen like you would on most phones.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NARZ designed the phone especially for Threads use, which is a fairly non-confrontational way of saying it\u2019s for X users too. Plus, given Threads is literally Instagram\u2019s little sibling, the phone works fairly well with IG\u2019s interface, allowing you to scroll using the jogwheel, while also tap on directions to slide between the different sections of the app, and click the center button to do things like open DMs, etc.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean the touchscreen doesn\u2019t work. It\u2019s still a touch phone the way Blackberries are touch phones. However, the added benefit of social-ready hardware controls make the phone a breeze to use if you\u2019re a bit of a social media junkie like I am. The concept doesn\u2019t detail out the back of the phone, but it\u2019s safe to assume that there\u2019s a camera on there, making the Threads Phone just like your standard smartphone, just optimized for a certain type of use.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NARZ doesn\u2019t stop there, though. On their Instagram<\/a>, the designer also describes as the phone working as a Chromecast remote \u2013 an odd choice, but given that the jogwheels and buttons are already there, adding a set of features to the existing hardware sounds, well, deliberate. The device is currently in a concept stage, but it does make the case for hardware buttons on phones. Sure, we\u2019ve seen companies go the Blackberry route by reviving QWERTY keyboards on devices (a la Clicks Communicator<\/a> and Unihertz Titan 2 Elite<\/a>), but I could see a device like this working too. After all, only a fraction of your time spent online actually involves typing text. The rest is still browsing and non-verbal interactions \u2013 so why not do what the iPod did so well? Browse?!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The post A \u201cSocial Only\u201d Smartphone inspired by the iPod lets you like, share, and scroll using hardware buttons<\/a> first appeared on Yanko Design<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Go ahead and open your screen-time and see what the most-used apps are. Mine, by far, are Instagram and YouTube. Tik-tok\u2019s blocked where I live, so that\u2019s probably the only reason I don\u2019t have it … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n