The actual problem
Most people who want off their smartphone try it in one jump. Buy a basic phone, put the old one in a drawer, last four days, give up.
They don't fail from weak willpower. They fail because the phone is quietly load-bearing — banking, two-factor codes, maps, tickets, the group chat where the plans happen. Nobody plans for those, so the first practical thing that breaks ends the attempt.
And because leaving a platform means losing the people on it. That cost lands immediately, and it's scarier than any of the logistics.
Taper solves the migration. It assumes you already want to go.
How it works
- Every cut names its substitute. No week says "delete this". It says here's what you do instead, prove it works, then delete it.
- Gradual, not cold turkey. In controlled comparisons, reduction beat abstinence on usage and wellbeing four months later — with better compliance and fewer dropouts.
- The basic phone arrives halfway. The problem was never that the smartphone exists, it's that it's in your pocket. From week six it lives at a desk, and the rest of the programme removes your reasons to walk back to it.
- Repeating a week is normal. Nothing resets. There are no streaks — streaks are how one slip turns into quitting.
The twelve weeks
Prepare
01Contact auditWho you'd lose, and their numbers — while you still have them
Purge
02RecreationSocial and video down to once a day. Greyscale on, notifications off
03The bookendsNo phone in the first or last hour. An alarm clock, and a charger in another room
Relocate
04MediaMusic and podcasts move to something that isn't in your pocket
05Browser and newsLooking things up becomes a slot, not a reflex
06The second phoneBasic phone in your pocket. The smartphone becomes furniture
07CommunicationThe people who matter move to calls and texts
Sever
08MapsRoutes planned in advance. The first genuinely uncomfortable week
09MoneyWeb, phone and branch banking. Cards, not wallet
10Two-factorSmaller than its reputation — a basic phone still receives texts
11Getting aroundTickets, transport, parking, and whatever's left
Switch
12The switchBy now it should be an anticlimax
Nearly there
Taper is built by one person. It's with Apple for review now, and it'll be on the App Store shortly.
Leave your email and I'll tell you the day it's live.
And say something if you've got something to say. If you've tried this before and it didn't stick, where did it break? If you think a week is wrong, or one's missing, say that. Ideas, objections, "this bit wouldn't work for me" — all of it is more useful to me than a signup.
Your email is stored so I can tell you when it ships. Nothing else, no list, no tracking.
Support
Something broken, a purchase that didn't unlock, or a question about the programme — email jonny98.0@icloud.com and you'll get a reply from the person who wrote it, usually the same day.
Bought the full programme and it's not showing? Restore a previous purchase on the paywall re-checks it with the App Store. If that doesn't do it, email me.