PERTH, AUSTRALIA / RankWire.AI / – A recent study conducted by Edith Cowan University links the rising popularity of vintage phone accessories to efforts aimed at distancing oneself from smartphones. Dr Jess Hardley’s research explores how individuals manage devices that have become integral to daily routines. This includes wall-mounted smartphone docks and handsets with traditional coiled cords, as well as behaviors that make phones less readily accessible. The study builds on over ten years of work with Australian smartphone users, examining various practices to limit device engagement.
The research emphasizes physical separation from phones rather than just reducing screen time. Participants reported leaving their devices in different rooms or locking them away during specific periods. One individual kept a phone in a work drawer after mobile gaming began to impair their concentration. Hardley’s team also documented measures like app restrictions, greyscale settings, and other modifications intended to reduce immediate access. The findings highlight intentional changes in how people physically handle and store smartphones.
Part of this pattern includes retro phone accessories. Some products enable users to position their smartphones in fixed locations instead of carrying them around. Others connect modern devices to handsets inspired by traditional landline phones. Alongside these accessories, Hardley’s research also considers phone-free events and locking pouches used at concerts. The study does not assess whether individual products directly improve concentration or well-being but instead focuses on how users are altering the physical connection they have with their devices.
Physical distancing becomes integrated into smartphone usage
Within the paper, these practices are contextualized within a broader history of mobile phones becoming deeply embedded in daily routines. Smartphones serve as multifunctional devices that combine communication, entertainment, work tools, cameras, payment options, and internet connectivity. Hardley’s study explores what occurs when users intentionally make these devices less accessible. Physical distance is described as one method of modifying smartphone habits, and the research also considers how device restrictions are applied in homes, workplaces, events, and communal settings.
The paper, titled Revisiting the ‘Snug Tether’: Smartphones in an Era of Scroll-Free Social Events, Landline Accessories, and Device Bans, was published in M/C Journal. It investigates scroll-free social gatherings, vintage landline accessories, phone jails, and restrictions on smartphone use. Hardley revisits earlier academic ideas about mobile phones being kept close to their users. The new research emphasizes practices that break that proximity and examines who participates in different forms of distancing from smartphones.
Device restrictions extend beyond individual behaviors
This research coincides with measures in Australian education to restrict mobile phone use in schools. From Term 1 of 2024, Australian education ministers agreed to ban or limit phones in all public schools. A 2025 survey involving nearly 1,000 New South Wales principals reported changes following the implementation of these restrictions. According to the federal education ministry, 87% of respondents indicated that students were less distracted in classrooms, while 81% observed improved learning outcomes. These policies represent institutional efforts to limit phone access during specific periods of the school day.
Hardley’s work continues to focus on how individuals manage their relationship with smartphones as these devices remain deeply embedded in everyday life. The study identifies physical separation, reduced accessibility, and phone-free environments as key strategies users adopt. Retro accessories are seen as part of this broader spectrum of practices rather than a distinct technological category. Edith Cowan University released its summary of these findings on Aug. 18, 2026, providing further documented insights into the evolving patterns of smartphone use in Australia.