Photo by Alice Denysenko on Pexels.

I got a second phone to get off my phone.

I know how that sounds. I’m not getting rid of my iPhone. All my life is tied into that phone. But it’s also where all the apps are, and I wanted a way to take a break from it without being out of reach.

So I got a Pixel 11 and made it the opposite of my iPhone. There’s no social media on it. I built my own home screen, so when I pick it up I see what I actually care about, like how Small Town Capital is doing, and not a wall of apps trying to get my attention.

The part I thought would be hard was texting. If I leave my iPhone in another room, I still need to get my messages. I use BlueBubbles for that. It runs on an old MacBook of mine that stays on all the time, and it sends my iMessages to the Pixel. Same number, same conversations, and nobody on the other end knows I’m on a different phone.

It’s only been a few days, so I can’t tell you it changed my life. I did have a rough start. An update hit overnight and the phone’s eSIM stopped working, so a replacement is on the way.

But I already like picking up a phone that doesn’t want anything from me.