PERTH, AUSTRALIA / RankWire.AI / – According to new findings from Edith Cowan University, efforts to limit smartphone access and embrace retro phone accessories reflect a broader trend towards creating physical distance from digital devices. The research, led by Dr Jess Hardley, explores how individuals are managing devices that have become integral to daily routines. It covers the use of wall-mounted smartphone docks, traditional landline-inspired handsets, and practices that reduce phone accessibility. Hardley’s study is based on over ten years of work with Australian smartphone users.
The research emphasizes physical separation from phones rather than merely limiting screen time. Participants shared strategies such as leaving devices in separate rooms or locking them away for certain periods. One individual kept a phone inside a work drawer after mobile gaming began to interfere with concentration. The study also highlights app restrictions, greyscale display settings, and other modifications aimed at reducing immediate device access. These findings focus on conscious adjustments in how people store and handle their smartphones.
Retro accessories for phones form another element of this shift. Some products enable users to place their smartphones in designated locations instead of carrying them around. Others link modern smartphones to handsets resembling traditional landline phones. Hardley analyzed these accessories alongside phone-free events and locking pouches used at concerts. The research does not evaluate whether individual products improve concentration or wellbeing but instead documents how users are physically redefining their relationships with devices.
Physical distancing becomes part of smartphone routines
The report situates these behaviors within a broader history of mobile phones becoming deeply integrated into daily life. Smartphones serve multiple functions—communication, entertainment, work, photography, payments, and internet access—within portable devices. Hardley’s research investigates what occurs when users intentionally make these devices less accessible. Physical distance is identified as one method for altering smartphone habits, and the study explores how device restrictions are implemented across homes, workplaces, events, and shared environments.
Entitled Revisiting the ‘Snug Tether’: Smartphones in an Era of Scroll-Free Social Events, Landline Accessories, and Device Bans, the paper was published in M/C Journal. It discusses scroll-free social gatherings, retro landline accessories, phone jails, and restrictions on smartphone use. Hardley revisits earlier academic ideas about mobile phones being kept close to their users, but now emphasizes practices that disrupt that proximity. The study also considers who participates in various forms of smartphone distancing.
Restrictions on phones extend beyond individual users
This research coincides with recent policies in Australian schools, where authorities are implementing bans or restrictions on mobile phones. Starting from Term 1 of 2024, all public schools across Australia are set to restrict or ban mobile phones. A 2025 survey of nearly 1,000 principals in New South Wales reported noticeable changes following the enforcement of these measures. The federal education department indicated that 87% of principals observed students being less distracted during lessons, and 81% noted improvements in learning outcomes. These measures exemplify institutional efforts to limit phone access during specific times of the day.
Hardley’s work continues to focus on how individuals navigate their connection with smartphones as these devices remain embedded in everyday life. The study highlights physical separation, reduced accessibility, and phone-free environments as key strategies adopted by users. Retro accessories are part of this broader pattern, rather than a standalone technological category. Edith Cowan University issued a summary of the research findings on Aug. 18, 2026. The study contributes documented examples to the ongoing examination of changing smartphone habits in Australia.