Android Authority Columnist Abandons Foldable Phones, Favors 'Compartmentalized Computing'

The column, headlined "I used to love foldable phones. Now, I can't stand them," says foldables have divided users into two camps: those who find regular phones too simplistic to return to, and those who no longer want a phone that folds in half. The writer places himself in the second group.

He states that his objection is not to foldables shipping with one fewer rear camera or to their more fragile exterior. "My problem is more fundamental," he writes, saying he cannot accept a device deploying complicated mechanics to do two things at once when he is not convinced it excels at either. Foldables, in his account, extend the smartphone's original consolidation pitch by merging a phone and a tablet so users can prop the device open and run multiple apps at once, a combination touted as a productivity advantage. He says he was persuaded by that idea, but that after the novelty faded he found himself needing two or more apps simultaneously only a couple of times a month, "if not just for the sake of it."

He adds that foldables are genuinely convenient for people who specifically want that phone-and-tablet combination, but that for him the productivity bursts were too infrequent to justify the compromises. "It's not 2010 anymore, and I'm not optimizing my setup just around convenience anymore," he writes, saying his concern runs deeper than hardware trade-offs.

The column's central argument concerns digital wellbeing. The writer describes his phone buzzing with Instagram notifications or an active WhatsApp group chat while he tries to work on a busy Tuesday, or an overseas team becoming active on Slack as he tries to read in bed. He says merging work, play and rest into a single device has exacted a real mental toll, particularly because his dependence on it makes leaving it behind difficult even briefly. He says he has tried every digital wellbeing tool at his disposal across platforms, and that the best strategy for him has been more screens rather than fewer.

Under that approach, he restarted wearing a smartwatch, deliberately adding a friction point through its small display, which he says is useless for almost everything except notifications and minor interactions, so he can leave his phone behind and pick it up only when something requires immediate attention. His tablet, he writes, is dedicated to games, movies, magazines and ebooks, with no work or social media apps installed on it. He calls the arrangement "compartmentalized computing," describing its aim as creating enough compartments that he does not compulsively rely on one device for everything. He compares it to watching a two-hour movie on a television rather than spending the same time scrolling on TikTok.

Turning to what he calls purpose-oriented technology, the columnist writes that foldable phones intensified a feeling that the device was using him more than he was using it. He argues phones are tools to be used when needed rather than devices that call users back and use psychological tricks to keep them hooked. He points to a growing wave of niche products, including minimalist phones, dedicated music players, dedicated cameras and screenless fitness trackers, as evidence he is not alone. He makes clear that he does not want every device to perform exactly one function.