CAVEAT: It is important to note, aside from being sent the Brick device for testing and evaluation, we have not been paid for this review nor received any gratuity or other compensation from Brick. While the Brick was primarily designed for adults, we believe it can also serve as an effective parenting tool for youth, as you will read.
In today’s digital world, cellphones have become an integral part of our daily lives, providing convenience, connectivity, information, and endless entertainment options. As we’ve highlighted in our previous articles, it’s crucial for parents to be cautious about allowing pre-teens and younger teens to own and use fully functional smartphones like iPhones and Android devices. (1) Instead, we recommend opting for minimalist devices such as the Garmin Bounce Watch, Sunbeam F1 Dove phone, Wisephone, Ghostphone, or Pinwheel phone, which offer a more suitable and safer alternative for children, especially those under the age of 16. (2)
However, some families may find the price of a new minimalist phone cost prohibitive. To address this, we have also provided a “how-to guide” to help parents convert an old iPhone into a hybrid minimalist phone. (3) However, some parents have expressed concerns about their ability to follow and implement the guide due to their lack of technical expertise. They have wished for an easier way to adapt a fully functioning iPhone into a safer minimalist phone. We believe we have found a solution – it’s called the “Brick.” (4)
Created by two recent college graduates who grew up with cellphones, the Brick was designed to help adults address the distraction challenges caused by many app features on an iPhone. The Brick temporarily removes apps and notifications from an iPhone, leaving only the tools the owner chooses with just a tap. For example, with a tap of the Brick, you can make any social media app on the phone inaccessible while still having access to the phone function, text messages, the weather app, and your music playlist. The combination of apps and functions you allow, or disallow, is up to you as the parent. In other words, a parent can turn an iPhone into a “bricked” minimalist phone with just a simple tap of the Brick device, eliminating the need to fumble around in the iPhone’s settings.
The concept of the Brick piqued our interest. As most readers know, we are constantly looking for age-appropriate technology, especially for parents, youth, and younger teens. In the past, we have reviewed the Gryphon router, which we believe is the best family home router on the market. (5) We have also reviewed mobile phones designed specifically for preteens and teens (6)(7)(8)(9), as well as a youth watch. (10)
After reading about the Brick online, we connected directly with the creators, TJ and Zack, to see if they might be interested in sending us a Brick for testing and evaluation. Within days, we received an email from TJ, who agreed to send us a Brick. We must commend Brick for taking us up on our offer. Even though we stated that we would be brutally honest in our testing and evaluation, they welcomed the opportunity for us to test their device. Within a week, we received our Brick, shipped in the company’s branded box.
Inside the box, we found the Brick, a thank you message, and a QR code that allowed us to download the Brick App for free onto our iPhone. Since the Brick uses NFC technology (Near Field Communication), there is no charging cable and no batteries required.
Note: The Brick currently only works on iPhones installed with iOS 16 or higher. TJ mentioned that they are working on a Brick device for Android phones.
After thoroughly reviewing the Brick website again, particularly the FAQ page (11), we proceeded to download the app onto our test iPhone.
Note: The Brick costs a one-time fee of $49.00 USD, or approximately $67.00 CAD, plus taxes. The app is free to download from the iTunes store, and there is no monthly or yearly subscription fee to use the Brick or the app.
Installation of the Brick App:
Keep in mind that the Brick was primarily designed for adults, not specifically for youth and teens. However, we will apply the Brick’s functionality to a new or hand-me-down iPhone you are gifting to your child. If you are using a hand-me-down iPhone, we recommend performing a factory reset first to remove any apps or functions that did not originally come with the phone. (12) If it’s a new iPhone, a factory reset is not necessary. After resetting the hand-me-down phone or unboxing a new iPhone, proceed to download the Brick App:
- Open the camera app on your phone.
- Point your camera at the QR code inside the cover of the Brick Box.
- Click on the download button and follow the instructions.
You can also go directly to the iTunes store on your device and download it from there. (13)
Note: During the installation process, you will be asked to allow the BRICK app to access “Screen Time” on your phone. Make sure to allow this, as it will enable you to access all the Apple controls to manage the phone with a simple tap of the Brick. If you forget to do this during setup, click on “Settings” > “Screen Time” > “Always Allow” > scroll down and find the Brick app, making sure there is a green plus sign next to it.
STEP #1 – Bricking and Unbricking your iPhone
- Once you have downloaded the Brick App on your phone:
- Tap the brick icon on your screen which will open the Brick App.
- Tap the grey “Brick” box on your screen at which time the message “Ready to Scan” will pop up.
- Now tap the top of your phone to the Brick device at which time you will see a blue check mark on the screen which now mean the phone is in the Brick mode
- To turn off “Brick mode”, open the Brick App if you closed it, tap on the grey “tap to unbrick box”
- You will see a “ready to Scan” message pop up and then tap the top of your phone to the Brick
- Swipe up to close the Brick App.
STEP #2 – Blocking apps and certain functions on the iPhone using the Brick
- Tap on the Brick icon on your screen
- Tap on the “Default” icon below the big Brick button the center of your screen
- Tap on the “Blocking” icon in the top left of screen at which time you will see a window pop up at the bottom of your screen that says “Allow List” and “Block List”
- Tap “Block List” then double tap “Customize Default Apps” grey box.
- This will take you to a new screen that will now allow you to choose apps in specific categories that you can now block from being used when the Brick mode is turned on. Tap on whatever app or function that you do not want your child to access on their phone such as socials, games, Safari, camera or any other combination that you choose as the parent.
- NOTE: in the search block at the top of screen, you can also search other item that may not be easy to find like the Safari browser, Camera function, Messaging Function, App Store – YES, you can block all these using the Brick!
- Hit “done” in the upper right corner. Then swipe down to the “Tap To Brick” page
- Click the grey Brick button and then tap the top of your phone to the Brick to engage your new settings, then swipe up to return to the home screen on your iPhone. Once you have turned on the Brick function, you will see that the app icons chosen will be greyed out.
- If you tap on a greyed out icon the user will see the following message “ This is a distraction, your phone is currently Bricked. To Access Safari tap your Brick”
Can my child just delete the app from their phone? Yes, but here are three steps we recommend to help prevent your child from deleting the Brick app once it’s installed.
#1 – First Set up Screen Time Passcode
- Tap “Settings App”
- Scroll down and tap “Screen Time”
- Scroll down and tap the “Lock Screen Time Settings”
- Type in your passcode and then re-enter your passcode a second time
- “Screen Time Passcode Recovery” will pop up – enter your Apple ID and Password then tap OK – NOTE: if you don’t want to use the passcode recovery option just hit the cancel button in the top left corner of your screen then hit “skip on the pop-up box.
#2 Set Up Prevent Deleting Apps from your iPhone:
- Tap on “Settings”
- Scroll down and tap on “Screen Time”
- Scroll down and tap on “Content & Privacy Restrictions”
- Toggle the “Content & Privacy Restriction” to on (Green)
- Scroll down and tap “i-Tunes & App Store Purchases”
- Scroll slightly down and tap “Deleting Apps”
- Tap “Don’t Allow”
- Note: If the child does attempt to delete the app, it will only get removed from the home screen and stored in the app library on the phone. It DOES NOT delete it from the phone or from the iCloud
#3 – Set Up “Strict Mode” on the Brick App
- Open the Brick App
- Tap on the 3 horizontal bars in the upper right corner of the screen
- Scroll down and toggle on “Strict Mode” which will prevent your child from being able to delete the Brick app while the phone is Bricked.
NOTE: There is one last way your child can remove the Brick App from their phone that can’t be prevented – performing a full factory reset of the iPhone. Unfortunately, this applies to any app installed on the phone. If your child does this, or makes any attempt to delete the app, they have demonstrated that they should not have any kind of phone or digital device. A parent or caregiver could also highlight this fact in the “Family Collective Agreement” document that we have created for free for families, that should accompany any phone or other digital device that connects to the internet and is gifted to your child. (14)
Our Thoughts On The Brick:
What we liked about the Brick was its simplicity of use – after downloading the app and playing with it for about fifteen minutes, we got the hang of it pretty easily. We also like the fact that the Brick allowed us to customize the phone to meet the needs of the family. As an example – when you child is heading off to school, you can turn on the Brick functions that you set so that you child can’t access Safari, any social media, their camara (or any other apps of functions of your choice). However, they can still access their phone, messages, email, and Maps if needed. Once they return home you can then unbrick the phone to allow them access to their social media, music library, camera or anything else you decide if you choose to do so – the combinations are endless.
NOTE: As a parent, you will need to control access to the Brick so that your child can’t simply unbrick their phone when you are not around.
Other things we liked:
- Cost is only $49.00 USD, or approximately $67.00 CAD, plus taxes
- No yearly subscription fee – YES!!!!
- As a start-up, the owners are very open to recommendations on how to make the Brick more effective and user friendly
- One Brick device can work on multiple phones at no extra cost
- No power cord or batteries are required
- The company does not collect any data about which apps you block or the duration for which you block them.
Things We Didn’t Like:
- Every so often while scrolling through the set-up, or changing the Brick functions, a blank white screen would pop up not allowing us to do anything. This is easily fixed by swiping up on the screen.
- Sometimes when taping the Brick device to turn the Brick function on or off, we would get a message “Ready To Scan – this does not appear to be a Brick. If it is, our apologies!” with a red exclamation point. Sometimes, we had to tap the Brick 2-4 times to make it activate. Again, this was not a common occurrence, but did happen on a couple of occasions
- The Brick is only compatible with iPhones running iOS 16 or higher. If your iPhone cannot be updated to iOS 16, the Brick WILL NOT work for you. Brick has announced that they are working on developing a version that will be compatible with Android devices.
- If you loose your Brick device, you get a few emergency unbricks that will automatically unblock everything. However, once these are used up, the only way to unbrick without the Brick device will be by deleting the app. NOTE: if the “Strict Mode” is enabled, your child will not be able to delete the app when Bricked
- If your child has access to the Brick device, they can unbrick their phone – so having a secure place to store the Brick would be important for parents to consider. It would be nice to have a passcode built into the software so that even if the child has access to the Brick Device, they will still need a passcode to turn the Brick function off – this is something that we shared with Brick for their consideration and they liked the idea!
- It only allows you to Brick up to 50 apps and functions. This may be good for pre-teens and younger teens, but as they get older it would be nice to have the ability to Brick say 100 apps and functions.
As cellphones continue to play an increasingly integral role in our kid’s daily lives, providing convenience, connectivity, information, and entertainment, it’s crucial for parents to remain vigilant about their children’s cellphone usage. We strongly recommend minimalist devices over full functioning iPhones and Android Phones, which are better suited and safer for children, particularly those under the age of 16.
However, recognizing that some parents may find the cost of a minimalist phone challenging, we believe the “Brick” may offer some families an effective alternative. The Brick’s innovative approach provides an easy and affordable way for parents to create a safer and more controlled cellphone experience for their child.
NOTE: Remember, no device or software is 100% effective, and this would apply to the Brick as well. Could there be another way that youth could by-pass the Brick that we did not discover? – YES, but we still believe that it is a good option to help parents minimize risks. Hardware and software are not replacements for good parenting. It is all about parental participation, education, and supervision of our kids, combined with hardware and software solutions where appropriate and reasonable to do so. We need to be our child’s best parent and not their best friend when it comes to keeping our kids emotionally, psychologically, and physically safer, especially at younger ages, in how they are accessing the digital world until such time as they are mature enough to go it alone.
PS: For some adults, this may also be a good option for you to consider as well!
Digital Food For Thought
The White Hatter
References:
1/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/smartphones/
3/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/how-to-turn-a-hand-me-down-old-iphone-into-a-minimalist-phone-for-youth/
5/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QARebpaBZc&t=359s
7/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/blog/wisephone-review/
8/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/blog/product-review-ghost-phone-plus-an-option-as-a-teens-first-phone/
9/ https://thewhitehatter.ca/blog/pinwheel-phone-for-young-teens-review/
10/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWkyTBES6ek&t=1807s
12/ https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/iphone/iph7a2a9399b/ios
13/ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/brick-ditch-distractions/id6448794069
