A recent TikTok video has left many people confused and curious about a woman using a transparent phone.
The video, posted by Cat (@askcatgpt), shows her standing in line at a tea shop while holding what looks like a clear piece of acrylic shaped like a smartphone. She scrolls on it as if it were a real phone. The clip quickly went viral, gaining over 50 million views.
Many viewers guessed it was a new Nokia phone, joking about a “Nokia transparent phone” released last year. Others were surprised and made funny comments about the strange device, wondering how anyone could find it if lost. However, the phone is not a real smartphone at all.
Cat later explained that the object is called a “methaphone.” It is simply a clear plastic piece shaped like a phone. The idea behind it is to help people fight phone addiction by giving them something that feels like a phone in their pocket but without any apps or notifications. The methaphone’s creator wanted to test if carrying something that feels like a phone could reduce real phone use.
Cat admitted that after carrying the methaphone for a week, she didn’t use her real phone less. Still, many people found the idea interesting. Neuroscientists say that phone addiction happens because our brains react strongly to notifications, pulling our attention away from other tasks.
Although some commenters were not convinced by the methaphone idea, similar products have existed before. In 2014, the NoPhone, a phone-shaped plastic slab, aimed to help phone addicts but eventually lost popularity.
The methaphone is already sold out, and it continues to spark conversation about our relationship with technology and phone addiction.
