Remember when your phone was better?
We do! So we built a time machine.
Better Era is a calm Android home screen. Pick a year before AI and social media took over, and only that era’s apps come with you. Get your attention back.
Lovely, you're on the list. We'll let you know the moment it's ready.
Coming soon to Android. We'll keep you updated when we're going live.
What you get back.
Better Era isn't really about phones. It's about everything that happens when yours stops tugging at your sleeve.
Your attention
Read the whole chapter. Finish the thought. Notice the thing you’d normally scroll straight past.
Your evenings
Dinner where everyone’s actually there. Conversations that wander off somewhere good.
Your own mind
Search hands you plain links, not AI answers. Working it out yourself is half the fun.
Room to be bored
On the train, in the queue, on the couch. Boredom is where daydreams and good ideas start.
Pick the year your phone stops at.
Your home screen stays clean and modern. The year you pick decides which apps come with you, and the rest are properly blocked.
Talk & Text
Calls, texts and your camera. Wonderfully little else.
Early Smartphone
Maps, music, camera and the useful stuff. No social, no AI.
Social
Your social apps come too. AI apps stay in the present.
A home screen that leaves you alone.
Nothing pings at you
Your favourite apps and a search bar. Nothing new pops up on your home screen.
Search that just finds things
Type to find an app, or jump straight to DuckDuckGo's No AI search for plain old links.
A quiet inbox, when you want it
Notifications wait in their own tab, one swipe up. Calls and texts still ring straight through.
Gentle nudges, if you want them.
All optional. No streaks, no scores, no guilt. Just a few small things that make it easier to put your phone down.
- Inbox check-insGet notifications in a couple of batches a day, not drip by drip.
- Pause before openingA few seconds to breathe before the apps you pick.
- Wind downEvenings get calmer, and the inbox waits till morning.
- Calm iconsGreyscale icons that pull at you a little less.
- Sunday noteA short look back at your week. No streaks, no scores.
We're not anti-technology. We're pro-people.
Phones got clever fast. We think the best technology leaves more room for living, not less. Better Era is a small, independent app for anyone who'd like their phone to be a tool again, and their time to be their own.
Come back to a better era.
We're building it right now. Leave your email and you'll be the first to know when it lands on Android.
Join the waitlist