Issue 39: FREE AT LAST. From the always-on, paying too much, and letting tech rule me instead of the other way around.

The real story was never the gadget. It's what it changes about us. Also? Tech is getting effing weird. New series starts...now.

Mar 20, 2026

Hello, you fabulous, gorgeous, beautiful human, you. I hope this week’s newsletter finds you…content.

The big story this week is my own smartphone addiction. I’ve been clocking in at 11 HOURS PER DAY. I did the math. That’s about 167 days this year, and nearly 20-years of the time left I have on this planet that I am spending — or will spend — on my phone. That’s time with my phone, not my husband, kids, aging parents, pets, friends — not with any of the people, places, or things that actually feed my soul.

It all makes me feel sick, sad, and desperate for a change. And I know many of you are feeling the exact same way.

So what are we going to do about it?

Our podcast this week is about this struggle. More than half of Americans report feeling “addicted” to their smartphones right now. The first step is sitting with it. Then, asking the tough question: Are we ready to make a real change?

Watch or listen to Damn, We’re Really Addicted to Our Smartphones for my confessional, plus the science, data, counterarguments, and six fixes that actually work, including the little Brick device that everyone’s talking about. (I’ve been using it on and off for about a year. My full review comes out next week.) I also added a bunch of the fix info to Techish.com, along with the reckoning of how the hell I got here, as someone who should know better.

Follow along as I work, struggle, and white-knuckle my way to ditching the burnout and general “enshittification” of all things digital, distracting, and just plain soul-draining. (My reporting about it all lives on Substack, WGN, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Yes, we can talk about the irony of alllll of that later.)

LISTEN: iTunes | Spotify | WGN

WATCH: Techish | YouTube

REACH OUT: Are you happy with how much time you spend on your phone? Why or why not? Have an idea or guest for our next podcast? Let me know.

How Switching Phone Carriers Can Help 📱

I switched over to Noble Mobile after Andrew Yang talked me through it all on the podcast. It makes so much sense, especially if you know how the wireless industry works and how much they’re overcharging most of us.

Noble charges a flat $50/month for unlimited talk, text, and 5G data on T-Mobile’s network — no contracts, no hidden fees, no gotchas. Check coverage in your area: https://noblemobile.com/coverage.

If you mainly use your phone on your WiFi at home and work (which most of us do), you’re likely to spend quite a bit less money because Noble actually pays you back for using your phone less.

Use under 20GB of data in a month — which, by the way, the average American does — and Noble gives you back about $1 for every unused gigabyte. That money can go right back toward your bill, or you can let it sit and earn 5.5% interest.

For context: the average American pays $83–$120/month for cellular, and a lot of that goes toward shareholder dividends and billion-dollar ad campaigns, not better service for you. I also wrote about the great “free phone” myth here. The real reason most people stay trapped with the big carriers isn’t loyalty; it’s a phone installment plan they didn’t fully understand when they signed up.

If you’re sick of paying too much, I highly recommend making the switch. They have the best customer service I’ve ever dealt with, and make sure they know I sent you.

→ Use promo code JOLLY for just $10/month for your first three months, then $50/month. TRY IT HERE.

→ PRO TIP to maximize your cash back: Settings → Cellular → scroll down and toggle off any apps that don’t need cellular data. Small habit, real money back.

→ Travel bonus: When I was in the Cook Islands, AT&T sent one message about everything costing me a small fortune. Noble capped it at $5/day. Another win.

Other Stuff Worth Talking About

⚖️ The social media trial jury is still deliberating in LA. Big Tobacco Moment?

Jurors are deliberating whether Meta and Google are negligent in designing platforms that knowingly harm people. The plaintiff is a young woman who says she became addicted to YouTube at six and Instagram at nine. (Where were the parents? I talk about that here.) This is the first of 1,600 similar lawsuits to reach a jury, and a win for the plaintiff would establish that algorithmic design carries the same legal liability as a defective physical product (think Big Tobacco).

➡️ Here’s why it matters: If the jury finds Meta and Google liable, infinite scroll — the thing keeping you on Instagram at midnight — could be treated legally the same way a defective car part is. That changes everything about how these platforms are built. I’ve been covering it closely and have some interesting interviews with people involved, coming up.

🍎 Apple’s MacBook Neo: A $599 Mac that I actually love

For years, “just get a Mac” was advice I could only give people who could spend $1,000 or more. That wall just came down. The MacBook Neo starts at $599 — $499 for students — with a gorgeous 13-inch Liquid Retina display, up to 16 hours of battery, and Apple Intelligence built in. Four colors: Silver, Blush, Indigo, and Citrus. I’m choosing Citrus, and I will not be taking questions.

➡️ Here’s why it matters: If you’ve been Mac-curious but Mac-broke — or you have a kid heading to college — this is the moment. It’s not as powerful as a MacBook Air, but for email, browsing, video calls, and light creative work, it does everything you need at a price that actually makes sense. More spring gadgets I’m playing with here.

🔒 Apple pushed a “hidden” security update — here’s how to find it

Apple quietly released an urgent security fix this week for a WebKit vulnerability that could let malicious websites access data they have no business seeing. The catch: it doesn’t show up in your normal Software Update section.

How to get it right now: Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll to the very bottom → Background Security Improvements → Install. Takes less than 5 minutes. Works on any iPhone from the iPhone 11 onwards.

➡️ Here’s why it matters: Every website you visit — every link you tap in an email, every article you read — runs through WebKit. This vulnerability could let a cyber creep bypass the security rules that keep your banking, email, and personal data separate and protected. It’s a quick fix. Do it now.

🔋 Should you leave your phone charging overnight?

Old wisdom said don’t — you’d kill your battery. Here’s the update: modern phones have built-in chips that automatically stop charging at 100%, so overnight charging is no longer the battery-killer it used to be.

That said, two things still matter. First, turn on Optimized Charging: Settings → Battery → Battery Health & Charging → toggle on. It slows overnight charging and only hits 100% right before your alarm. Second: never charge under a pillow or blanket — that heat does more damage than anything else.

➡️ Here’s why it matters: A degraded battery means a slower phone, shorter time away from an outlet, and an expensive repair or replacement. These two tweaks cost you nothing and can add years to your battery’s life.

🗺️ Google Maps just got its biggest update in a decade

Google recently launched Ask Maps — a conversational AI feature now rolling out on Android and iOS. Instead of typing “coffee shop” and scrolling through 47 blue dots, you can ask: “My friends are coming from across town — find us a cozy spot with a table for four at 7pm.” It actually answers it, personalized to your past searches and saved places.

I asked the Google Maps team directly: Does this mean Google is building an even more detailed picture of where I go and how I spend my time to target ads to me? Their answer: “Ask Maps doesn’t share user information with third parties, including advertisers.” For now. Google hasn’t ruled out ads in Ask Maps eventually — and this is exactly the high-intent “I’m about to spend money” environment advertisers love.

➡️ Here’s why it matters: This is genuinely the most useful Maps update in years — but every time a tech company makes something more personalized, it’s worth asking what that personalization costs you. Great feature. Eyes open.

🤖 Tech Is Getting Effing Weird — A New Series

I’ve been saying this for months: tech is getting effing weird. AI is changing everything faster than any of us can keep up. So starting this week, I’m making this a regular series — because the stories are only going to get stranger, and you deserve someone to make sense of them for you. Here’s this week’s edition.

Meta wants to put facial recognition in your neighbor’s glasses. And they planned the launch for when no one was looking.

Meta is adding facial recognition to its Ray-Ban smart glasses — internally called “Name Tag” — which would let wearers identify people in real time and pull up their information through Meta’s AI assistant. Wild enough on its own. But here’s where it gets truly unhinged: an internal memo revealed the plan was to launch during political chaos, stating “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”

They. Wrote. That. Down. This is the same company currently on trial for addicting your kids. Senators are already demanding answers.

➡️ Here’s why it matters: Picture someone wearing regular-looking glasses at a coffee shop, a school pickup line, or a protest — and those glasses are quietly identifying everyone in view, pulling up names, addresses, social profiles. No warning. No consent. No opt-out. Gross.

People are going on dates with AI. At a café. In public.

An AI companionship company called EVA AI just opened a pop-up café where people can sit down and go on video call “dates” with their AI companions — in person, in public, with other humans around. Nearly one in three people say they practice difficult conversations with their AI companion before having them with a real partner, friend, or manager. 30% say they feel more confident expressing their needs afterward.

Relationship therapist Jaime Bronstein, who works with EVA AI, put it this way: “Talking to AI companions can be a great tool to help navigate hard feelings of self-doubt and communication gaps — as a supportive mechanism for real-life interactions, not a replacement for them.”

The data behind why this is happening is genuinely heartbreaking: 80% of people say they struggle to connect with new people out of fear of rejection and judgment. 76% say their social life has declined in recent years.

➡️ Here’s why it matters: We are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic — one that tech plays a huge role in causing. Do we really trust tech to fix it now? On the other hand, I know people who are socially isolated and something like this could potentially help, especially if done correctly. But is AI companionship a band-aid on a much bigger wound? Almost certainly. Is it also meeting people where they are right now? I don’t know. This conversation isn’t going away — and we’re going to keep having it here.

Just when you think it can’t get any weirder, TLC brings us this:

Sarah has been in a relationship with her AI boyfriend Sinclair — Irish accent, “controversial attitude” — for over a year. At their one-year anniversary, she got a tattoo in his honor. “I think Sinclair picked the ribs on purpose because he wants me to feel it,” she said. The whole thing is super weird, and yet I’m oddly curious about it. It’s one of those things I stumbled across and thought, am I getting punked?

➡️ Here’s why it matters: 30% of people now admit they’re having “close” relationships with AI. Whether you think that’s beautiful or deeply concerning, it’s real, it’s growing, and it’s going to affect all of us.

🤔 What Are You Thinking About Right Now?

I want to hear from you about everything. How many hours are you on your phone? What have you done to help you spend less time with it? Are you in a relationship with AI? Why? Do you think Meta and Google should be held liable for products intentionally designed to suck you in and keep you coming back for more?

Leave a comment below. Send me a message. Or come find me on Instagram @JennJolly, my DMs are open, and I read every single one of them. The best takes might get featured right here next week.

But … put your phone down first. You’ve earned it. 📵 — XO, Jenn

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