GoKawiilis a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.
More than a decade after its Kickstarter proposed a “cell phone designed to be used as little as possible,” Light is adding a direct connection to Uber and Lyft with a new Rideshare tool. For owners of either the Light Phone III or the upcoming Light Flip, they can use it to find pick up / drop off locations, see fares and ETA, and select different trip options or saved locations they frequently visit. They can use it to book the ride, and then see information about the driver and ETA, and call the driver if necessary.
It’s an early preview of the LightOS “tool library” SDK that will allow developers to expand the phones’ features while still promising to minimize feeds and notifications. A blog post from Light says that “We’ll open up user submissions for the Tool Library by the end of this month, and look forward to having those available to everyone a few weeks after that!”
The rideshare integration works via a partnership with Tremp, which already operates an SMS-based way to order rideshares, and users set up access via Light’s dashboard website, just like other LightOS tools. It’s not free to use, however, as Tremp charges a 10 percent service fee with a $2 minimum, but it will waive that fee for the first five rides within 30 days of creating an account.
Image: Light
The pictures show all the necessary features operating, although we will have to see it in operation to find out if there are any hang-ups. The expansion of app-like features on a minimalist smartphone might seem counterintuitive, but Light cofounder Kaiwei Tang has addressed that previously, saying, “I’m not trying to design vintage phones… I want to design all this modern technology, from the ground up, and eliminate all the bullshit.”
That’s why adding one feature users absolutely need access to — whether it’s a way to call for a ride, access to Spotify playlists, or something else — might be a way to keep them from swapping back to another device with more algorithms and alerts that constantly pop up.