Internet is baffled by woman's transparent phone — and the explanation is even wilder

New York Post

18-05-2025

A recent TikTok video showing a woman 'scrolling' on a transparent phone has people scratching their heads.
A woman named Cat (@askcatgpt) shared a TikTok video — which has now garnered over 50 million views — of herself standing in line at a boba tea shop holding what appears to be a clear piece of acrylic glass — in place of a smartphone.
@askcatgpt
Completely clear phone spotted in San Francisco on May 14…?!? Wtf?????? 🤭🤫 Link in bio for more deets. (NOT SPONSORED) ♬ original sound – CatGPT
Cat seems to be treating the 'transparent' phone as if she were using a real smartphone, scrolling while bored, waiting in public. The text, 'I'm sorry WTF IS THAT?????' is on the screen above her.
Many commenters were quick to assume it's a Nokia phone: 'Nokia transparent phone, released Oct 2024-ish time,' one person wrote.
'It's the new plex from Nokia,' another person chimed in.
Many others were baffled by the bizarre tech.
'She's on a mission from the future,' someone wrote.
'Losing that would be a NIGHTMARE to find,' quipped someone else.
The 'phone' she's holding actually exists. And while people can buy it — it's not for the reason most would expect.
In a follow-up video, Cat provided more context: 'This is a methaphone. It's exactly what it looks like — a clear piece of acrylic shaped like an iPhone. But why does it exist?'
She went on to explain that her friend invented it: 'He told me what he wanted to test if we're all so addicted to our phones, then could you potentially curb someone's addiction by replacing the feeling of having a phone in your pocket with something that feels exactly the same?'
@askcatgpt
I'm sending out a batch of methaphones to people who have ideas for (safe) social experiments they'd like to run with them— break it out on the subway? Show it to a 5 year old? Replace your phone for a week? The only catch is that you have to write or document your experience in a post online (e.g. blog post, medium, substack, YouTube, tikTok, Ig, etc) The goal is to keep the conversation going. If you're interested, fill out the super short survey at the link in my bio! Let's keep the conversation going! #tech #methaphone ♬ original sound – Noah Kahan
Cat pointed out that the methaphone is sold out already.
She also speculated why so many people were intrigued by her viral video, thinking it's because the piece of plastic 'feels like a physical artifact that directly responds to this collective tension that our phones, which are meant to make us feel more connected, do the opposite.'
'Have I used my phone less in the past week that I've been carrying this [the acrylic phone] around with me? Probably not. But what do you think?' She asked her viewers.
'Do you think that a single piece of acrylic could actually start to help us get back in touch with humanity or is this just a weird party trick?' she continued.
Many people in the comments of her follow-up video weren't exactly sold on the bizarre concept.
The 'clear' phone is actually being used as a social experiment.
TikTok/@askcatgpt
'Nobody's addicted to holding phones, they're addicted to the apps,' one person challenged.
'I was really hoping we were entering the glass cellphones era,' joked someone else.
'Sooo it's not a phone…end of story,' a disappointed commenter wrote.
People might not be gung-ho on this idea, however, Cat and her friend might be onto something because a study from Amazon Kindle revealed that we're more addicted to our devices than we might think.
'Every time we receive a notification – whether it's a ping, vibration, or visual alert – our brain perceives it as something requiring immediate attention,' neuroscientist Dr. Mark Williams told news.com.au.
'This activates our cognitive control network, diverting focus away from what we were doing.'