New App Helps Users Disconnect From Phones And Reconnect With Reality

Have you ever picked up your phone to check just one thing only to find yourself scrolling for thirty minutes? I have certainly been there before. Our devices make it incredibly easy to stay connected, yet a distinct shift seems to be taking place right now. Many individuals are actively seeking reasons to put those phones down and spend quality time with others in the real world instead. Run clubs are expanding rapidly, local gatherings are drawing significant attention, and phone-free events are popping up everywhere. People appear hungry for experiences that feel less like yet another endless feed.

This raises a compelling question: Could the very technology that keeps pulling us online also help get us back into real life? That specific idea drives NewTree Social, an early-stage community events app created by twenty-nine-year-old founder Maddy O'Connor. She wants people to use their phones to discover something happening nearby, make a plan, and then go experience it. The timing for this approach may finally be right.

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More people are looking beyond the screen now. There is solid data backing this shift. Eventbrite's 2026 Social Study surveyed people ages eighteen to thirty-five in the U.S. and U.K. It found that seventy-nine percent planned to attend more events in 2026. Among Gen Z respondents, forty-six percent said they were limiting screen time while seventy-four percent stated that in-person experiences were more important than digital ones.

Now keep in mind that this research comes from Eventbrite, a company whose business revolves around live events. Still, those numbers line up with something we are seeing play out in the real world. Eventbrite says phone-free experiences listed on its platform grew 567 percent globally between 2024 and 2025. Attendance at those events rose 121 percent. The company based those figures on events that used "phone-free" terminology in their title or description.

For people who have spent years with a smartphone within arm's reach, intentionally putting it away feels significant. It also creates an unusual opening for technology. Instead of asking how an app can keep you scrolling longer, what if the goal becomes helping you find something worth closing the app for?

One young founder saw this opportunity clearly. O'Connor told CyberGuy that the idea for NewTree grew partly from her own experience living in Washington, D.C., without an established group of friends. Her experience changed depending on where she lived and whether she could find places where meeting new people felt natural. At the same time, she was watching interest grow around run clubs, wellness events, social clubs and other in-person experiences. So she started building around that behavior.

NewTree is designed to help people discover local activities and meet others through something they already want to do. I think that part is important because walking into a room of strangers solely because you are supposed to meet people can feel awkward. Walking into a fitness class, community event or gathering you already find interesting gives you a reason to be there before you ever introduce yourself. For someone who recently moved or simply wants to expand a social circle, that could make taking the first step a little easier.

NewTree wants your scrolling to lead somewhere meaningful. Open NewTree and the basic experience should feel familiar at first glance. There is a feed where you browse events nearby. You can RSVP and get reminders about something you want to attend without issue. But the idea behind that feed is a little different than standard social media apps.

O'Connor brings a graphic design background to the table and told CyberGuy she set out with one clear goal: make NewTree feel like a social platform rather than just another events directory. The app currently targets community, fitness, and wellness gatherings around Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater. Apple describes it as an app for discovering local events, RSVPing, and meeting new people. Hosts can add photos and videos to their listings. Users browse nearby happenings and RSVP right from their phones. O'Connor also wants reviews to play a bigger role in discovery. She says reviews of a host's events affect how those events perform in the feed instead of simply sitting on a profile page.

There is something almost funny about the concept. You open another social-style app because you want to spend less of your social life inside apps. But maybe that is exactly the point. Experts reveal why this 'nonnamaxxing' trend may improve mental and physical health. How does NewTree say it differs from the pack? The app enters a crowded space. Meetup, Eventbrite, and Facebook already help people discover events nearby, and both Meetup and Eventbrite offer personalized recommendations. So what is NewTree trying to do differently? O'Connor says she wants the experience to feel more like a social platform built specifically around getting people together in person. She also says reviews can influence how a host's events perform in the feed, so better-reviewed experiences can potentially receive greater visibility. During NewTree's early pilot, O'Connor is personally reviewing and approving hosts before their events can appear publicly. None of those ideas completely reinvents event discovery. The bet is that putting them together in a more curated, community-focused experience will give people another useful way to find things to do and meet people nearby. Whether that gives people enough reason to add NewTree to the apps they already use is one of the biggest things the company still has to prove.

The real test starts after you close the app. Here is what I would be watching. Does NewTree help people make plans they actually follow through on? Getting someone to download an app is one thing. Getting them to put on shoes, leave home and show up somewhere is much harder. The idea works if you spend a few minutes browsing NewTree, find something interesting and eventually put the phone back in your pocket because you have somewhere to go. It becomes a lot less interesting if people simply scroll through another feed filled with things they might someday do. O'Connor is very open about just how early NewTree is. She told CyberGuy that NewTree is pre-traction and pre-revenue. Tampa Bay is the starting point because she wants to prove that people will use the platform in one market before trying to expand throughout Florida and eventually nationwide. So there is a long way to go. But the behavior NewTree is betting on already appears to be taking shape.

Safety has to follow you into the real world. Of course, using an app to find events where you may meet strangers brings some very real safety questions. O'Connor says she has taken a hands-on approach during NewTree's MVP stage. She told CyberGuy that she personally reviews and approves hosts before their events can appear on the platform. Users can report content or other users and block people. Hosts can also remove or report attendees. NewTree's current support page says business profiles are reviewed before they can post. However, there is an important limitation. A verified badge means NewTree says it has confirmed that the business is who it claims to be. It does not mean NewTree is endorsing or guaranteeing a specific event. NewTree's terms go further.

Events usually run on their own without outside hosts interfering, and NewTree generally skips criminal background checks for users, attendees, hosts, or organizers. You still need to do homework before showing up at an unfamiliar gathering. Look up the organizer independently and check the venue first. Bring a trusted person if you feel uncomfortable going alone by yourself. Technology can help locate people nearby, yet it cannot erase all risks involved in meeting strangers you do not know well.

Where does your location data go? Privacy deserves a close examination here too. O'Connor told CyberGuy that NewTree gathers basic account information like your name, email address, date of birth, and current location. She explained the app uses either a saved profile location or your device location with explicit permission from you. This data sits within NewTree's Supabase database where strict access controls limit who can view different pieces of sensitive information. When someone RSVPs for a free event, O'Connor stated the host receives the attendee's name, email address, and location details to manage communication effectively.

One in six adults suffers from loneliness as researchers reveal the lasting impact of the COVID pandemic on social connection. Another detail might cause some confusion regarding age requirements. Apple currently assigns NewTree a 13+ age rating while NewTree insists users must be at least eighteen years old to create an account or use the platform fully. O'Connor told CyberGuy that this thirteen plus label reflects content based App Store ratings rather than the minimum age allowed on their actual service. Despite what you see on the App Store listing, NewTree maintains their platform is strictly for adults eighteen and older only.

Right now Apple lists NewTree as an iPhone app with no Android support available yet according to O'Connor who told CyberGuy about future plans. The business model remains in flux at this early stage of development. O'Connor says she leans toward keeping the app free for regular users while potentially offering optional premium tools for businesses and hosts later on. Exactly what those paid features would include has not been decided by the company leadership team yet. So I would look at NewTree for what it is today as a very early app built around a much larger change in how some people think about technology today.

Most of us could probably use a few more reasons to put the phone down and do something in the real world instead. Our phones have become where we communicate with friends, work on projects, watch videos, and fill just about every empty moment during our day. Sometimes the screen starts taking the place of experiences it was supposed to help us find for years. Maybe the better approach is expecting more from the technology we already use daily without complaint. If an app helps you discover a local event you would never consider attending or meet someone you otherwise never crossed paths with, the phone becomes the starting point only. Then it can get out of the way once you arrive at your destination successfully.

I like that idea deeply because it flips traditional usage patterns completely. Use technology to find something worth doing first before engaging with friends in person. Then look up from the screen and go do it immediately without hesitation. What stands out here is how good technology has become at keeping us looking down at devices constantly. Notifications pull us back into digital feeds that always have something else waiting for our attention eagerly. Before you know it, another chunk of your day disappears into a glowing screen somewhere nearby unnoticed by family members watching. Now we see signs many people want something different from their daily routine involving social interaction again soon. They still want technology but also want more opportunities to be around people in the real world right now desperately. NewTree has plenty to prove before gaining widespread adoption among skeptical users worldwide today clearly. But I like the problem O'Connor is trying to solve through her innovative approach to community building effectively. Your phone already knows how to keep you home and entertained for hours without much effort required from anyone involved directly personally perhaps. Maybe the next really useful social app will be the one that gives you a good reason to leave your house immediately after downloading it successfully tomorrow morning hopefully. Would you use an app designed specifically to get you off your phone and out meeting people today instead, or does downloading another social app defeat the whole purpose entirely completely now?

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