Explore

The Phone

We are designing the phone experience around clearer privacy choices. Our goal is to make it easier to notice when an app wants access, understand why it may be asking, and decide what you are comfortable allowing.

We are still working through how those choices should appear and how they can stay useful without making everyday phone use confusing.

We are researching and designing toward a phone that could collect small amounts of extra energy from sunlight, everyday indoor light, and warmth from daily use.

Regular charging would still matter. The idea is to see whether these small sources could help top up the battery during the day and reduce how quickly it drains between charges.

↗ In progress: We are still learning what is practical, safe, and useful enough to include in a future phone.

Modularity means designing a phone so that some parts or controls may be easier to change, repair, or update over time.

We are exploring this because we want people to buy one phone and keep using it as their needs change, rather than replacing the whole device when one part wears out or no longer fits their life.

↗ In progress: We are still researching which parts could be changed, what repairs could be practical, and what a first version could realistically support.

We are looking carefully at the parts and materials that go into a phone, where they come from, and the effects those choices can have on people and the environment.

↗ In progress: We are researching questions about sourcing, labor, repair, waste, and how long a phone can stay useful before materials and parts are selected.

Accessibility is a priority in how we are designing Cioré. We want to consider different bodies, senses, situations, and ways people use technology from the beginning.

We are looking at questions around comfort, physical controls, text size, contrast, sound, touch, voice, captions, and settings that are easier to understand.

We know one design will not work for everyone. That is why accessibility needs to be part of the work early.

Gaia is an AI indicator we are exploring for Cioré. It is meant to help people notice when an app may be using AI or when AI-related activity may be happening in the background.

The goal is to show clear, simple information about what may be happening and give people more choice about what they allow. Gaia is not meant to be a required assistant or something that takes over the phone.

↗ In progress: Gaia is still a research direction. It may not be able to identify or control every AI-related action inside every app.

Cioré is pronounced like core.

Cioré is still being built. Right now, we are gathering feedback, researching options, designing the phone experience, and taking steps toward a first working version.

Our goal is to have our first phones ready for early testing in Winter 2026. If that timing changes as we learn, we will share that directly.

We are designing Cioré with familiar app use in mind. We are exploring how phone software can give people clearer information and more control over what apps ask for, while still supporting the apps people rely on.

↗ In progress: We are still researching compatibility and will share clearer details when they are ready.

We are exploring ways to give apps the access they need for useful features while making those requests easier for people to notice, understand, and change.

Part of that work includes researching ways apps can be kept more separate from one another, so people have clearer boundaries around what information is shared.

We are looking into expandable storage, including microSD, because people have asked for more control over the space on their phone.

↗ In progress: It is still being considered, and we will share more when the hardware direction is clearer.

Yes. Accessibility is a priority in how we are designing Cioré. We are considering physical comfort, controls, readability, contrast, sound, touch, captions, voice, and settings that are easier to understand.

We know one design will not work for everyone, so we want accessibility questions included early in the work.

Our team has begun early carrier outreach as part of understanding what would be needed for Cioré to work with existing phone service.

↗ In progress: Carrier support depends on technical requirements, regulations, and each carrier's own approval process. We will share confirmed information when it is available.