My phone was taken by the sea. I’d love to throw its replacement in there too | Briohny Doyle

As I compulsively check my new device, ping-ponging between real and virtual spaces, I can feel my adolescent self eye-rolling at me across the decades

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They say it’s good to let something go to mark one year’s turn to the next. I tried to keep this in mind when, during a blissful day of beachside rest at the end of 2024, my smartphone was taken by the sea. No big deal, I decided, I can sort it out after the break. I’m not some nomophobic sheep who can’t go a week without checking their notifications. But anxiety rises like the tide. Soon I was frantically clicking “buy” and realising for once it’s not that simple.

Smartphones have evolved since the last time I dropped one in a toilet. Now, losing my phone means losing my wallet with my credit cards, my driver licence and Medicare card. It means losing the access key fob to my office and the apps which I use for everything from booking classes at the gym to remotely controlling my TV and three-factor authentication for my work’s online systems. Meanwhile, the online gadget shop wants to verify a refurbished phone purchase via my banking app. My service provider needs to confirm my identity with a one-time code sent to … I say it again, slowly, an incantation: “My phone was taken by the sea.”