Is T-Mobile and its app-less phone about to make app developers obsolete?

We, as a civilization, have just cultivated app developers – it hasn’t even been 30 years since the first mobile app emerged in 1997 – the Snake game for Nokia is believed by many to be the app pioneer. It seems that we should call it a day and leave behind those poor mobile code wizards who’ll have to find another sort of occupation.

That’s if T-Mobile’s futuristic idea for an app-less phone becomes a reality:



That’s what Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges said in a keynote presentation at the MWC tech conference in Barcelona (via Reuters).

Avid PhoneArena readers have already come across this heretic app-less phone idea in our MWC article that outlined what’s to expect from the ongoing mobile technology forum in Spain.

The German company (that’s also T-Mobile's largest shareholder) said the concept device, called “T-phone” device, will have an app-free user interface developed in collaboration with partners Qualcomm and Brain.ai.

The “T-Phone” (not T-Bone) will rely on artificial intelligence rather than standard apps to handle users' specific needs.

“Like a concierge, the assistant understands your goals and takes care of the details”, claims the company, and says the phone will be able to book you a flight simply by voice command. The showcase uses concrete examples to demonstrate how an AI smartphone can make life easier when planning trips, shopping, creating video or editing photos.



Jon Abrahamson, Chief Product & Digital Officer of Deutsche Telekom, is convinced: “Artificial intelligence and Large Language Models (LLM) will soon be an integral part of mobile devices. We will use them to improve and simplify the lives of our customers. Our vision is a magenta concierge for an app-free smartphone. A real everyday companion that fulfills needs and simplifies digital life”.