From iPods to dumbphones and retro handheld games consoles, low-fi tech is big in 2026, but a couple of recent apps are taking the world's nostalgic reevaluation of analogue times to an extreme.

Within a few months, two apps have been released that allow you to send messages at 19th century speeds – but via your smartphone. Both involve using animals. Carrier Pidge is an iOS app designed to make messages travel as if they were being sent via homing pigeon. The further you are from the recipient the longer the message will take to arrive.

At 110 mph, a message sent from someone in New York to a recipient in London takes over a day to arrive. Speeds can vary, and there's a chance the message won't arrive at all. The pigeons have a 0.2% probability of getting lost and dying before they reach their destination.

It's not quite like the days of the Pigeon post. Delivery is calculated digitally using the GPS distance between the sender and recipient, and you can watch your message's journey on the map in real time. You can also add friends in the app to create a 'flock' while your messages are stored in your 'aviary'.

It probably doesn't need to be pointed out that Carrier Pidge is not a very efficient way to communicate in 2026, particularly when you have to pay for a replacement pigeon if yours happens to be among the 0.2 per cent that don't make it.