This ethnographic case study presents findings of an 18-month research study focusing on the ways in which families residing in an urban slum were using mobile phones and how this use supported literacy practices. Data collection included participant observations and interviews with 42 participants including parents, children and community members. Results of the data analysis indicated that in this urban slum, most participants owned a mobile phone which provided multiple entry points to learning. The phones ushered in new ways of brokering knowledge where children acted as 'experts' and enabled parents to perform everyday tasks while parents mediated as cultural brokers and fostered religious and cultural practices and knowledge of the mother tongue. The implications of the study point to the evolving nature of literacy practices, the versatility of the device, the uneven landscape of smartphone use and the limitations posed by the schooling contexts.