Ransom: Exercise Screen Time

Get your evenings back. Keep your apps.

Ransom locks Instagram, TikTok and whatever else eats your day, and asks for push-ups, squats or steps before it opens them. Most of the time you'll decide it isn't worth ten push-ups. That is the whole trick.

WHAT CHANGES

You stop opening apps by reflex. A set standing between you and the feed makes you notice your hand reaching for the phone, and noticing is most of the battle.

The hour before bed comes back. Set a wind-down rule and scrolling takes twice the reps right when you'd normally lose the evening to it.

You get a bit stronger without meaning to. Ten push-ups a few times a day adds up faster than you'd think.

You watch the number drop. The Progress tab shows today against this time yesterday, and your whole week.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Pick the apps that eat your day.
2. Rex, a buff T-rex with tiny arms, locks them.
3. Do a set. The front camera counts push-ups and squats. The pedometer counts steps.
4. A set earns coins, and coins are minutes, one for one. 15 coins opens your apps for 15 minutes.

Spend them on whatever you like. When they run out, your apps lock again until your next set.

NOTHING LEAVES YOUR PHONE

No account, no sign-up, no analytics, no servers. The camera looks at your form on the device and never records, saves or uploads a frame. Your screen time is your business.

EVERY DAY IS A FRESH START

Coins clear at midnight, so unspent minutes never pile up. Had a bad day and scrolled through all of it? Tomorrow starts at zero, and Rex is not going to bring it up.

REX COUNTS PROPERLY

Half a push-up is not a push-up. The camera looks for real depth, so a bounce doesn't earn a minute. It also means the minutes you do earn actually feel earned.

RULES FOR THE HOURS THAT MATTER

Name an hour. Dinner, gym time, wind down. During it, opening your apps takes twice the reps. You still can, it just takes more work.

PICK YOUR LEVEL

Chill, Standard or Beast. Start easy. Move up when ten push-ups stops being a reason to put the phone down.

WHAT IT DOESN'T DO

It doesn't delete your apps. It doesn't shame you. It doesn't nag.

Full access is a subscription that renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. Manage it in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions. Terms: https://lucascoles.github.io/ransom/terms/ Privacy: https://lucascoles.github.io/ransom/privacy/