There are plenty of apps and even built-in iPhone settings to help curb your screen time, blocking addictive apps at certain times of day or after limits have been hit. But a novel approach we’ve not seen before ties time-wasting directly to exercise – you’re forced to earn screen time by walking in real life. The further you go, the longer you get to relax with your favorite apps. It may sound a bit dystopian, but for those stuck in a cycle of endless scrolling, a gamification gimmick like this could be exactly what’s needed.
Enter Steppin, an app designed to transform your daily steps into rewarded screen time. You select which apps you find most distracting – say, Instagram or Candy Crush – and Steppin restricts your access to them until you’ve physically moved enough to earn usage minutes. The default setting offers one minute of screen time for every 100 steps you walk, although you can tweak this ratio to suit your own goals.
Steppin taps into the built-in step counter on your iPhone and integrates smoothly with Apple Health, making setup straightforward and reliable. As you move, your available screen time grows, providing not only motivation to stay active but also a sense of reward once you finally sit down to scroll, guilt-free.
Paul English, the entrepreneur behind the app, sums it up neatly: “There are a lot of apps available to control your screen time. What we felt was unique about this was tying it to something outside your phone.”
Free to download with optional premium features, Steppin arrives at a time when awareness around digital wellness and “doom scrolling” is at an all-time high. Although apps designed to limit screen time or encourage mindfulness aren’t new, the direct connection between physical activity and phone usage is something we haven’t seen before. If traditional app blockers haven’t helped break your scrolling habit, perhaps earning your screen time step-by-step is exactly the solution you’ve been waiting for.