Mom was right… we really ought to get off that darn phone. A lot of people are waking up to just how great life can be when it’s spent… living? Maybe you could spread that lust for life a lil with this idea 🙂
The Trends:
We live on our phones: average time on mobile > 5 hours/day across top markets. Sensor Tower
Teens are always online: 46% of U.S. teens say they’re online almost constantly. Pew Research Center
And they feel it: 45% of teens say they spend too much time on social media (up sharply vs. 2023). Pew Research Center
Digital-detox is mainstreaming: surveys show ~43–46% of people (esp. Gen Z) actively trying to reduce screen time. NuVoodooFast Company
Competition works: in an RCT, social comparison/leaderboards boosted exercise class attendance ~90% vs. support/control—habits respond to friendly competition. ndg.asc.upenn.edu
Your Answer:
Make “less is more” social: auto-build weekly leaderboards for friends, families, and work teams.
Nudge loops: gentle push before weekly report, celebratory share card after.
Privacy by design: track only weekly total screen time, not app-level details.
Optional “stakes”: loser donates $5 to a team-picked charity (keeps it compliant and brand-friendly).
Your Roadmap:
Collect the number
iOS (fastest MVP): users upload the built-in Screen Time weekly summary screenshot. Parse total hours via OCR. Apple Support
Android: read weekly usage with UsageStatsManager (user grants “Usage Access”). Android Developers
AI & automation (no heavy coding)
OCR: Google Cloud Vision or AWS Textract; or a vision-capable LLM to parse “Xh Ym” from screenshots.
UI generation: v0.dev (Vercel) to draft React screens from prompts; or FlutterFlow/Glide to autogenerate mobile UI & auth.
Backend in a box: Supabase (Auth + Postgres + Row Level Security) or Firebase.
Weekly cadence: a cron (Supabase Edge Functions / Cloud Scheduler) that locks results Sunday night → posts leaderboard + share cards.
Core features to ship Week 1
Group codes, weekly leaderboard, “wins this month,” shareable trophy card, and basic notifications.
Admin “fair-play” flag (re-request proof if numbers look off).
Tips:
Cheat-resistance (lightweight): require fresh iOS summary screenshot (EXIF date check); on Android, verify data window matches last 7 days.
Make it sticky: streaks for consecutive “under goal” weeks; small confetti moments; Slack/Discord integrations for office leagues.
Distribution: seed in college clubs & coworking spaces; run “Screen-Free Sunday” campus challenges with a public leaderboard.
Brand safety: avoid wagers; push charity or team-funded rewards. Easier legally and for app-store policies.
Road to v2: private “Focus Hours” races, company wellness dashboards, and aggregated anonymous insights for B2B.