ditchdpsst. tap me.
for android, coming soon to google playfor android, on google play
earn your
screen time.
fun apps cost dinos. you earn dinos by doing real things. and you can't cheat your way out. ditchd is a home screen for android that gives instagram, tiktok and the rest a few free minutes a day. after that, earn more: do some push-ups, focus for an hour, or go to the gym.
coming soon togoogle play
for android 8 and newer, with 14 days free and no card needed.
14 days free, no card needed. for android 8 and newer.
on a computer too? ditchd for linux and windows.
you open instagram
take a breath. it opens in 10 seconds, if you still want it.
you open tiktok
free minutes are up. it's dinos from here.
+10 dinos
ten minutes of push-ups and squats. your phone counted every rep.
alarm off, +5 dinos
30 steps round the bedroom. no snooze button in the stone age.
built to be near-impossible to bypass no ads, no ad trackers, no data sold the camera never keeps a frame emergency calls always work
how it works
ditchd in three ideas
cold turkey rarely sticks. ditchd starts where you are and walks you back, a little every week.
01
it becomes your home screen
a calm one: a clock, a few favourites and today's tasks. it's there the moment you open something that pulls at you.
02
fun apps cost dinos
social, video, games, shopping, ai chat and the rest get free minutes a day, then cost dinos. a minute of real effort earns a dino: push-ups, focus, the gym, a walk. messaging, browsing and your tools stay free.
03
your phone goes back in time
free minutes start just under what you use now and shrink every week. each kind of app goes the year before it existed: short video in 2012, social in 2002.
free minutes, then dinos
each kind of app gets its own free minutes a day. scroll and watch a day go by: once they're gone, it's a dino a minute, and dearer the more you use.
want a hard stop? set a daily limit: the most you can use a kind of app in a day. once you hit it, it's closed until tomorrow, even with dinos. raising a daily limit waits, like anything easier.
dinos spent today0try it
how much do you scroll a day?
drag it to roughly what your phone says for social, video and the rest.
your first week
1 h 50free a day
50–55dinos a day to keep it up
week 8
55 minfree a day
140–200dinos a day to keep it up
more than a normal day's earning. time to cut down, or start walking.
a rough guide, at today's prices. ditchd works out yours from your phone's own record. and nobody has to keep it up: the idea is that you scroll less.
the years
what goes, and when
you start in 2026. every week your phone goes a little further back, and each kind of app goes the year before it was invented.
costs dinos once the day's free minutes are up
pause a short wait before it opens
puzzle a quick puzzle first
gone it hasn't been invented yet
- 2026where you start. fun apps cost dinos once their free minutes are up, and most ask you to pause first.
- 2021chatgpt is a year away. ai chat is gone. you'll have to remember things yourself.
- 2012vine is still a few months away. short video is gone.
- 2004youtube is a few months away. video is gone.
- 2002myspace is a year away, facebook two. social media is gone.
- 1994amazon and ebay are a year away. shopping is gone.
- 1993nobody orders a pizza online until next year. you'd ring. takeaway apps are gone.
- 1970pong is two years away, ceefax four. games and news are gone. the news waits for the bulletin.
- 10,000 bccalls, messages, maps, the camera and your banking. messages and a browser want a puzzle. the rest is gone. go and find some berries.
a day with ditchd
what a normal day looks like
your first week, with the alarm, morning routine, inbox and bedtime switched on.
- 07:00the alarm rings. there's no snooze. it stops after 30 steps, or squats, or a puzzle. getting up pays 5 dinos.
- 07:05your morning routine. the fun apps stay shut until you've planned the day.
- 08:15on the bus you open instagram. 10 seconds of calm first. half the time, you didn't really want it.
- 08:30then tiktok. its free minutes are gone, so you buy 5 with dinos. when they're up, they're up.
- 12:00your notification inbox opens. the likes and news alerts waited all morning. the people you picked came straight through.
- 12:30a walk at lunch. 2,500 steps, 25 dinos. nothing to press.
- 14:00an hour of focus. everything but what you need is shut. 60 dinos.
- 16:00get up and move. 45 minutes on the sofa with your phone. a hundred steps and ditchd's happy.
- 18:30the gym, or the living room floor. check in at the gym for a dino a minute. or prop your phone up and do push-ups and squats: it counts every rep.
- 20:00twenty minutes of duolingo. 20 dinos, for the minutes you're actually using it.
- 21:30the evening journal. fifty words about your day. 5 dinos.
- 22:30bedtime. your phone gets stricter and goes quiet until morning. screen off on time earns 15 dinos.
all of it optional. everything ditchd does.
hard to get round
built to be near-impossible to bypass
we beat every screen time app we ever installed, so we built one we couldn't.
stricter happens now.
easier waits.
there's always a way off. it's just slow on purpose.
go on, try to get round it
tap one and see what digby makes of it. every try leaves a mark.
go on. try something.
0 of 10 tried. ways out found: 0
that's all the usual ones. found a real way round? tell us at hello@ditchd.app and we'll close it.
ways to earn
all the ways to earn dinos
a minute of real effort earns a dino, and a dino buys a minute of a fun app. do your push-ups at home, spend the dinos on the train.
your phone counts your push-ups
prop your phone up, press start, and the camera counts every rep. you earn a dino for every minute you keep going, up to 60 a day.
- push-ups
- squats
- sit-ups
- jumping jacks
- arm raises
- planks
- wall sits
- dancing to a song you pick coming soon
nothing is recorded. each frame is checked on your phone and thrown away.
+2- 20 min of push-ups and squats +20
- 30 min of focus +30
- 10 min of duolingo +10
- 10 min meditating +10
- a 1,000-step walk +10
- 45 min with the screen off +15
- the evening journal +5
focus
pick how long, and everything you don't need is blocked. study, work, cave paintings.
1 dino a minute, up to 60 a daymeditate
breathe along with a circle, follow a guided session, or just sit with a timer.
1 dino a minute, up to 30 a daythe gym
check in at your gym, and out when you leave. your sofa doesn't count.
1 dino a minute, for visits of 20 minutes to 2 hourslearning apps
duolingo, anki, kindle and more. minutes count while you're actually using the app.
1 dino a minute, up to 30 a daythe evening journal
fifty words about your day. quicker than a cave wall.
5 dinos, once a daytime away
leave your phone alone for 15 minutes or more. it pays by itself.
1 dino per 3 minutes, up to 60 a daythe wake-up alarm
it only stops once you're up: 30 steps, some squats or a puzzle.
5 dinos for getting upwalking
your phone or watch counts the steps. there are wheelchair and gentler options too.
1 dino per 100 steps, up to 60 a dayyou can also earn a few dinos for good habits, like making your bed, and 15 for being in bed on time. see every rate.
promises and rewards
keep your word, earn meteors
promise yourself the gym three times a week, or focus every weekday. keep it and you earn meteors. miss it and you pay whatever you picked.
meteors buy a free month of ditchd, a free year, stickers, a tee or a digby plushie in the post. keep enough promises and ditchd pays for itself.
drag to turn.
why effort first
for hundreds of thousands of years, everything you wanted took effort. food meant a hunt. news meant someone walking over the hill. then the phone put the whole world one thumb away, and some of the smartest engineers alive are paid to keep that thumb moving.
the apps are built to be addictive. ditchd puts a small barrier between you and the quick hit, and the way past it is doing something real. effort first, reward after. digby keeps count.
inspired by dopamine nation by dr anna lembke: pleasure on tap lowers your baseline, and barriers help. she hasn't endorsed ditchd. we just read the book.
notifications
notifications when you say
only the people and apps you pick get through. everything else waits in an inbox that opens at 12:00 and 18:00, or your own times.
can't wait? opening it early costs a minute of waiting. calls and alarms always ring.
open it early: 60 s on that screen first
also in ditchd
the rest of the day, sorted
a morning routine
the fun apps stay shut until you've done what you planned.
focus times
9 till 12 on weekdays, say. nothing fun is a swipe away.
bedtime, and quiet nights
a wind-down, sleep sounds, and a phone that stays quiet until morning.
get up and move
sat too long? a nudge to stretch your legs.
daily limits
the most you can use a kind of app in a day. once you hit it, it's closed until tomorrow, even with dinos. raising one waits, like anything easier.
quitting something
smoking, gambling, an app. help when a craving hits, not a countdown.
a 30-day reset
go without what pulls hardest for 7, 14 or 30 days.
progress
your week and month against life before ditchd, leading with what got better.
why it's different
how ditchd compares to other screen time apps
most screen time apps just say no, so you learn to ignore them. ditchd makes you earn it, and asks for a little less every week.
| typical screen time apps | ditchd | |
|---|---|---|
| getting time back | wait it out, take a pass, or switch it off | earn it: a minute of effort buys a minute |
| where it ends up | the same limits forever | fewer free minutes every week, until you barely need them |
| strict mode | often an extra, and easy to turn off | built in. tightening is instant, easing waits |
| getting used to it | the same timer every day, until you stop noticing | prices rise the more you use, and your phone keeps going back in time |
| uninstalling | a tap or two | waits 7 days, with the uninstall guard on |
| the rest of the day | not their job | wake-up alarm, morning routine, focus, bedtime, a notification inbox |
drag to spin him. tap and he hops.
meet digby
this is digby. he's on your side.
digby lives on the coin on your home screen. tap him for your dinos, promises and rewards. he also guards the off switches.
pick his colour. go on, every digby on this page changes.
ai chat
think for yourself again
chatbots are brilliant, and very easy to lean on for every thought. ditchd gives ai chat its own free minutes, like social or games, so you decide how much thinking you hand over.
nobody asked a chatbot how to start a fire.
privacy
what you do on your phone stays on your phone
no ads, no data for sale, no ad trackers.
on your computer
ditchd on your computer too
linux and windows, same rules as your phone. when your phone goes back a year, so does your laptop.
- your dinos on both: earn at the gym, spend on the laptop
- focus sessions that earn dinos there too
- part of the same plan, nothing extra to pay
questions
what people ask first
what's free, and what costs dinos?
social media, short video, video, games, news, shopping, takeaways and ai chat cost dinos once their free minutes are up, apps and websites alike. messaging, browsing, maps, banking and your other tools stay free.
what happens when i open instagram?
a calm screen for 10 seconds, then it opens, out of today's free minutes. after those, you buy minutes with dinos. further back in time it wants a puzzle first, and from 2002 it's gone. see the timeline.
can i get round it?
it's built to be near-impossible to bypass. found a way anyway? tell us at hello@ditchd.app and we'll close it.
what if i need my phone in an emergency?
emergency calls, the phone app, incoming calls and your emergency info are never blocked. you can also keep apps like banking or maps always open.
what if i can't walk or exercise?
pick walking, low-impact, wheelchair or no movement in setup. arm raises work sitting down, and focus, meditating, the journal, learning apps and time away earn without moving at all.
when can i get it?
ditchd is coming to google play, for android 8 and newer. the computer app is on the download page.
now, on google play, for android 8 and newer, free for 14 days. the computer app is on the download page.
see you in 10,000 bc.
or 2015, or wherever you choose to stop. your phone goes back to being a tool. ditchd is coming soon to google play.start today, free for 14 days.
coming soon togoogle play
for android 8 and newer, with 14 days free and no card needed.
14 days free, no card needed. for android 8 and newer.