Orbit - Stop doomscrolling. Earn every app unlock.
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Doomscrolling is free. Orbit makes it cost something. Pick a schedule and your apps lock themselves. Want back in early? Earn it: hold the orb, do squats, ask a friend, pay a little more each time, or win a shift at The Gate. Most times, you’ll stay out.
Replies
Honest answer to your question: paying would stop me fastest. The tricky part for me is that half my scrolling is actually work, since I run Instagram for two brands. Does the "What for?" prompt let you save a reason like "replying to DMs," so work sessions don't eat into the limit?
@kaitlyn_bricker Ha, paying wins again 😅 And you've hit on something real: for people who run social for work, the feed is also the office, and for me too. Honest answer: not yet. "What for?" has fixed options today ("Reply to someone" opens just that one app for 2 minutes, "Check one thing" for 1), and 2 minutes is clearly not a work session. What works better for your case: Orbit runs on schedules, not a daily limit, so you can lock Instagram only outside your work blocks (evenings, mornings, bed) and leave work hours open. Some social media managers also keep Instagram locked and answer DMs from Meta Business Suite, a separate app you'd simply not add to the lock. A saved "work" reason is a really good idea though, and I'm taking it to the team.
@kaitlyn_bricker That’s a fair point, especially when Instagram is part of your job! Orbit doesn’t use a time allowance that work sessions eat into. During a blocking schedule, you still need to complete your chosen challenge, regardless of why you’re opening the app. You can create multiple schedules to work around your usual work hours.
Separating work sessions from casual scrolling in the reports is a great suggestion. We’d be cautious about letting a saved reason bypass the block entirely, though, since it could become an easy loophole, even with the best intentions 😅
Is this app good for teens? You mention some stats on that, and would love to somehow get my tween on board. But how to motivate him with this app?
@lhenleycohn Love that you're thinking about it together rather than for him. 🙂 Honest answer: Orbit is built for self-control, not parental control. He'd set his own locks, and like any iPhone blocker, it only works if he wants it to. If you need limits he can't change, iPhone's own Screen Time with Family Sharing is the right tool. Where Orbit can really help is getting him to want it:
• Do it together. Start a Together moment at dinner: every phone at the table locks, yours included. Kids notice fast when the rule is for everyone.
• Be his partner. He asks you for a break and you say yes or not now. You only see the minutes and the reason, never his apps or what he does. Being a partner is free.
• Let him pick the cost. The night shift game is a big hit with people who'd never pick squats. 😄
What does he scroll most, games or videos?
When on Android btw ?
@thomas_wazza Hey Thomas! We’re focused on iOS for now, but with enough demand, who knows 😜 Counting your comment as a vote for Android!
The limit of three Gate shifts a day is a smart way to keep the game from turning into another feed. Did most early users end up picking squats or the friend approval?
@neerajnathany Thank you for the question 🙌 So far the two that get people most excited are the night shift game and friend approval. The game because it's genuinely fun and still makes you say "no" to others most nights, and friend approval because asking a real person turns "just 5 minutes" into something you have to say out loud; we have a lot of couples ✨. Which one would you pick for yourself?
@alara_akcasiz night shift game for me, feels like the most fun way to earn it and the 3 a day cap keeps it from getting out of hand
The shared lock for dinner is a nice detail. Agreeing to put the phones away together feels easier than having one person keep asking.
@oleksii_sekundant Yes! That was the whole idea: nobody has to be the "phones down, please" person anymore. One person starts a moment, everyone joins with a code, and every phone at the table locks at once.
Capping The Gate at three night shifts a day, so the game can't become the new feed, is a clever bit of design. I think AI is about to do to our attention for creative work what TikTok did for entertainment, so tools that make the way back in cost something will matter well beyond social apps.
@simon_moxon Love this, and as someone who works in AI marketing all day, I feel it. 😅 Infinite scroll trained us to never hit a natural stopping point; endless "one more prompt" could do the same to deep work. That's partly why Orbit isn't tied to social apps: you choose what to lock, apps, whole categories or websites, and the way back in costs the same. Honestly, the next frontier might be friction that protects focus without blocking the tool you need.
Making the unlock cost more each time you cave is a clever twist, because that first open is always the one that decides whether the evening is gone or not.
@karimbenkeroum So true, the first open is where the evening is won or lost. That's why the price starts low ($0.99) and climbs with each unlock that week: the first one is a small speed bump, the fifth one really makes you think. It resets every Monday so it never turns into punishment.
Nice launch Orhan.
Capping The Gate at three shifts a day is a small rule with a big effect, otherwise the mini-game just becomes the new feed.
For the people who stuck with it past week one, which unlock path do they actually use most: friend approval, squats, or pay?
@genedai I'll jump in here before Orhan does 🤓 Thanks!! Exactly, that cap was one of the first rules we wrote: if the way back in becomes fun forever, it's just another feed. Honest answer on the data: the new unlock paths only shipped with this update, so "past week one" is still a small group and we don't want to oversell a trend. What we're seeing so far: the night shift and friend approval are the clear favourites. The game because it's genuinely fun in small doses, friend approval because asking someone you know is a cost most people don't want to pay twice. 😄 We'll share proper numbers once we have a few weeks of data. Which one would you lean on?
Most app blockers are way too easy to ignore. I like the idea of making distractions genuinely inconvenient. Curious which unlock method people are least willing to go through?
@jamieg Thank you, "genuinely inconvenient" is exactly the goal. 🙂 It's still early for hard numbers, but the pattern we keep hearing points to friend approval. Squats cost you 30 seconds, and Pay costs you a dollar or two. Asking a friend means a real person sees "15 minutes, because I'm bored" at 11pm, and most people would rather close the app than send that. 😄 That's also why it works. Pay is close behind, since the price climbs with every unlock that week, up to $9.99.