u/prashant2198

I’m exploring an idea and would really value feedback from people who have tried to reduce their screen time.

Most screen-time tools either show you your usage or block distracting apps. Both approaches can be useful, but I’ve found that they often stop working after a while. You see the daily report, feel slightly guilty, then open the same app again five minutes later. If the blocker is easy to bypass, it becomes even less meaningful.

The concept I’m thinking about is an accountability system built for two things: a real person who can see whether you’re sticking to them, and a financial commitment.

For example, you might set a goal to spend less than two hours a day on social media. An accountability buddy would be able to see your progress and talk to you about it. You could also choose to put a small amount of your own money at stake. If you stay within your limit, you keep it. If you miss the goal, you lose it.

So it would act more like a commitment device. Saying “I should scroll less” is easy to ignore. Saying “I’ve committed money to this goal and someone else will know whether I followed through” feels psychologically different.

So I’m looking for thoughtful feedback on the concept itself:

Would putting your own money at stake make you more likely to follow a screen-time goal?

Would seeing your live progress shared with an accountability buddy feel motivating?

Please do share your thoughts.

I’m a solo founder building Screen Challenge Buddy, a screen-time app for people who want to reduce their screen time but don’t want another app that just send reminders or simply blocks their app.

The idea came from my own frustration with existing screen-time tools. They’re good at telling you that you spent six hours on Instagram, but that information alone doesn’t always change anything. Traditional blockers are easy to bypass, and once you start ignoring their notifications, they become part of the background noise.

That led me to focus on accountability instead of relying only on restrictions.

The app tracks screen time and gives users insights into their usage. The main feature is an accountability buddy who can see your live screen-time stats and talk to you about your progress. Users can also create optional challenges where they set a screen-time goal and put some money at stake as a commitment device.

The app is being built with Flutter and Firebase. I’m handling the product, development, backend, and early validation myself.

The biggest lesson so far is that the product is not really about screen-time tracking. Tracking is just the measurement layer. The harder problem is helping someone act differently after they see the data. That’s why I’m testing whether social accountability and personal commitment work better than simply adding stricter blocking.

I’m currently pre-launch. I’m collecting early feedback and waitlist signups.

I’d particularly like feedback from other Micro SaaS founders on three things:

Does an accountability buddy provide enough ongoing value to stick to the app?
Does the optional money-based challenge feel motivating, or does it create too much friction?Would you position this primarily as a productivity app, a habit-building app, or a digital wellbeing app?

DM me. Only genuine sellers.