I tried Steppin, an application that makes you work to save screen time

• Steppin is the last application of the Kayak co -founder, Paul English.
• The application limits the use of the phone by encouraging users to watch the steps to unlock screen time.
• I tried it for a week and I noticed that it was a difference in my morning routine.

In recent years, I have established similar New Year resolutions to reduce my screen time. I tried to set deadlines, keep my phone out of sight and delete social media applications.

None of them ever worked. With an average daily screen time of more than five hours, I am what compatriots Zers could call chronically online. And social media, not surprisingly, occupy the biggest piece of my time.

When I learned that a new iOS application called Steppin – created by the co -founder of Kayak Paul English – aims to help people “escape the parchment”, I was intrigued.

I tested the application for a week

Steppin combines the objectives of blocking the steps and limiting screen time. The more measures you take, the more you are granted to use your limited applications.

Each user can define their own parameters. I decided to restrict two of my most drainage applications: Instagram and Tiktok. For all the 100 steps made, I granted myself a minute of use on my limited applications. My saved time would be reset every day.

I spent my first day working at home.

Normally, I use my evenings to relax by scrolling social media. But that day, at 5 p.m., I had only followed 200 steps. With only two minutes to scroll, I decided to walk in a nearby park instead.

When I had finished, I had traveled more than 2,000 steps, the equivalent of 20 minutes of screen time. Seeing the Sauter on the Application gave me a rush to dopamine.

At the end of the day, I had accumulated credit and I could choose the time saved on my limited applications.

I used the application for a week. The biggest change was that I stopped scrolling social media as soon as I woke up; I couldn’t, because I had not timed the stages required for this day. I felt refreshed and ended up with more productive mornings.

At the end of the week, my average screen time has dropped almost two hours.

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How does it work

Steppin is not the first application designed to limit screen time. The Questio Parental Application, published in 2012, allows parents to block applications and define daily screen times. Forest, released the following year, cultivated virtual trees during development sessions. If users leave the application, the tree begins to die.

There are also integrated applications that allow users to define daily limits. Apple Screen Time is a functionality on iPhones, and digital well-being, developed by Google, is on most Android devices.

Paul English, CEO of Boston Venture Studio and the co -founder of The Kayak travel search engine, said to Business Insider that Steppin’s idea had been launched during a family trip to Spain.

During the trip, the English fiancée, Rachel Cohen, and her son, Mike English, discussed means to reduce screen time.

He credited the other two for the idea. “The idea really came from Michael and Rachel more than me. I was really excited about it and I said, we have to do that, build it, build it, assemble a team because I think that It’s a very good idea, “said English.

“There should be something outside of your phone to manage a dependence on the phone,” BO Bi Bi, 29, product manager and designer of Boston Venture Studio told Bi.

“Walking is obviously something that almost everyone does. So it looked like a perfect combination of physical and mental well-being,” he said about inspiration behind the application.

The application was published last month and is free on the App Store, although they plan to charge annual subscription fees of around $ 20. Steppin is not yet available on Google Play, but Android users can register for its waiting list.

“We have several thousand downloads, which has been great since we have just released the application a few weeks ago and we have not yet started marketing,” said elderly English. He refused to give a specific download count.

Why Stempin could – or not to work

Pamela Rutledge, media psychologist and director of Media Psychology Research Center, an independent research organization in California, said that Steppin could call on users who like to set short -term objectives with immediate rewards.

Assuming that screen time is a “high reward” activity, combining it with “good for you” behavior can help people overcome inertia, she told Bi. “This application could act as a soft reminder to move, but more importantly, it breaks usual behavior and changes attention,” she added.

But Rutledge said that the effectiveness of the application will depend on the user’s motivations, adding that users can become frustrated or disinterested once its novelty has dissipated.

Some experts have also expressed concerns about functionality that allows users to replace the screen restrictions in emergencies.

Melissa Hunt, a clinical psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said that the application could be effective initially to make people more aware of their screen time by helping them to be attentive, she said. “But overall, technological solutions to technological problems will always be intrinsically problematic,” she said.

Mike English said The possibility of replacing the restrictions has been included to give users more flexibility.

It took self -discipline to prevent me from replacing the restrictions when I lacked time saved. But being limited to use social media did not prevent me from playing with my phone when I had nothing to do. I found myself in Gravira to other applications – and I generally found myself in Nyt Games to play rounds of “Spelling Bee”.