Why the coach asks "why" before you scroll
Most apps that try to help with screen time do one of two things. They block you, or they count your minutes. Both can work for a while. Neither asks the one question that actually changes a habit: why are you reaching for your phone right now?
That question sounds small. In practice it does a lot of the work. When you stop and name the reason — bored, avoiding something hard, anxious, or genuinely needing an address — the automatic part of the reach loosens. You move from acting on autopilot to making a choice.
So that is what the coach does. It steps in the moment you open an app you’ve flagged, asks what you’re after, and responds to your actual answer. A real need gets you the time you need. A trigger gets coaching instead: the reason reflected back, and a better thing to try first.
This is the first post on a blog we’ll use to share how the coaching works, what the research says, and what we’re learning as we build. More soon.