Stake against → late-night scrolling
Set a tight daily cap on the apps that pull you past midnight. Stake 5 to 15 dollars on it. Cross the cap by one minute and your stake forfeits to a charity you picked when you were thinking clearly.
Suggested starting contract
$10/day against a daily limit of 20 minutes on the apps you choose.
Free on Google Play and the App Store. On Android, grant the screen time permission so Lockin can read per-app usage. On iPhone, grant Screen Time access so Lockin can read your daily app usage.
Choose the Screen Time contract. Lockin runs as a 24-hour daily cap on the apps you select — the cap covers the entire day, not a time-of-day block.
E.g., 20 minutes per day across the apps that own your nights. Pick a number tight enough that nothing is left for a midnight scroll. A 60-minute cap you'll never hit is worse than a 20-minute cap that forces a real tradeoff between daytime use and a late-night session.
Suggest: Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube. Exclude Phone and Messages so emergency contact still works. Add anything that has ever pulled you past midnight — be honest with the list.
Choose 5 to 15 dollars. Late-night scrolling is a high-pain habit and most users stake on the higher end because the wake-up consequence makes the lesson stick. Pick an amount that would actually annoy you to lose.
Pick from Lockin's vetted list. If you fail, your stake funds the charity you chose. Lockin charges a small platform fee to cover payment processing and operations.
Review the contract, confirm payment method, and the contract goes live today. The first 24 hours are the test — Lockin runs the verification at midnight local time and notifies you of the result the next morning.
From Lockin's data
Verified on-device on both Android (Digital Wellbeing) and iPhone (Screen Time). Daily totals across the apps you covered are compared to your cap at midnight local time. Any minute over equals a forfeit. Only the pass/fail outcome is sent to Lockin — raw usage data stays on your phone.
"I capped Instagram and Reddit at 20 minutes a day and staked 15 dollars. The first morning I woke up to the pass notification and it felt like finding money in a coat pocket — except the money was actually a real night of sleep. Three weeks in I'm falling asleep faster and the morning brain fog is gone."
— Anonymous beta user, late-night scrolling challenge, 3 weeks active
Lockin tracks. On Android it reads per-app usage from Digital Wellbeing; on iPhone it uses Screen Time. It does not hard-block the apps either way. Cross your daily cap by one minute and your stake forfeits when the day rolls over at local midnight. The financial consequence is the deterrent, not a lockout.
Yes. On iPhone, the contract runs through Screen Time — Lockin reads your daily app usage and the contract settles automatically at midnight local time.
Lockin offers a 1-day emergency refund window for genuine emergencies. Phone calls and Messages bypass app-time limits because the contract restricts only the apps you choose — typically social and entertainment, not communication essentials. If you genuinely work overnights, set a cap that fits your actual usage rather than a default.
Forfeited stakes go to a registered charity from Lockin's vetted list. You choose the charity from categories including climate, mental health, animal welfare, and digital literacy when you set up the contract. The bulk of your stake funds the charity you chose. Lockin charges a small platform fee to cover payment processing and operations. Refer to the transparency page inside the app for charity-by-charity tallies.
The daily cap is the same regardless of when you sleep — it's a 24-hour totals cap, not a time-of-day rule. Set the cap tight enough that you can't afford a long late-night session no matter when your day starts. Lockin doesn't care when you sleep; it cares that the apps don't eat the hours that should be yours.
Free to download. You set the limit, the stake, and the charity.
Author
The Lockin Team — Lockin Editorial
Last verified