I'm Aditya, the solo creator of Shutout—a web app that locks you out of Screen Time and removes its “Ignore Limit” button.
Why I built Shutout:
I was tired of mindlessly scrolling on my phone, so I opened Settings and set a Screen Time limit to try and stop myself. The next day, I saw the "Time Limit" screen pop up as I scrolled, and without so much as a second thought, I pressed "Ignore Limit" and moved on. I had the same problem again.
I tried third-party blockers, like Opal and Clearspace. Those were just as easy to get around, all I had to do was flip a switch in Settings and they were completely useless (Proof: www.bit.ly/opaldoesntwork—it literally took me 5 seconds to instantly brick both apps). I had the same problem AGAIN.
I looked for something different: an app with no workarounds at all, something I could set up and forget about. I couldn’t find one.
So I built my own. Shutout locks you out of iOS's built-in Screen Time—with NO workarounds.
How it works:
1. You set up app limits in Screen Time on your phone, like normal.
2. Shutout has you set a password in a confusing way, so that you won't remember it ("enter 12/3...enter 4*2...press delete...enter 49/7..."). This removes the "Ignore Limit" button and stops you from turning off your limits—you don't know the password anymore.
3. The password is saved without being shown to you. To access it later, you’ll face a “willpower wall”—entering, say, 600 random words to retrieve it. Tedious enough to stop you, but still accessible for emergencies.
I always hate opening Reminders to look at an endless list of tasks. There's just no linear path forward. That's why I created Underload, an iPhone, iPad, and Mac app that shows you one task at a time from Apple Reminders, so you get that linear path and you have one single focus. It's great for project management, breaking down goals, and just as a to-do list, and since it two-way syncs with Apple Reminders, you can still use all your usual integrations to manage tasks.
I'm Aditya, the solo creator of Shutout—a web app that locks you out of Screen Time and removes its “Ignore Limit” button.
Why I built Shutout: I was tired of mindlessly scrolling on my phone, so I opened Settings and set a Screen Time limit to try and stop myself. The next day, I saw the "Time Limit" screen pop up as I scrolled, and without so much as a second thought, I pressed "Ignore Limit" and moved on. I had the same problem again.
I tried third-party blockers, like Opal and Clearspace. Those were just as easy to get around, all I had to do was flip a switch in Settings and they were completely useless (Proof: www.bit.ly/opaldoesntwork—it literally took me 5 seconds to instantly brick both apps). I had the same problem AGAIN.
I looked for something different: an app with no workarounds at all, something I could set up and forget about. I couldn’t find one.
So I built my own. Shutout locks you out of iOS's built-in Screen Time—with NO workarounds.
How it works:
1. You set up app limits in Screen Time on your phone, like normal.
2. Shutout has you set a password in a confusing way, so that you won't remember it ("enter 12/3...enter 4*2...press delete...enter 49/7..."). This removes the "Ignore Limit" button and stops you from turning off your limits—you don't know the password anymore.
3. The password is saved without being shown to you. To access it later, you’ll face a “willpower wall”—entering, say, 600 random words to retrieve it. Tedious enough to stop you, but still accessible for emergencies.
Tech stack: NextJS + Tailwind (and ShadCN) + Prisma & Supabase + Kinde + Stripe
Give it a shot! All feedback is welcome :)
-Aditya Saravana