If you’ve made it your New Year’s resolution to get more exercise, but the only thing getting a workout is your feed-scrolling finger, there’s a new app that you may want to check out. It’s called Steppin, and it won’t let you check your feeds until you get up and walk around for a bit.
In a press release to TechCrunch, the creator of the Kayak app, Paul English, has released a new service that helps people take back control of their lives. When you use the app, you can set up how many steps you need to perform to earn one minute of social media time. You can set up emergency access measures in case you need to open an app early, but otherwise, you don’t get any browsing time unless you get out and walk.
It may sound like something only teenagers would use, but Paul feels that the scope of the app reaches far further:
It really applies to everyone. We have found through just talking to friends and families that a lot of parents say, ‘I want my teenager to have this, my 12-year-old is addicted,’ And then some adults are saying, ‘Yeah, I too, have a problem, it’s not just Gen Z, I find that I’m on my phone too much and I’m not getting out of the house enough.’ So we’re getting interest from all ages.
If you want more walking and less gawking, you can grab the app on the iOS store, with an Android version coming soon. It’s free for the time being, but Paul is thinking of adding an annual fee of around $20 if the app proves successful. And if an app isn’t strong enough to keep you browsing, check out these ways to avoid doomscrolling on social media.
