I spent six years building products that keep people engaged.

Then I realized I couldn't stop opening Instagram first thing in the morning.

Every Sunday I'd look at my screen time report.

Every Monday I'd forget it existed.

The report wasn't wrong—it told me exactly how much time I'd spent on Instagram, Reddit and YouTube.

The problem was that it only appeared after I'd already lost hours.

It never helped in the moment I instinctively reached for my phone again.

That made me question something.

Maybe screen-time apps have been solving the wrong problem.

Most of them rely on punishment.

Timers.
Limits.
Hard blocks.

Eventually, I ignored them all.

At the same time, I had another problem.

I could never consistently hit my daily step goal.

Walking always felt like something I should do.

Scrolling felt like something I wanted to do.

So I wondered...

What if those two problems could solve each other?

That's how Stroll started.

Stroll turns movement into earned screen time.

You decide your daily step goal, how many steps earn a minute, and which apps you want to slow down.

When your earned time runs out, Stroll doesn't aggressively block the app.

Instead, it introduces a small pause.

A moment to decide.

Walk first.

Scroll later.

That tiny bit of friction has been far more effective for me than another notification telling me to "reduce screen time."

I didn't build Stroll because I wanted to start a company.

I built it because I genuinely wanted it to exist.

For months, I was the only person using it.

Every bug I fixed was one I encountered myself.

Every UX decision came from using it every single day.

Only after it became part of my own routine did I decide to publish it.

Today, Stroll has quietly grown to over 500 downloads across Android and iPhone, with 30+ five-star ratings.

It's still early.

There are plenty of rough edges.

But seeing complete strangers use something that started as my own frustration has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had as a builder.

The vision has never been to eliminate screen time.

Social media isn't the enemy.

Mindless habits are.

I'm continuing to improve Stroll with better insights, browser support, Time Bank, and smarter nudges based on feedback from the people using it.

If you've ever looked at your weekly screen time report and thought,

"This isn't actually helping."

I'd love for you to give Stroll a try and tell me what you think.

The best feedback I've received so far has completely changed the product, and I'm hoping that continues.