App stores are filled with different services that are designed to help you cut down on your screen time and count your steps. A new iOS app called Steppin combines these two ideas to help users do both at the same time to bridge the gap between physical and mental health.
Steppin blocks your social media apps unless you walk a certain number of steps each day. You unlock time on your most-used social media platforms, like TikTok and Instagram, by achieving daily step goals.
The app was co-founded by Paul English, who previously launched travel search engine Kayak, which was acquired by Priceline for $1.8 billion. Paul told TechCrunch that he came up with the idea for the app alongside his son, Michael English, and fiancè, Rachel Cohen, while they were on vacation in Spain.
They found that even though they were traveling around a place with beautiful scenery, they were constantly using their phones and scrolling through social media. Although they were aware of apps that block your social media usage, they thought about tying this to the amount of steps you take on a given day. They thought that doing so would help people boost both their physical and mental health.
The app works by letting you decide how many steps it takes to earn one minute of screen time. You can be as aggressive or lenient as you want. For instance, you can decide that you need to walk 100 steps to earn one minute on TikTok. If for some reason you need to access a certain app, you can override Steppin’s controls.
Steppin doesn’t just connect with social media apps, you can also cut back on other apps that steal your time, like Netflix or certain games.
While the app is being marketed toward Gen Z, Paul says the app can be beneficial for people of all ages, especially since he himself has been using Steppin to cut back on social media usage.
“It really applies to everyone,” Paul said. “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.”
At launch, the app is available for free, but the company plans to offer it through an annual subscription at some point in the future. While Steppin hasn’t finalized the price point, it expects it to be around $20.
In terms of the future, Steppin will focus on more than just steps, as you will be able to log things like a yoga class or other physical activities to earn time on social media.
“We’re going to do a leaderboard so you can see across your friends who’s using social media the least,” Paul said. “We’re going to put in the app how many days in the row you’ve used the app successfully. So this is something for parents. They can say to their kid, ‘hey, how’s Steppin going?’ And when the kid opens the app, the parents are gonna say, ‘Wait a minute, you cheated three days ago.’ Or they’ll see they’ve used it for 30 days in a row with no cheats.”
Steppin is available to download on iOS starting Tuesday, and will roll out to Android users in the coming weeks.
