Now on iOS
PATENT PENDING · US 64/078,590Pick a thing.
Lock your phone to it.
The screen-time app that uses a real-world object as your key. Snap a thing. Apps go dark. Snap it again to unlock. No willpower lectures. No surveillance.
Free · iOS only · two minutes to set up
How it works
Three steps. That's it.
Snap a thing.
Pick any object — coffee mug, plant, roommate Greg. Snap three photos. That's your key.
Apps go dark.
Tap Activate. Real shielding via Apple's Screen Time framework. No notification to swipe away.
Snap it again.
Walk back to your Totem. Snap it. Apps come back. The walk is the friction that fixes the impulse.
Step one
Snap a thing.
Any thing.
PATENT PENDING · US 64/078,590
Coffee mug. Houseplant. Your dog. The rock from Big Sur. Anything you can point a camera at becomes the key. Three photos, ten seconds, done.
Any object, anywhere
Solid objects work best, but people enroll guitars, climbing holds, and "my roommate Greg." It's your Totem.
Your photos stay home
Apple's Vision API runs on-device. Your images never leave your phone — we store a number, never a picture.
Built on Apple Screen Time
Real shielding, not a workaround. Same framework Apple uses for Family Sharing.
Set it and forget it
Schedule Totems for bedtime, work hours, or the gym. They fire on their own.
Track the wins
Hours back.
Not minutes.
See what you reclaimed today — with a comparison metaphor that actually makes the number feel like something. "≈ a movie marathon." A streak counter to keep you coming back tomorrow.
Daily streak
Snap your Totem once a day to keep the fire burning. Miss a day, the streak resets — like Duolingo, but for putting your phone down.
Minutes saved, today and total
The number ticks up while your Totem is active. Seeing 2h 14m feels different than 134 minutes.
Real-world comparisons
"≈ a podcast episode" · "≈ a movie marathon" · "≈ a half day of focused work." Concrete things you got back.
Lock Screen + Dynamic Island
Locked-in,
every glance.
The active Totem stays on your Lock Screen, ticks live in the Dynamic Island, and lives in a Home Screen widget. Every time you reach for the phone, the reminder's already there.
Lock Screen Live Activity
Persistent at the bottom of your Lock Screen with a live timer. No app open required.
Dynamic Island
The lock icon and timer ride the pill. Long-press for the expanded view.
Home Screen widget
Two sizes. Shows your streak when idle, the live timer when locked.
Buddies
Lock in
together.
Invite up to 5 friends. When they snap their Totem, you'll know. When you snap yours, they'll know. No chat, no rankings — just ambient co-presence.
Quiet awareness
Their status, their Totem name, when they last unlocked. That's it. No DMs, no leaderboards.
One soft nudge
When a buddy activates, you get a single push. "Patrick locked in 🪨" — not a feed full of pings.
Lock in for the same hour
Both activate today? Pair streak counter goes up. Light social gravity, no pressure.
In week one
People picked…
Real Totems, enrolled by real people. The list got weird fast.
What will you pick?
Why you can trust it
We can't see your life. We don't want to.
Most screen-time apps are surveillance with a friendly icon. Dayo isn't built that way — and it isn't paid for that way either.
No surveillance
Dayo can't see your messages, your camera, or anything outside the apps you choose to track.
No data sold. No ads. Ever.
That's not a campaign promise — it's the business model. You pay for the app, not with your data.
Photos never leave your device
Totem matching happens entirely on-device with Apple's Vision API. We store a number, never a picture.
Built on Apple's own framework
The same Screen Time technology Apple uses for Family Sharing. Real shielding, not a workaround.
Less app.
More life.
Pick your first thing. Lock your phone to it. Two minutes, start to finish.
Download DayoFree · iOS only