Doomscrolling is free. Orbit makes it cost something. Pick a schedule and your apps lock themselves. Want back in early? Earn it: hold the orb, do squats, ask a friend, pay a little more each time, or win a shift at The Gate. Most times, you’ll stay out.
I’m Alara, one of the builders and the head marketer of Orbit!
Last month, my Screen Time report said 10h 19m a day. More than 80% of it was doomscrolling. I was a full-on blue light zombie: in bed at 1 AM, saying “just one more video,” waking up tired. Finally I asked myself, what am I doing with my life??
I tried every digital detox trick. Deleting apps only to reinstall them in the next hour 😅. Grayscale mode. A “dopamine detox” weekend. Strict blockers I learned to bypass in two taps.
That last one showed us the real problem: getting back in was free. One tap and I was scrolling again. So we built Orbit around one idea: every unlock should cost you something.
🔒 Pick a schedule (No scroll till evening, Deep work mornings, Sleep) and your apps lock on their own 🏋️ Still want in? Earn it: • Hold the orb and breathe • Do squats in front of the camera, or play a head-movement game • Ask a friend. Your accountability partner gets the request and says yes or no • Pay: $0.99, then $1.99, up to $9.99 that week. Or send it to a nonprofit instead • Work a night shift at The Gate Inc.: judge 8 residents’ requests to go online. Make 2 mistakes or fewer, and you earn your break. Only 3 shifts a day, so the game never becomes the new feed (My personal favorite) 👯 Together: lock a whole group’s phones at once, for dinner, a study night or a trip
A month later: 10h 19m → 6h 14m a day. My social media time? Cut in half. No phone in bed means no blue light before sleep, and I sleep noticeably better.
The research points the same way: • 1 in 9 teens across 44 countries now show signs of social media addiction, up from 1 in 14 in 2018 (WHO/HBSC) • In a 2025 randomized trial, blocking mobile internet for just 2 weeks improved attention, mental health and well-being; over 90% of participants improved on at least one (PNAS Nexus)
This math is making me scared: at 10 hours a day, the next decade would have cost me 4+ years of waking life.
I’d love to know: what would stop you faster: 20 squats, asking your mom, or $9.99? 😅
Feel free to use 20% discounts special for this launch:
This is a cool. I knew a friend of mine actually built toys for kids to earn screen time by actually doing house chores. Similar ideas. bet they work really well. congrats!
Is this app good for teens? You mention some stats on that, and would love to somehow get my tween on board. But how to motivate him with this app?
Nice launch Orhan.
Capping The Gate at three shifts a day is a small rule with a big effect, otherwise the mini-game just becomes the new feed. For the people who stuck with it past week one, which unlock path do they actually use most: friend approval, squats, or pay?
I am sad to admit that I do need this product to help me overcome my scrolling habit. I think the way the app works is quite unique and intuitive. When you say that I have to pay to do something, I would rather stick to what I am supposed to do. I think this is a great way to make me more serious about leaving this habit behind. However, sometimes I just go with the flow, so even if I agree to text someone and close the app, my muscle memory might still lead me to start scrolling. How would this be detected, and how would such a situation be handled?
Nice idea and much needed for us all nowadays.
Question: a lot of these apps are needed for tasks that are not doomscrolling (e.g. replying a to a friend's message) -> is there a way/thought on how you can account for that? e.g. something like detect on the app when the attention drifts from 'real tasks' to 'doom scrolling'?
Honest answer to your question: paying would stop me fastest. The tricky part for me is that half my scrolling is actually work, since I run Instagram for two brands. Does the "What for?" prompt let you save a reason like "replying to DMs," so work sessions don't eat into the limit?
The group lock for dinner is a fun idea. Can everyone choose which apps to block, or does the whole group use the same settings?
Hey folks! I’m one of the makers of Orbit 👋
We built Orbit because we kept picking up our phones for “just a minute” and staying much longer than we intended.
Instead of another reminder to stop scrolling, Orbit asks you to do something before opening a distracting app: do squats, ask a friend to unlock it, or beat a mini-game.
The goal isn’t to never use your phone. It’s to make opening an app a choice rather than a reflex.
Would love to hear what you think. Which app would you put behind an Orbit challenge first?
Making the unlock cost more each time you cave is a clever twist, because that first open is always the one that decides whether the evening is gone or not.
Hi everyone
I’m Orhan, one of the builders of Orbit.
The part I’m most proud of is something you barely notice: the moment you tap a locked app. Instead of a dead end, Orbit asks “What for?“. Need to reply to someone? You get 2 minutes, and only for that one app. Just want to scroll? That’s when you have to earn it.
A few design choices we made along the way:
The Gate (our mini game) only allows 3 shifts a day, so the game can’t become the new feed
Pay to unlock caps at $9.99 and resets every Monday, so it motivates instead of punishing
Your friend never sees which apps you use, only the minutes and your reason
Happy to answer anything about how Orbit works or why we built it this way. Which unlock would actually stop you?
Capping The Gate at three night shifts a day, so the game can't become the new feed, is a clever bit of design. I think AI is about to do to our attention for creative work what TikTok did for entertainment, so tools that make the way back in cost something will matter well beyond social apps.
The shared lock for dinner is a nice detail. Agreeing to put the phones away together feels easier than having one person keep asking.
The limit of three Gate shifts a day is a smart way to keep the game from turning into another feed. Did most early users end up picking squats or the friend approval?
Uff, just out of curiosity – what were ou doing 10h 19 min on your phone? :D
About Orbit on Product Hunt
“Stop doomscrolling. Earn every app unlock.”
Orbit launched on Product Hunt on October 27th, 2026 and earned 206 upvotes and 36 comments, earning #3 Product of the Day. Doomscrolling is free. Orbit makes it cost something. Pick a schedule and your apps lock themselves. Want back in early? Earn it: hold the orb, do squats, ask a friend, pay a little more each time, or win a shift at The Gate. Most times, you’ll stay out.
Orbit was featured in iOS (111k followers), Health & Fitness (83.4k followers) and Productivity (664.1k followers) on Product Hunt. Together, these topics include over 245.8k products, making this a competitive space to launch in.
Who hunted Orbit?
Orbit was hunted by Alara Akcasiz. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
Want to see how Orbit stacked up against nearby launches in real time? Check out the live launch dashboard for upvote speed charts, proximity comparisons, and more analytics.
Alara Akcasiz
Hey Product Hunt 👋
I’m Alara, one of the builders and the head marketer of Orbit!
Last month, my Screen Time report said 10h 19m a day. More than 80% of it was doomscrolling. I was a full-on blue light zombie: in bed at 1 AM, saying “just one more video,” waking up tired. Finally I asked myself, what am I doing with my life??
I tried every digital detox trick. Deleting apps only to reinstall them in the next hour 😅. Grayscale mode. A “dopamine detox” weekend. Strict blockers I learned to bypass in two taps.
That last one showed us the real problem: getting back in was free. One tap and I was scrolling again. So we built Orbit around one idea: every unlock should cost you something.
🔒 Pick a schedule (No scroll till evening, Deep work mornings, Sleep) and your apps lock on their own
🏋️ Still want in? Earn it:
• Hold the orb and breathe
• Do squats in front of the camera, or play a head-movement game
• Ask a friend. Your accountability partner gets the request and says yes or no
• Pay: $0.99, then $1.99, up to $9.99 that week. Or send it to a nonprofit instead
• Work a night shift at The Gate Inc.: judge 8 residents’ requests to go online. Make 2 mistakes or fewer, and you earn your break. Only 3 shifts a day, so the game never becomes the new feed (My personal favorite)
👯 Together: lock a whole group’s phones at once, for dinner, a study night or a trip
A month later: 10h 19m → 6h 14m a day. My social media time? Cut in half. No phone in bed means no blue light before sleep, and I sleep noticeably better.
The research points the same way:
• 1 in 9 teens across 44 countries now show signs of social media addiction, up from 1 in 14 in 2018 (WHO/HBSC)
• In a 2025 randomized trial, blocking mobile internet for just 2 weeks improved attention, mental health and well-being; over 90% of participants improved on at least one (PNAS Nexus)
This math is making me scared: at 10 hours a day, the next decade would have cost me 4+ years of waking life.
I’d love to know: what would stop you faster: 20 squats, asking your mom, or $9.99? 😅
Feel free to use 20% discounts special for this launch:
20% OFF on annual plan PHA20
20% OFF on lifetime plan PHL20