ByIntent

A quiet pause, the moment you reach for it.

ByIntent is a digital boundary app for your iPhone. Before you open the few apps that are hardest to put down, it gives you one choice: not now, or open for N minutes on purpose. It never lectures you, never scores you, and never writes a line meant to make you feel bad.

THREE MODES, WORKING AT THREE DIFFERENT LAYERS

Plan - standing rules. A daily total, how long a single open lasts, and hours that are simply closed. You set it once and it runs on schedule. Tightening applies at once; loosening waits 24 hours.

Commitment mode - a lock on the rules themselves. It does not change your quota, only how easy it is to back out: an emergency pass then waits 10 minutes and you get one a week, and turning the mode off waits 24 hours. It is off by default.

WHAT ONE BLOCK LOOKS LIKE

1. You open a guarded app, and iOS lays the ByIntent block screen over it. 2. The block screen offers two things: Not now, or Open for N min. The first tap on Open only registers - you tap again a few seconds later to actually go in. 3. When the time is up, ByIntent tells you, and the guard comes back on its own. 4. Next time you open ByIntent, one question: did you do what you came for? Any answer is fine, and none of them change your rules.

None of it needs you to open ByIntent. An emergency pass is always there - five minutes, three times a week. It is a safety exit, not a selling point, and it will never move behind a paywall.

EVERY DECISION POINTS AT A PAPER YOU CAN LOOK UP

The two-step pause, a choice measured in minutes, and the 24-hour cooling-off period all draw on published behavioural research, cited line by line at byintent.app. Those studies explain why ByIntent works the way it does; they are not a promise of any outcome. ByIntent is a general wellness tool that supports self-management. It is not intended to screen for, diagnose or treat any condition. If you are distressed, please talk to a professional.

PRIVACY: THE CORE STAYS ON THIS PHONE

- On this phone by default. Rules, events and the app tokens you picked stay on this device, and every blocking feature works with no account. - Online only if you turn it on. iCloud sync (Pro) keeps your rules in your own private iCloud; the weekly tier upload and the beta study counts send a few anonymous numbers. Each is off by default and has its own switch. App names, usage events and durations are never sent. - We receive data only when you act: feedback you send (and your email, only if you add it), or an invite link or code you use, so the invite can be credited. - No ads, no tracking, no third-party SDKs, no advertising identifier. - It cannot read your apps. iOS hands over opaque tokens only, so ByIntent cannot even read the name of an app you picked. - Screen Time data belongs to iOS. ByIntent can embed the system report but cannot read or store the numbers in it. - Export every event, or delete all history, whenever you like.

Discovery signals