Developer Releases 'Focus Starry Sky,' a Screen-Time App That Asks How Long You Plan to Stay Before You Open an App

The developer wrote that the app grew out of a recurring problem: picking up a phone to look something up and then scrolling for half an hour, or opening a short video to rest for ten minutes and putting the phone down late at night. The developer said they usually knew why the phone had been opened and roughly how long they meant to use it, but lost control of both once scrolling began.

Many existing restriction apps, the post said, assign a total daily allowance to a chosen app, such as 30 minutes a day, or a fixed number of launches, such as five times at ten minutes each, and then show an interception screen. The developer called those rules inflexible: with Bilibili set at 60 minutes a day, wanting to watch a film that evening meant repeatedly changing the rule or applying for more time.

Focus Starry Sky moves the decision to the moment before launch. When a user opens an app marked for reduced use, the app first asks how long this session will last. Choosing 10 minutes means another launch is blocked after that, so the user does not slide back into a feed. Besides three default options, a custom duration of up to 180 minutes can be entered, which the developer said is enough for a long film.

The app also targets aimless opening. Because users often tap into Douyin, Xiaohongshu or Bilibili with no specific purpose, the interception screen offers a "light a star" button. Tapping it cancels the launch, and each voluntary exit earns a star. Accumulated stars fill a night-sky page whose lower button opens a navigation view; 88 constellations are included, and their positions correspond to those in the real sky, the post said.

For deliberate use, the app adds a direct search function: a keyword entered before entering an app such as Xiaohongshu goes straight to search results, bypassing the home recommendation feed. A "want to use more" setting lets users name apps they hope to open more often, such as WeChat Read, Duolingo or vocabulary apps, and after leaving an app marked for reduced use, the app reminds them of those alternatives. A scheduled blocking feature can shut off the most compulsive apps during a chosen window, with the developer citing 23:30 to 7:00 as an example to protect sleep.

A Pomodoro timer supports counting up and counting down; during a session stars orbit Polaris, and completing a focus session earns a star. Background music is planned. A trends page shows recent phone usage, and all screens support dark mode.

The app is in closed beta and can be joined through TestFlight, the developer wrote. A subscription model is planned after the official release, and subscription actions inside TestFlight will not actually be charged. Users recruited through the article who complete a three-day trial and submit valid feedback through a questionnaire are offered lifetime membership; feedback is collected through the WeChat account zzxkkf1.