Now available on the App Store
Is it worth it?
Sphinx guards your apps with challenges that make you think. Keep scrolling or put your phone down — either way, it's your call.
Download on the App Store
Sphinx guards your apps with challenges that make you think. Keep scrolling or put your phone down — either way, it's your call.
Download on the App Store"Is 5 more minutes of Instagram worth solving a math problem?"
That's the question Sphinx forces you to answer. Not with a timer. Not with a button you tap through. With an actual challenge that requires your brain to engage and to interrupt your autopilot.
Sphinx uses Apple's Screen Time APIs to shield your apps at the operating system level. No workarounds. No "just one more minute" button. Just a question: is it worth it?
Select which apps you want Sphinx to guard — social media, news, games, whatever pulls you into autopilot — and choose how often Sphinx interrupts: every 5 minutes, 15, 30, or whatever works for you.
Sphinx runs quietly in the background. After your chosen interval — say, 5 minutes of scrolling Instagram — it drops an OS-level shield over your apps mid-use. Not an overlay you can dismiss. A real block.
To unlock your apps, solve a challenge — math problems, number sequences, memory grids, or typed answers. This is the moment: is continuing actually worth the effort?
Solve the challenge and your apps unlock. Walk away and you've just reclaimed your time. Either way, it was your decision — not autopilot.
Most screen time apps either block you completely or give you a button to ignore. Sphinx does something different: it makes you decide.
Uses Apple's FamilyControls framework. Apps are genuinely shielded at the system level — not an overlay you can swipe away.
Multiple choice math, typed answers, number sequences, and memory grids. Three difficulty levels — from gentle pause to serious effort.
You're never locked out. You always have the choice to continue. Sphinx just makes sure that choice is conscious.
Optional hardcore mode: face Sphinx every time you open a guarded app, not just at intervals. For when you want maximum friction from the start.
No accounts. No cloud. No analytics. Everything stays on your device. We don't know who you are.
Every challenge is a small cognitive workout — a moment where your brain wakes up instead of staying on autopilot.
Sphinx is live on the App Store. Download it now and take back your screen time.
Requires iOS 16 or later. Free to download.
Download on the App StoreSphinx was built with a simple principle: your screen time habits are nobody's business but yours.
No sign-up, no email, no phone number. Install it and go.
Your screen time data, app selections, and challenge settings never leave your device.
No analytics, no telemetry, no third-party SDKs. Zero.
Sphinx ("the App") is developed and maintained by an independent developer. This privacy policy explains how the App handles your information.
Sphinx does not collect, store, or share personal information such as your name, email, or phone number. Specifically:
Sphinx uses Apple's Screen Time APIs (FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity frameworks) to monitor app usage intervals and apply app shields. All Screen Time data is processed entirely on your device by Apple's frameworks. Sphinx does not have access to, and cannot read, the specific apps you use or your usage durations — it only receives callbacks from Apple's DeviceActivity framework when configured thresholds are reached.
Your configuration preferences (selected apps, interruption intervals, challenge settings) are stored locally on your device within the App's sandboxed container and shared App Group. This data is never transmitted off your device.
Sphinx offers optional paid subscriptions managed entirely through Apple's StoreKit framework. All payment processing is handled by Apple — Sphinx does not receive, store, or have access to your payment details, Apple ID, or billing information. Subscription status is verified on-device through StoreKit.
Sphinx does not require or support its own user accounts. There is no sign-in, registration, or authentication process beyond what Apple handles for subscription purchases.
Sphinx connects to Apple's servers solely for subscription verification through StoreKit. Your screen time data, app selections, challenge settings, and usage patterns are never transmitted off your device.
Sphinx does not integrate with any third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking services. The only external connections are to Apple's native frameworks (Screen Time and StoreKit).
Sphinx is designed for individual (non-child) use and uses the .individual authorization mode of Apple's FamilyControls framework. It is not designed for parental monitoring of children's devices.
If this privacy policy is updated, the revised version will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.
For questions about this privacy policy or the App, please contact: hello@getsphinx.app