he's lying on your apps. here's the rest. — n.
what is squats to scroll?
an orange tabby named nugget sprawls across the apps you pick. tiktok, instagram, whichever ones eat your evenings. you open one and he's already on it, unbothered. a couple of squats and he rolls off for 15 minutes, then he settles back down. you're not locked out of your life. you're just paying a small, honest toll to the version of you who set this up.
how many squats?
you pick. when you set him up he asks how many it takes to move him: 2, 5 or 10. most people start at two, because it isn't meant to be a workout, just enough friction to make the reach deliberate. you can change it any time in menu → the deal → "squats to move him", along with the most he'll ask for in a day. if auto level-up is on he nudges the number up a little each time you earn a new outfit, and you can switch that off in the same place to hold your current deal.
how does this work on iphone?
he uses apple's own screen time system. you pick the apps in apple's picker (menu → apps → blocked apps → "manage blocked apps"), and apple holds them at the system level. apple never tells us which apps you picked. it hands the app an anonymous list only your phone can read. the app names you type yourself are separate, and they stay on your phone. they're just so nugget can greet each one by name and send you back after your squats.
what does the countdown on my lock screen mean?
after you move him, your 15 minutes shows on the lock screen, ticking down. that's how long he's staying off it. when it hits zero he wanders back and lies down again. nothing for you to do. it's just honest about the time you've got.
can i get in without squatting?
three earned ways, never a paid one. spend a skip, spend a guilt-free day, or just… not go in. that last one is his favourite.
how do skips work?
a skip is a free pass you've already earned, so you don't get any on day one. after that there are three ways to bank them: 10 extra squats earns you one (once a day, he calls it sweat equity), your streak earns you a daily allowance (one a day at a 3-day streak, two at 7, three at 14), and sharing a victory card earns one, once a day. skips are never, ever sold.
do i have to use my camera?
no. the camera makes counting effortless, but everything runs on your phone. frames are read for the squat count and thrown away immediately, never stored, never uploaded. if you'd rather skip the camera entirely, tap-to-count works instead.
it's not counting my squats.
prop your phone so your whole body is in frame, side-on works best, decent light. you can also change how deep a rep has to be, either on the "how deep this time?" screen before you start, or in menu → the deal → how deep. "light" is forgiving, "deep" wants below parallel. still stubborn? tap-to-count is always there, and we'd genuinely like to hear about it: [email protected].
what keeps my streak alive?
any of these counts as showing up: you did your squats, you spent an earned skip, you took a guilt-free day, or you never opened your guarded apps at all. that last one is the whole point. a quiet day isn't a missed day. it's the best day. nugget marks it gold.
what's a guilt-free day?
a day off you choose to take. every guarded app opens freely until midnight, no squats owed, streak protected. you earn your first at a 3-day streak and another at 7, and while the app is free one tops back up every week. you hold one at a time. they're for sick days, travel days, and days that are just a lot. planned rest beats a broken streak every time.
i broke my streak. is it gone?
the hat comes off, but the days still happened. for 24 hours you can patch the streak, just that day's squats, no penalty, and the first repair is free. nugget puts everything back on the shelf like nothing happened. or start fresh at day one. either way, nobody scolds you here. it happens to literally everyone who has ever tried.
what's on the shelf?
things nugget drags home. treasures, outfits, the occasional legendary cheese grater. they're earned by streaks and quiet days, never sold. every treasure stays in full colour, forever.
what does it cost?
right now, nothing. the app is free while we're in beta, and the app store listing is always the accurate source for the current price. what you will never find inside the app: ads, paid skips, or paid streak repairs. skips are earned with squats, the way they should be.
refunds?
apple handles refunds through reportaproblem.apple.com. if you're stuck, email us and a human will help.
what do you actually see about me?
very little, and we'd rather spell it out than hide behind the word "anonymous".
never leaves your phone: camera frames (read for the count, then gone), your minute-by-minute usage, any app you add by typing its name, your cat's name, and anything else you write in the app.
we do send: when a block appears or clears, which app it was, but only when it's one of the well-known apps we ship in our own list. anything you added yourself is recorded as just "custom", never your text. plus daily totals: squats done, blocks cleared, streak length, guarded minutes. totals only, never a timeline.
on iphone, apple never tells us which apps you picked in the picker, so the only app names we can know are the ones from our own list. none of this is tied to your name or your email, and none of it is used for advertising. the full picture is in the privacy policy.
can i turn all of this off?
always. remove apps in apple's picker, switch off screen time access in your phone's settings, or delete the app. you're outsourcing willpower to a cat, not signing away your phone.
he stopped blocking things.
in the app: menu → "if something feels off" → "settle him back down". one tap puts him back on every app you picked, and it's harmless to tap any time. if that doesn't do it, check that squats to scroll still has screen time access (settings → screen time), and that the app you expected him on isn't in apple's "always allowed" list. anything in there overrides him.
i did the squats but the app was still blocked.
give it a breath, apple's shield occasionally takes a second to stand down. if it persists, tap "settle him back down" and go again. if it keeps happening, tell us. that's a bug we want.
something else?
email [email protected] and a human answers, usually within 1 to 2 business days.