Our Manifest & Architecture
The founding origin, psychological models, and community mechanics behind our fight against digital addiction.
Heavy or poorly timed device use is associated with concerns including disrupted sleep, reduced presence, and lower well-being, although effects vary by person, activity, and context.
The playing field is uneven. Large platforms can continuously test and personalize systems optimized for attention, while each person navigates those systems with finite time, energy, and focus.
PhonePact explores one response: not building thicker digital walls, but helping people practice awareness and conscious choice with support from people they trust.
When we attempt to reduce screen time, we must ask: Who has the autonomy? Who is choosing to put the phone down? Is it an external force, or is it our own choice?
Screen regulation often begins with parents confiscating devices as punishment. That may reduce access in the moment, but it does not necessarily give a young person practice making the choice when external control is absent.
As adults, we realize the problem and try to solve it. In a brief moment of clarity, we install app blockers, buy physical phone vaults, or use gadgets to lock ourselves out. But this system is fundamentally built on a lack of trust in our future self.
When access returns, old habits may return with it. People can interpret that as a failure of willpower, even when the tool never helped them practice awareness, flexibility, or self-directed regulation.
The point is not to take the phone away. The point is to build the mental muscle of conscious choice.
The idea for PhonePact emerged from a simple, personal agreement. A friend of mine expressed a desire to break a deeply compulsive, highly addictive online habit that was draining their productivity and presence. I shared a similar struggle with my own digital dependencies. Instead of installing web filters or locking our devices, we made a pact: we were entirely free to choose to engage in the habit, but if we did, we had to message each other the exact details of that slip-up.
There was no force. The choice remained ours, but it carried immediate social visibility.
"In the deep moments of urge where I would have willingly succumbed, the sudden memory of another human being waiting on the other side brought me back to conscious decision-making."
I chose to turn away of my own volition. A few days later, another friend heard about our digital habit pact and joined. Then another. We created a collective shield. By default, any slip-up meant broadcasting the details to the entire group. In many ways, this experiment was successful beyond anything I had tried by myself.
This pact is built on a well-established sociological concept: The Looking-Glass Self. This theory states that a person's self-concept is built from their perception of how others view them. Our social self acts as a mirror, helping us regulate our behavior based on the imagined judgments of those we respect.
This is why people work far more productively in libraries or cafes than alone in their bedrooms. The physical presence of others calls your social self into existence, keeping you conscious of your actions. You don't want others to see you slack off.
As children, when we were watching TV or playing video games, the sound of the garage door opening and our parents returning instantly forced our external-in perspective back. We scrambled to clean up or to thaw the chicken, pulled back into reality.
During deep phone addiction, this external-in perspective is completely severed. You are lost in an internal-out tunnel, oblivious to how you are spending your life. PhonePact acts as the digital equivalent of that garage door, pulling you back into conscious awareness through the presence of your community.
To establish intent, onboarding is tactile:
The app keeps you aware of time passed. If you set a 2-hour daily goal, you will receive quiet, text-only notifications at key milestones (e.g., 30m, 1h, 1.5h). These notifications have no alarms or timers; they simply state elapsed time to respect your focus.
When you reach 1 hour 55 minutes, you are asked: "You have reached 2 hours. Would you like to notify your circle?"
If you choose NO, you are given a 5-minute grace window. If you do not put the phone down or justify the use, a simple, automated message is sent to your circle: "Hank reached 2 hours in screen time just now." The loop repeats every 30 minutes thereafter.
If you want to change your goal, you must choose a partner in your circle and request confirmation. They will review your note and approve the change, maintaining collective accountability.
Price-Locked Forever
PhonePact is free to download and to invite others. You can use full-featured circles for your first 30 days without entering any credit card details. This ensures zero social friction when starting the habit with your friends.
Because we charge a flat $1/month commitment, we commit to the following values: