Choose the apps that pull you off course. Keep up to three big goals, each with the reason you care and one daily proof. When you reach for a selected app, review the roster and one focused goal first. Do the proof, ask again in ten minutes, or hold for five seconds to continue consciously.
● Live on the App Store. The yearly plan starts with seven days free; Apple shows the exact price and first-charge date before you pay.
Four to six hours a day is about 76 days a year. Plain arithmetic, not a study: five hours, times 365 days, divided by 24. Take them back.
Choose Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, or any app that pulls you off course. Goal Lock only intervenes on the apps you select.
For each big goal, say what success looks like, why you care, and one repeatable daily proof. Three keeps the review short enough to read.
The gate keeps your goal roster in view, then focuses on one goal's why and daily proof. Do the proof, ask again in ten minutes, or hold for five seconds to continue consciously.
Honest mechanics: on iOS 26.5 and later, Goal Lock uses Apple's system Screen Time shield plus two signed extensions to pause the apps you select. While you have an active goal, those apps stay gated. A five-second hold starts a native session of at least 15 minutes, and a DeviceActivity monitor returns the shield automatically when it ends. Completing a daily proof records progress; it does not disable the gate. Apple keeps the originating app private, so the native route returns to Goal Lock Home. Earlier iOS versions use a guided Shortcuts automation, which can open the app you chose. No VPN or account, and the words you write stay on your phone.
Distraction wins when the choice stays automatic.
Three big goals. A real why. One daily proof each.
Review first. Then choose awake.
fewer attempts to open distracting apps once a friction gate stood in the way, tracked across 280 people for six weeks.
effect size of implementation intentions ("when I open X, I will face my goal") on follow-through, across 94 independent tests.
more likely to achieve goals that are written down, with a deadline and a why.
The 42% figure comes from an informal research summary, not a peer-reviewed journal. We cite it the way it was actually published, not dressed up.
For the week you need it most. Renews until you stop it.
Try one full cycle. Renews until you stop it.
Seven days free for eligible new subscribers, then the year. Apple shows the exact first-charge date in the purchase sheet before you confirm. Goal Lock offers an optional reminder if you allow notifications.
One payment. Never negotiate with yourself about the price again.
Prices shown in USD; your storefront may vary and Apple always shows the exact regional price before you pay. Subscriptions auto-renew until cancelled in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions, at least 24 hours before the period ends. Have a code? The paywall opens Apple's own redemption sheet.
Yes. Goal Lock is live on the App Store. The next release adds the five-second goal-review ritual and asks for Screen Time permission only after you have seen the flow.
On iOS 26.5 and later, it uses Apple's Screen Time shields to pause the apps you select while you have an active goal. The review gives you three intentional choices: do today's proof, ask again in ten minutes, or hold for five seconds to continue consciously. That hold starts a native session of at least 15 minutes; a DeviceActivity monitor re-arms the shield automatically when it ends. Apple keeps the originating app private, so Goal Lock returns to Home. Earlier iOS versions use the guided Shortcuts route, which can open the app you chose.
Skip it. Tap "Not now, use Shortcuts" on the permission screen and the app walks you through a two-minute automation that runs the same review for apps you select. You can grant Screen Time later from Settings.
No. A five-second conscious continuation starts a native session of at least 15 minutes, and Settings has a one-tap switch that turns app gates off. Completing today's proof records progress but never permanently lifts the shields.
At 4am, every day. Yesterday's completion does not carry over. Proof completion never disables the gate; while any goal is active, Goal Lock pauses selected apps according to your gate timing.
Because the review must stay short enough to read when distraction hits. Onboarding starts with one goal; Home lets you keep up to three. Finish one and the slot opens again.
Your goals, emotional reasons, daily proofs, and exact gate history stay on your phone. There's no account and we never see the words you write. The app also sends pseudonymous product-usage events, including which screen or feature was used and gate outcomes, to an analytics processor so we can improve the product; those events never include your goal text or anything you typed. Full detail in the privacy policy.
Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions > Goal Lock. Cancelling keeps access until the current period ends.