Use Apple’s system controls
FamilyControls and ManagedSettings protect selected apps, categories, and web domains at the system level instead of simulating blocking with an in-app overlay.
Native iOS · Screen Time04 / 04
BeforeUScroll
Design friction on purpose—before distraction gets the first move.
Real product screens from the live BeforeUScroll project
ROLE / OWNERSHIP
Product concept · interaction design · SwiftUI engineering · system extensions
STATUS
Active native iOS product
TIMELINE
2026
Most attention tools explain distraction after the behavior has already happened. BeforeUScroll is designed to insert intentional friction before selected apps and domains get the first move.
That behavior cannot live only inside a SwiftUI screen. It depends on Apple Screen Time authorization, Managed Settings shields, Device Activity monitoring, shared state, extension processes, and predictable unlock/relock behavior.
KEY DECISIONS
The work behind the screen.
Make temporary access actually temporary
An unlock stores an end date and DeviceActivity participates in reconciling the shield when the interval finishes.
Treat the interruption as product UI
A custom ShieldConfiguration explains why access is blocked and gives a deliberate path to prepare a recharge or stay locked.
Share durable state across extensions
Selection, unlock state, and shield behavior are coordinated across the main app and system extensions rather than existing only in transient view state.
The experience is distributed across the main app and multiple iOS extensions. That is more complex than an in-app timer, but it is what makes the intervention happen where distraction actually begins.
WHAT THE BUILD PROVES
Evidence, not adjectives.
- Selected apps and domains are protected through Apple’s system frameworks, not a fake overlay
- Temporary access has a persisted end state and automatic relock path
- The interruption itself becomes a designed product surface through ShieldConfiguration
SwiftUIFamilyControlsManagedSettingsManagedSettingsUIDeviceActivityUserNotificationsStoreKit
VERIFIABLE EVIDENCE
Inspect the work.
- The live landing page includes real product screenshots from the native app.
- The repository contains the DeviceActivity monitor, ShieldAction, and ShieldConfiguration extensions.
- The implementation is inspectable publicly on GitHub.
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