Anchor: Craving Interrupt

Inspiration

Millions of recovering addicts face a critical vulnerability: the sudden, blinding spike of a "craving" or urge that bypasses logic and puts the brain on autopilot. Traditional apps track long-term progress, but they fail during that intense 60-second window when a relapse happens. We built Anchor to act as a cognitive shockwave that interrupts this autopilot state right when it starts.

What it does

• The Emergency Button: A single, prominent tactile button on the phone or smartwatch screen. Pressing it signals the immediate onset of an urge.
• Sensory Disruption: Instantly triggers strong vibrations, a calming yet commanding breath-work exercise, and displays a custom emergency photo to shock the brain out of its tunnel vision.
• Safety Net: Silently notifies a designated sponsor or support partner to step in immediately.

How we built it

• Frontend & UI: Designed with a clean, distraction-free interface focused on extreme ease of use during high-stress moments.
• Core Logic: Implemented rapid sensory interruption protocols (haptic feedback, cognitive grounding exercises).
• Monetization & Subscriptions: Integrated RevenueCat to seamlessly manage tiered subscription models and feature gating.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing simplicity with effectiveness was tough. During a craving, a user's cognitive load is severely impaired, so we had to strip away all unnecessary navigation and reduce the app interaction to a single, instant action.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully designed a targeted, psychological intervention tool that targets the exact moment of peak relapse risk rather than just tracking past history.

What we learned

We gained deep insights into behavioral psychology and how critical proper mobile monetization integration via RevenueCat is for turning social-impact software into a sustainable business.

What's next for Anchor: Craving Interrupt

We plan to release the beta version on the App Store and Google Play, integrate direct wearable device support for smartwatches, and partner with recovery clinics to test the app in real-world environments.

Built With

• python