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Inspiration

In a world dominated by algorithmic doomscrolling and endless social media distractions, traditional app blockers often fail because they rely on hard restrictions, which makes the user uninstall them, or individual willpower (we all have bad days and willpower is not enough). Therefore, FlashPass was born. Not with the name at the start but with a sole purpose: Let the users retake and earn their own screen time.

What it does

FlashPass acts as an intelligent gatekeeper for distracting apps. When a user tries to open a blocked app (like Instagram or TikTok or any other of their own choice), FlashPass intercepts the launch and presents a quick, gamified flashcard quiz. Once the user successfully completes the flashcard deck, they earn their "pass" to access the app. The earned amount of time is based on the modifiers and difficulty user set beforehand. It turns wasted screen time into daily educational progress and habit building. After running out of time, user is prompted again to redo the test, which also ensures user does not spend countless hours without realizing.

How we built it

Android App: Built natively using Kotlin, leveraging Android system APIs for usage stats, foreground app detection, and smooth launch interception.
UI & Architecture: Designed with modern Android components, responsive card animations, and a clean user experience.
Monetization & Paywall: Integrated RevenueCat to manage subscriptions, paywalls, and sandbox purchases seamlessly.

Challenges we ran into

App Interception: Ensuring seamless and reliable detection of app launches on Android without affecting device performance or battery life.
Friction vs. Engagement: Designing a quiz flow that is fast and rewarding enough that users don't get frustrated, but effective enough to actually teach them something before opening a distracting app.
UX and UI desing: Finding good-looking combinatons, that were easy to navigate through and easily readable was bit harder than we thought at first.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building our first fully functional native Android application (both of us are students of Computer Science which makes the experience even more valuable).
Creating a clean, modern UI/UX with a custom color palette and responsive card animations.
But our biggest accomplishment that we're proud of is definitely building an app that helps us or our friends in our daily life.

What we learned

Deepened our understanding of Android system services, background tasks, and UI overlays.
Learned how to effectively implement RevenueCat SDK for handling in-app purchases and subscription flows.
Discovered how micro-gamification can fundamentally change user habits and screen time behavior.
Learned to work in a team using GitHub

What's next for FlashPass

Social & Leaderboards Introducing community study decks, friend leaderboards
Home Screen widget Implementing simple widget that shows your daily streak, daily goal or even mini-quiz
iOS Expansion: Porting the core functionality to iOS so iPhone users can also break their doomscrolling habits.