Unscreen

Inspiration

Many people unconsciously reach for their phones as soon as they wake up or before going to sleep, only to get caught up in doomscrolling for hours on end. Most existing screen-time apps feel too rigid, demanding, and judgmental. Unscreen was born from a simple principle: “Step away. Feel present.” We want to create a calm, supportive digital break that focuses on building meaningful moments in the real world without burdening users.

What it does

Unscreen is a minimalist digital wellness app that helps users take conscious breaks from their phone screens:

1. Flexible & Customizable Detox Sessions: Start a break lasting anywhere from 1 minute to 180 minutes, depending on your needs.
2. Things to Do Offline: Displays a list of positive activities (prayer, journaling, reading, exercise) right below the timer as tangible alternatives when not using your phone.
3. Local Habit Tracking: Records total minutes of focus, daily streaks, and mood check-ins offline.

How we built it

• Framework: Flutter (Dart) for a responsive, minimalist, and aesthetically pleasing user interface.
• State Management: provider for lightweight management of session state, activities, and profile data.
• Local Storage: shared_preferences to instantly save detox history, streak status, and user configurations without a backend.
• Native OS Integration: installed_apps to scan the list of actual apps on the user’s device and support emergency app launches.

Challenges we ran into

• Manifest & Modern AGP Compatibility: Addressing limitations of the Android Gradle Plugin 8.0+ and package visibility configuration () in AndroidManifest so that the app can detect pre-installed apps without triggering build errors.
• Input Error Prevention: Ensuring that custom duration inputs remain stable, are protected against empty values, and do not disrupt the app’s flow during demonstrations.
• Ensuring strict mode runs as expected (strict mode is still not working as intended)

Accomplishments that we're proud of

1. Successfully built a functional, clean, and demo-ready MVP within the hackathon timeframe.
2. Integrated a list of real apps from the user’s phone into the Strict Mode workflow.
3. Maintained a wellness-themed UI with a soothing, natural color palette (sage green and warm white).

What we learned

1. Managing package visibility permissions and adjusting native dependencies in modern versions of Android (Android 11+).
2. The importance of the “calm technology” principle in designing wellness products—that supportive design is often more effective at changing habits than a judgmental approach.

What's next for Unscreen

1. Local Reminder Notification System: Gentle reminders when it’s time for your morning and evening detox sessions.
2. Categories & Insight Analysis: More comprehensive weekly charts and a breakdown of how breaks affect productivity.
3. Home Screen Widget: Displays your streak and a quick button to start a detox right from your phone’s home screen.
4. Strict Mode: A restricted mode during designated wake-up and bedtime hours.

Built With

• antigravity
• chatgpt
• dart
• flutter
• gemini
• shared-preferences