Amber Lock: Screen Time Limit

Amber Lock seals your most distracting apps in digital amber. To get them back, you have to stand up and walk.

Steps in, screen time out. That's the whole deal.

The legend
Gnomish stories tell of a distracted worker whose candied berries were sealed in tree sap until he finished plowing the fields. Amber Lock applies the same friction to your phone.

How it works
1. Seal your distractions. Pick your worst offenders — social media, games, news, shopping — and lock them inside the amber.
2. Walk. Put the phone in your pocket and go. Your real steps charge the Amber Meter.
3. Melt the amber. Spend that charge to unlock your apps whenever you choose.
4. Earn your time. Steps convert directly into screen minutes. When the meter runs dry, the amber re-seals itself.

An app blocker that can't be talked out of
Most screen time apps come with a button that grants you "just five more minutes." Amber Lock doesn't have that button. The only way to unlock a blocked app is to walk, so every minute of screen time costs you something real — and leaves you better off than when you started.

Screen time control that pays you back
Use Amber Lock to block apps, restrict the ones that eat your day, and set a screen time limit you can actually keep. It works as an app lock, a step counter and a self control tool at once — a digital detox that turns into a daily walk, and a digital wellbeing habit that gets you outside.

What's inside
- Block any app you choose, for as long as you choose
- A screen time limit with no snooze button and no "just this once"
- Counts your steps in the background. No check-ins, no tapping, no GPS.
- Choose which apps stay sealed and which stay free
- No streaks to break, no guilt, no lectures

Who it's for
Anyone trying to break a phone addiction, stop doomscrolling, stay focused at work, cut down on phone overuse, or simply build more mindful phone use. If you've tried every screentime app and app blocker out there and still find yourself scrolling at midnight, the difference here is that Amber Lock asks for your legs, not your willpower. It's a productivity tool that works on your feet.

Permissions and privacy
Amber Lock needs permission to see which app is currently in the foreground, so it can block the apps you have sealed. It reads your device's physical activity data to count your steps. Both stay on your device — your app usage and step data are never sent to us or to anyone else, and Amber Lock never reads the content of any app.

Premium
Amber Lock is free, and every core feature works without paying. An optional subscription adds Amber Meter upgrades for those who want them.

ACCESSIBILITY SERVICE DISCLOSURE:
Amber Lock uses the Android AccessibilityService API to detect when you launch the specific apps you have chosen to block. This permission allows Amber Lock to interrupt access to those distracting apps and display the lock screen until you have earned enough screen time by walking. Amber Lock does not use the AccessibilityService API to collect, store, or share any personal or sensitive user data.

Take back your time. Seal the distractions. Earn your screen time.

Presented by The Gnomestead Collective.

Terms & conditions of use: https://www.gnomesteadcollective.com/terms?app=amber-lock#amber-lock

Recent changes:
Initial launch of Amber Lock!