There is a very specific behavior we've been watching for years: phone comes out of the pocket, thumb is already moving before the screen finishes lighting up, and twenty minutes later there is no memory of how any of it started. If you just pictured someone else doing this, we'd gently point out that we've seen the data. It's most people, most days. It might be you right now, reading this on the exact device in question.

We don't think that behavior needs a lecture. We think it needs a better system. So we built one.

Walking Mode is live, a new WeWard feature that locks the apps you reach for without thinking (social, games, streaming…your call) until you've hit a step goal you set yourself. No steps, no scroll. Steps hit, apps unlock. We didn't invent the urge to check your phone. We just gave your legs a say in when that happens.

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What is Walking Mode?

Walking Mode ties access to your most-distracting apps to your daily walking goal. You pick the apps. You pick the number. WeWard handles the rest, greying those apps out on your home screen until you've earned your way back in.

How it works

Nobody gets signed up for this by accident. Turning it on takes a few deliberate steps, on purpose. Here's exactly what they are:

1. Open WeWard and go to Settings via your avatar on the upper right hand side. Scroll down to select Walking Mode.

2. Choose the apps you want to lock. Social media, games, streaming: whatever's actually pulling you in. We're not going to guess for you.

3. Set your step goal. Start at 3,000, 5,000, 7,000 steps, or set your own number. This is your unlock threshold for the day.

4. Turn it on. Your selected apps grey out on your home screen immediately. No countdown, no warning lap.

5. Walk. WeWard tracks your progress in real time, and reports your progress every time you convert your steps, so you always know exactly how far you are from getting back in.

6. Hit your goal, get your apps back. Cross your step threshold and everything unlocks automatically. No extra taps, no proving it to anyone.

7. It resets every night at midnight. Walking Mode isn't a one-time deal. It's a daily loop. Same rules, new day, same phone.

Need an app before you've hit your goal? You can override Walking Mode manually, any time by navigating back to your settings. This was never designed to lock you out of your own phone. It's designed to make the walk the easier first move.

Why we built this

Most apps are built to keep you looking at them for as long as possible. We think that's a strange thing to optimize for, and we've said so before. Walking Mode is our most direct answer yet: same behavioral mechanics that make apps hard to put down, pointed the other way. Walk more, unlock more, and let your steps keep doing what they've always done on WeWard: earning you something real, this time including your own attention back.

We also happen to think walking is underrated as a subject. Most of the internet treats it as the thing you do when you can't be bothered to do anything else. We've spent years watching it closely enough to disagree, and we've noticed that some of the best steps people take are the ones they weren't trying to take at all. Pacing during a phone call. Circling the block for parking. Walking Mode doesn't care why you were moving. It only cares that you were.

A few things to know

• Walking Mode is available on iOS only right now. Android is on the way.
• It's entirely optional. Turn it on for the push, turn it off when you don't need it. 
• Locking an app doesn't share your data with that app, or with us, or with anyone. It's a device-level control.
• More questions? The full [Walking Mode FAQ] has answers →

Ready to make your steps do double duty? Settings → Walking Mode. Pick the apps. Pick a number. See what happens.