Most screen time tools work by blocking. You set a limit, you hit it, the app locks you out. The result is a dynamic that feels like punishment - the phone becomes something to be managed, and self-discipline becomes a wall rather than a habit.
Sangkwon Kim built Dayli to invert that relationship. The core mechanic is an earn-to-unlock loop: users complete real-world goals, log them, and receive earned time into a Time Bank. That time can then be spent unlocking distracting apps. The phone becomes something to work towards rather than something to be rationed.
The goals are offline by design - exercise, studying, reading, cooking, anything that requires the user to be away from the screen. AI photo verification adds an accountability layer by checking whether a task was actually completed, rather than relying entirely on self-reporting. A user cannot claim a gym session without evidence that it happened.
Habit Building Through Access
Dayli is built for people who want a healthier relationship with their phone but find traditional blocking tools too blunt - students, young professionals, founders, and anyone trying to make better daily habits stick. The friction they struggle with is not a lack of willpower. It is a lack of a system that makes the right behaviour feel rewarding rather than restrictive.
What separates Dayli from both screen time managers and habit trackers is the direct connection between the two. It is not blocking, and it is not journaling. Completing a real goal unlocks real phone access. The offline and online are linked by the same loop, and the reward for progress is the thing people were trying to use less of in the first place.
Dayli is available on the App Store.
