Screen time, but with friends

Your friends
are your new
off‑switch.

You don't have to spend 13.3 years of your life this way. Para helps you take some of it back.

Download on iPhoneSee how it works
Built on Apple Family ControlsFree to try · iPhone only
4hrs / day
Across an 80-year life
13.3years
$2,920,000
Lifetime cost
4,867
Days
350,400
Naps taken
See full breakdown
Reinstalled TikTok. For the fifth time. ✦
“Just checking one thing” — 3 hours ago ✦
Doom-scrolled through a funeral ✦
Bedtime: 10pm. Reality: 2:47am. ✦
iOS Screen Time? Dismissed. Weekly. ✦
Deleted Instagram. Back in 38 hours. ✦
Reinstalled TikTok. For the fifth time. ✦
“Just checking one thing” — 3 hours ago ✦
Doom-scrolled through a funeral ✦
Bedtime: 10pm. Reality: 2:47am. ✦
iOS Screen Time? Dismissed. Weekly. ✦
Deleted Instagram. Back in 38 hours. ✦
How it works

Three steps. One loving accomplice.

You pick the apps. Your friend holds the key. Future-you wants back in, and present-you had better come correct.

Para inbox screen
01

Pick your problem apps

Instagram. TikTok. Reddit. That one news app that exists purely to raise your blood pressure. Choose the ones eating your evenings. No judgment. OK a little judgment.

02

Hand the keys to a friend

Pick a gatekeeper who will absolutely say no. Your sister. Your sponsor. The roommate who's seen your browser history. They approve or deny every unlock request. In public. With feeling.

03

Beg, and be humbled

Want 10 minutes of TikTok? Type a reason. “I'm researching. For the group chat.” Send. Wait. Receive a thunderous no, plus a screenshot of last Tuesday's 6-hour binge. Try again next week, sport.

What's in the box

Not another willpower app.

Willpower apps assume you have willpower at 11:47pm. You do not. Your friend does. Your friend is a morning person and they are watching.

The whole bit

Every unlock is a group project.

Write a request. Wait for the verdict. Feel the specific, medicinal embarrassment of explaining to another adult why you need Instagram right now. That little sting is doing the work your willpower quit doing around age 23.

Real data

Screen time that doesn't lie

Para uses your real iOS Screen Time via Apple's Family Controls. No massaged averages. No little celebratory confetti when you “improve” from 9 hours to 8.

2h 14m
Today · ↓38%
Scheduled

Off-hours, on autopilot

Socials off after 9pm. Open for exactly 18 minutes at lunch. Closed all day Sunday like a small-town bakery. Your calendar has been trying to tell you this.

🌙 After 9pm🏃 Workout hours📚 Deep work🛏 Before bed
Nuclear option

Strict mode + deletion lock

Strict mode means no ending a block early. Lock app deletion means you can't delete Para (or anything else) to get around it without your friend's OK. No sweet-talking yourself out of it. Go have a personality.

⚡ 1 tap🔒 No loopholes🌳 Touch grass
Private

Your shame stays local

Screen Time numbers are processed on-device inside Apple's Family Controls sandbox. Your friends see only the requests you send them. Nobody else sees your 4am YouTube rabbit hole. Promise.

🔐 On-device🙅 No ad tracking🍎 Apple Family Controls
You asked

Good questions, rude answers

Can I just override the block when my friend isn't looking?
Not without asking. Getting back in early means sending your friend a request: how long you need, and why. They approve it or they don't. Turn on Strict mode and you can't end a block early yourself, and Lock app deletion means deleting Para needs your friend's OK too.
What if my friend approves everything?
You picked a co-conspirator, not a key holder. Try someone who loves you enough to actively disappoint you. A pilates instructor, say. Or your mom.
Does it work on Android?
iPhone only, for now. Para is built on Apple's Screen Time framework, which Android doesn't have. Android friends can still heckle you. They just have to do it the old-fashioned way.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Every feature in Para is free, with no ads. If Para helps you, you can back it with an optional monthly Supporter plan or a one-time gift, but nothing is locked behind it.
Is this therapy?
Legally, no. Spiritually, kind of. It's an app that lets a friend roast you for your habits, which, if you think about it, is what therapy would be if your therapist loved reality TV.

Give a friend the keys.
Get your evenings back.

Free. Every feature. About a minute to set up. One extremely specific strain of public shame.

Download on iPhoneLearn more