Phones down.
Both of us.
Set the time and the stakes, send one link, and each phone runs the timer. If someone wanders off to another app, their own screen says so.
Pact written. Send this to whoever's in:
- Doing
- Phones down for
- First to pick up
Start when you're both ready, then put the phone face-down with this page open. Make your own pact
Face-down now. Leave this page open.
Nothing is sent or stored. The pact lives in the link, and each phone only knows about itself, so the result is yours to show.
Why make it a pact
Deciding alone to stay off your phone at dinner lasts until the first buzz. Saying it out loud to someone, with a small forfeit attached, changes it from a private intention into a thing you agreed to. The timer is there so nobody has to be the one who polices it.
Keep the stakes silly. Dishes, the next coffee, choosing the film. The aim is an hour of each other's attention.
When it's the same three apps every time
FocusPass: App Blocker is an iPhone app for the hours when nobody's across the table:
- Blocks the apps you choose, using Apple's Screen Time picker
- Need one? Ask for a short Pass, for example 5, 10 or 15 minutes, and it relocks on its own
- Every time you choose Go Back, it counts one Focus Save
- No account, no ads
Get FocusPass on the App Store
Free to download for iPhone. Details from the app's App Store description, checked 10 November 2026. This page is a separate web tool, not a feature of the app.
Questions
How does a phone-down pact work?
One person sets what you are doing, how long for and what the loser owes, then sends the link. Each person opens it, taps start and puts their phone face-down with the page open. If someone switches to another app, their own timer records the moment.
Can the other person see if I pick up my phone?
No. Nothing is sent anywhere, so each phone only knows about itself. At the end you each get a result line to show or send. It runs on honesty, which is the point of a pact.
What if my screen locks?
The page asks the phone to keep the screen on while the timer runs. If the screen locks anyway, the page cannot tell that apart from leaving, so it asks you when you come back and lets you carry on.