Setup
Download Dopi and open it
Get Dopi from the App Store on your iPhone. No account is needed - you can use everything without signing in. If you have an Apple Watch, the companion app installs alongside it automatically (or from the Watch app).
Grant Screen Time permission
Dopi uses Apple's Screen Time technology to shield apps. From the Today tab, follow the setup checklist and approve the Screen Time permission when iOS asks. This permission is what lets Dopi lock and unlock your selected apps - Dopi never sees your activity in other apps.
Choose what to shield
Tap Select Apps & Websites and pick the apps, whole categories (like Social or Entertainment), or websites you open compulsively. Your selection is stored only on your device. You can change it any time by tapping the protection card on Today.
Complete your first challenge
Your chosen apps are now shielded. To open one, come back to Dopi's Today tab and start any available challenge - for example, a set of camera-counted squats. Complete it properly (the app validates every rep, breath, or answer) and you've earned your access window.
Enjoy your earned time
By default each completed challenge earns 15 minutes of access to your shielded apps, and earned time stacks if you complete more challenges. When the window ends, the shield returns automatically. A daily cap keeps the system honest.
Going further
Set an Exercise Alarm
In the Alarms tab, create an alarm with a wake challenge (squats, push-ups, jumping jacks, or box breathing). When you stop the alarm, your shielded apps stay locked until the challenge is completed - so you can't roll over into bed-scrolling. Note: like any iOS alarm, the sound itself can be silenced with system controls, but your apps remain locked until the challenge is done.
Log activities you already did
Went for a run without your phone? Use the Log tab to record it (run, walk, workout, cycling, stretch, and more). Logged activities earn screen-time minutes at configured rates and count toward streaks and challenges. Logging is honor-system - it's your own commitment device.
Use your Apple Watch
Start live activity sessions from the wrist, glance at your protection status and earned-time countdown, complete box breathing wake challenges, and add the complication to your watch face. Your iPhone always verifies completions before anything unlocks.
Sign in with Apple (optional)
Signing in backs up your coarse stats, membership, and challenge totals so they follow you to a new iPhone. Your shielded-app selections, journals, and camera data are never uploaded - signed in or not.
Pause when life happens
Dopi is voluntary self-control. If you genuinely need everything open - travel day, emergency, whatever - use Settings → Disable Dopi to pause protection indefinitely or until midnight. No challenge required, no guilt trip.
Tips for making it stick
- Start small. Shield one or two apps you know are a problem, not your whole phone. You can always add more.
- Keep a low-effort option available. On days you can't do squats, a breathing session or math toll keeps the habit intact.
- Use the Exercise Alarm for mornings. The first scroll of the day sets the tone - make your body earn it.
- Check Progress weekly. Watching your earned-minutes and streaks grow is genuinely motivating.
- Don't aim for zero. The goal isn't never scrolling - it's making every scroll a choice you made on purpose.
Want the full tour? The complete tutorial walks every tab with screenshots. Stuck on something? Check the FAQ or visit Support.