Steppin is a new app that shuts down your social networking apps unless you get out and walk

App stores are full of different services that are designed to help you reduce your screen time and count your steps. A new iOS app called Stepping combines these two ideas to help users do both at the same time to bridge the gap between physical and mental health.

Steppin blocks your social networking apps unless you walk a certain number of steps each day. Unlock time on your most used social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, by achieving daily goals.

The app was co-founded by Paul English, who previously launched the travel search engine Kayak, which was purchased from Priceline for $1.8 billion. Paul told TechCrunch that he came up with the idea for the app with his son, Michael English, and fiancé, Rachel Cohen, while they were on vacation in Spain.

They found that even if they were traveling around a place with beautiful scenery, they were still using their phones and scrolling through social media. Although they were aware of applications that block your use of social media, they thought to link this to the amount of steps you take in a day. They thought that doing so would help people improve their physical and mental health.

The app works by letting you decide how many steps it takes to earn a minute of screen time. You can be as aggressive or as lenient as you want. For example, you can decide that you need to walk 100 steps to earn a minute on TikTok. If for some reason you need to access a certain app, you can override Steppin’s controls.

Steppin not only connects with social media apps, you can also cut other apps that steal your time, like Netflix or some games.

While the app is marketed towards Gen Z, Paul says the app can be beneficial for people of all ages, especially since he himself used Steppin to reduce his social media use.

“It really applies to everyone,” Paul said. “We’ve found just by talking to friends and families that many parents say, ‘I want my teenager to have this, my 12-year-old is addicted,’ and then some adults say, ‘Yeah, me too, have a problem, it’s not just Gen Z, I find that I’m on my phone too much and I don’t get out of the house enough. Therefore, we have interest from all ages.”

At launch, the app is available for free, but the company plans to offer it through an annual subscription at some point in the future. While Steppin hasn’t finalized the price point, expect it to be around $20.

As for the future, Steppin will focus on more than just steps, as you will be able to log things like a yoga class or other physical activities to gain time on social media.

“We’re going to make a ranking so you can see through your friends who use the least amount of social media,” said Paul. “We have to put in the app how many days in a row you have used the app successfully. So this is something for the parents. They can say to their child, “hey, how’s Steppin going?” And when the child opens the ‘app, parents will say, “Wait a minute, you cheated three days ago.” Or they’ll see that they’ve used it for 30 days in a row without cheating.

Steppin is available to download on iOS starting Tuesday, and will be rolling out to Android users in the coming weeks.