I was the problem user.
Every night, same loop. "One more reel." Then it is 2 AM. Then the alarm. Then the snooze. Then the brain fog. I did not build Skar because I had a startup idea. I built it because I was tired of losing to my own phone.
I knew exactly what I was doing. I just could not stop.
I would get into bed at 11. The plan was always "sleep by 11:30." Then I would open Instagram. Just to check. One reel becomes ten. Ten becomes forty. Suddenly it is 1 AM and I am watching someone rank football players I have never heard of.
The worst part? I was not even enjoying it. I was just... stuck. The algorithm had me. Every morning I woke up groggy, rushed, and already behind. I would tell myself tonight will be different. It never was.
I tried everything. Screen time limits (you just tap "ignore"). Alarms at 10:30 PM (you just snooze them). Putting the phone across the room (you just get up and get it). Willpower does not work when the other side has a billion-dollar algorithm designed to keep you scrolling.
If the problem is engineered, the solution has to be engineered too.
I work in marketing. I understand how content is designed to hook you. The infinite scroll, the autoplay, the notification timing. None of it is accidental. Your phone is not a distraction. It is a machine built to capture your attention.
So I asked a simple question: what if I could not open those apps after a certain time? Not a reminder I can dismiss. Not a setting I can override. A real lock. One that only opens when I complete a morning ritual the next day.
That question became Skar.
"The best time to decide to sleep early is 6 PM, not midnight. At midnight, your feed is showing you the most engaging content it has ever shown you."
From idea to product.
Not another wellness app. A lockdown system.
Skar is not about tracking how bad your sleep is. You already know it is bad. Skar is about making the decision for you before your willpower runs out.
You set your lock-in time during the day when you are thinking clearly. At night, Skar blocks your distracting apps using Android accessibility services. No workaround. No force-close bypass. You want to break out? Hold for 13 seconds, post a public confession, and watch your streak reset.
The friction is the feature. We made quitting hard on purpose.
