StepGateGet the app

For iPhone · Built on Apple Screen Time

Your apps stay locked until you walk.

StepGate locks Instagram, TikTok and anything else you pick until you hit your daily steps. Walk, and they're yours for the rest of the day.

Download on the App StoreSee how it works
  • Steps from Apple Health
  • Works with Apple Watch steps
  • No account
StepGate's Today screen: 3,210 of 10,000 steps, a 13-day streak, and 6,790 steps to unlock 5 apps
StepGate's padlock mascot running

The lock

Open Instagram. Get sent for a walk.

When you open a locked app, you don't get a guilt trip. You get the distance, said as a walk, and one button.

  • A real lock, not a reminder. StepGate uses Apple's Screen Time framework to put a shield over the apps you pick.
  • Steps left, in minutes. "A 15-minute walk" lands better than "1,500 steps". StepGate works it out at about 100 steps a minute.
  • Hit your goal, everything opens. Every locked app, for the rest of the day. No timers to babysit.

How it works

Three steps. One promise.

  1. The Gates tab with Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit and X locked until you walk
    1

    Pick the apps that eat your day

    Choose apps, whole categories or websites in Apple's own Screen Time picker.

  2. Setting a daily goal of 10,000 steps with a slider
    2

    Set a goal you'll actually hit

    StepGate suggests one from your last week in Apple Health. Anything from 3,000 to 15,000.

  3. Goal hit: 10,871 of 10,000 steps, and the message Goal hit. Phone's yours.
    3

    Walk, then scroll

    Hit your steps and every locked app opens for the rest of the day. Promise kept.

Strict enough to work

Kind enough to keep.

A blocker that never bends tends to get deleted. StepGate is built for real weeks: sick days, long flights and the time you just need Maps.

Rest days

Pick the days the lock stays off. Sunday is one by default. A rule you can keep beats a rule you quit.

Lock hours

The lock only runs when you say, 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM by default. Outside those hours your apps are open.

Short pauses

Need Maps for a minute? Pause the lock for 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes. It comes back on its own.

Steps from Apple Health

Your iPhone counts, and so does your Apple Watch through Apple Health. Read-only, always.

Locks again every morning

Even if you close StepGate, the lock comes back at the start of your lock hours.

Private by design

No account. Apple's picker means StepGate can't even see which apps you lock.

Streaks and trends

Watch the promises pile up.

Count the days you walked before you scrolled. See your best streak, four months of days at a glance, and week, month and year trends.

Plus a Home Screen widget and two Lock Screen widgets, so your steps left are always a glance away.

The Streak screen: 14 days of promises kept, best ever 14, and a heatmap of the last 4 months

Why a walk

The research, in three numbers.

7,000steps a day was linked to a 47% lower risk of early death than 2,000, in a 2025 review of 57 studies in The Lancet Public Health. An association, not a promise.How many steps you need51%more gym visits at first when people could only hear a gripping audiobook at the gym (Milkman et al., 2014). Pairing a want with a should helped, at least at first. StepGate puts your apps behind a walk.Why earning beats banning1 in 4people kept a two-week mobile internet block on for at least 10 of the 14 days in a 2025 study in PNAS Nexus, even though the block improved well-being and attention. Total bans are hard to keep. A daily walk is a smaller ask.How to stop doomscrolling

Try the calculator

What's your screen time in steps?

At about 100 steps a minute, one hour on your phone is about 6,000 steps of walking. Put in your own number.

Open the calculator

Guides

Fewer scrolls, more steps.

All guides
Steps & walkingHow Many Steps a Day Do You Really Need?Screen timeHow to Stop Doomscrolling: 9 Fixes That Actually WorkScreen timeWalk to Unlock Apps: How Step-Gated App Blockers WorkiPhone how-tosHow to Limit Instagram on iPhone (3 Ways That Work)Screen timeHow to Reduce Screen Time on iPhone: A 14-Day PlanHabitsWhy Earning Your Screen Time Works Better Than Banning It

Questions

The quick answers.

More on the full FAQ.

What does StepGate do?

StepGate is an iPhone app that locks the apps you choose until you reach your daily step goal. Once you hit the goal, every locked app opens for the rest of the day. It uses Apple Screen Time to do the locking and reads your steps from Apple Health and your iPhone.

What happens when I open a locked app?

You see a lock screen that says the app is locked and how far you have left, written as a walk ("A 15-minute walk and it's yours for the rest of today"). It has one button, Go walk, which closes the app and sends you a notification with your progress.

Which apps can I lock?

Any app, a whole category (like Social or Games), or websites. You pick them in Apple's own Screen Time picker. Change the list whenever you like.

Do steps from my Apple Watch count?

Yes, through Apple Health. StepGate reads the same combined step total the Health app shows, which includes your Apple Watch. There is no separate Apple Watch app.

What if I'm sick, travelling or just need a day off?

Use rest days. On a rest day the lock is off and no steps are needed. Sunday is a rest day by default and you can pick any days you like. Rest days do count against your streak if you walk less than your goal.

Does StepGate cost money?

StepGate needs a StepGate Plus subscription to lock apps. You'll see the current options in the app before you subscribe. If your subscription ends, your apps unlock: StepGate never keeps them locked.

StepGate's mascot cheering

Walk first. Scroll later.

Make yourself one promise. StepGate holds you to it.

Download on the App Store

iPhone · iOS 17 or later · StepGate Plus subscription required

Steps before scrollingGet StepGate