KickIt wordmark on a deep navy backgroundKickIt

Screen-time limits, with someone you trust in the loop

iOS & AndroidWellnessAustralia
KickIt blocklist, limit settings with a hard block chosen, and the buddy approval request

Project overview

KickIt helps people break the scroll. Users choose the apps and websites that pull them in, set a daily limit and decide how hard it should be to undo: a reminder they can dismiss, a waiting period, or a friend who has to approve the change.

Sparked Technologies, based in Australia, built KickIt on a simple idea: discipline is easier when someone has your back. Tapptitude worked with Sparked across product definition, branding, design, native iOS and Android development and QA, from the first flows to both app stores.

Release Date

July 2026

Technologies

SwiftUI · Kotlin · Supabase

The Challenge


A limit only helps if it still matters when you want to ignore it.

A quick check of a feed turns into an evening. Most people know which apps do this to them, and most screen-time tools answer with a reminder that takes one tap to dismiss. KickIt set out to move the decision earlier: set limits while thinking clearly, then choose what stands between you and undoing them later, a timer or a friend. Building that meant making a block hold on two operating systems that handle blocking very differently: inside Apple's Screen Time frameworks on iOS, and through accessibility and usage access on Android, which allows finer control such as blocking Reels or a feed. A change requested by one person and approved by another had to unlock the rule reliably on the right phone, and setting a limit still had to feel quicker than scrolling past the urge.

A KickIt soft block with an Open anyway button, next to a hard block that only offers Close

Here’s what we did

We designed and built native iOS and Android apps where every limit comes with a choice of how firmly it holds, from a gentle reminder to a waiting period or a friend who has to approve the change.

The KickIt home screen with weekly usage, next to the blocking options

Features


Built for the moment you want to give in.

Set the limit, pick how strict it is and decide who gets a say when you want to change it. Apps, websites and daily usage sit in one place, so the rules and the habits they are meant to change are never far apart.

KickIt daily limit options with soft and hard blocking

Limits that fit your day

Pick a daily limit for any group of apps, then choose how firmly it holds: a soft block you can wave off, or a hard block that only lifts with a timer or a friend's approval.

KickIt screen for inviting an accountability buddy by email

Someone in your corner

Invite a friend as your accountability buddy. When you want to loosen a protected rule, they get the request and the final say.

KickIt countdown before a change to a hard-blocked rule takes effect

Time to cool off

Prefer to go it alone? Add a delay instead. Changes to a hard-blocked rule wait out a countdown, long enough for the urge to pass.

KickIt website blocklist with tiktok.com blocked

Close the browser loophole

Block distracting websites alongside apps, so the feed you locked away isn't one browser tab away.

KickIt Android settings for blocking the Facebook home feed or Reels

Keep what is useful

On Android, block only the part of an app that pulls you in, such as Reels or the Facebook home feed, and keep the rest.

KickIt daily average and weekly usage chart, filterable by app

See where your time goes

Daily and weekly charts show where the hours go, app by app, so the next limit is based on evidence rather than guilt.

Design System


Firm, without feeling like a punishment.

Near-black surfaces, a single electric purple and a condensed wordmark with some fight in it.

Near-black surfaces, a single electric purple and a condensed wordmark with some fight in it.

KickIt's identity leans on its name: a heavy condensed wordmark with IT picked out in purple, set against near-black screens. Everything else steps back. Inter keeps the settings readable, cards group each decision, and purple is saved for the one action that matters on each screen. The screens that needed the most care are the ones where people want to back out. The block screen, the countdown and the approval request each say plainly what happens next and offer one clear way forward. Empty states and rule conflicts get the same attention, so nobody hits a dead end.

KickIt components: app icon, wordmark, tabs, limit chips, toast, navigation, app rows, block options and buttons
KickIt message explaining that apps are already covered by another rule
KickIt empty state pointing to the button for a first blocking rule

Technologies


Native, because blocking lives in the operating system.

We built the iOS app in Swift and SwiftUI and the Android app in Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, each working directly with its platform's own blocking frameworks. That is also why feature and keyword blocking are Android-only. Both apps share one backend: Supabase for data and authentication, Resend for transactional email and Retool for the admin tools used to run the product.

iOS

Swift SwiftUI

Android

Kotlin Jetpack Compose

Backend & administration

Supabase Resend Retool

Praise Be, Dream Team

Portrait of Paul Țirban

Paul Țirban

PM LEAD

Portrait of Alita Csernyei

Alita Csernyei

PRODUCT DESIGNER

Portrait of Mark Gherba

Mark Gherba

QA ENGINEER

Portrait of Alex Tudose

Alex Tudose

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

The Launch


Live on both stores since July 2026.

KickIt launched on the App Store and Google Play in July 2026. The first release shipped with daily limits, app and website blocking, delays, buddy approval and usage history, plus the admin tools Sparked needs to support its users.

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