Doomscrolling is easier to tackle when you're not alone.

Scrollmates is an iPhone app where you and one other person — a partner, a friend, a housemate, a study buddy — share one daily pool of screen-time minutes for the apps that pull you in. When either of you scrolls, the pool goes down. As it runs low your chosen apps get shielded, and when it's empty they stay shielded until your new day begins.

A scrollmate is the other person in your bond — the one you share a daily pool of screen-time minutes with in the Scrollmates iPhone app. It is the app's word for the pair, and it is deliberately symmetrical: you each see the same things about the other, and neither of you is supervising anyone. It works best with someone you already talk to every day.

Yes — sharing it is how Scrollmates makes doomscrolling easier to tackle. You bond with one friend on your iPhones and share a single daily pool of minutes instead of keeping two separate limits: when either of you scrolls, the same number goes down, and you can both watch it go. Your friend sees the minutes you spend in the apps you chose to cover — your daily count, your share of the pool, and whether you are scrolling right now. The rest of your phone stays invisible: they never see which apps you use, or anything outside the pool.

Yes. A partner is one of the five answers Scrollmates offers when it asks who you will do this with, alongside a close friend, a study buddy and someone you live with. Nothing in the app is couple-specific: two adults bond, share one daily pool of screen-time minutes on their iPhones, and see exactly the same things about each other. Only one of you needs to subscribe — it covers you both. Being apart is fine too: a bond runs on one time zone, so your shared day starts and ends at the same moment wherever each of you is.

Not quite — Scrollmates is an accountability tool, not a lock, in the words of its own Terms. It does block the apps you picked, through Apple Screen Time: as the shared pool runs low they get shielded, and when it is empty they stay shielded until your new day. But the shield is a speed bump rather than a wall. You can claim a few minutes whenever you genuinely need them, and either of you can call the day off, which unlocks everything. What does the work is the other person — a limit you set for yourself is one you can dismiss for yourself, while a shared pool is one your scrollmate watches go down.

No. Scrollmates is built for two adults who both opt in, and what each of you can see about the other is identical: their daily minutes coming off the shared pool, and whether they are scrolling right now. There is no parent account, no admin, no one-way view, and neither of you can lock the other's phone or change its settings without the other agreeing. The Terms forbid using the app to monitor, stalk or control another person against their will. As the app puts it, that mutual visibility is the product, not a side effect — if you do not want someone seeing those numbers, do not bond with them.

No — your scrollmate never learns which apps you use. You choose them through Apple's own Screen Time picker, and iOS hands Scrollmates an opaque token: not a name, not an icon, not a bundle identifier. Neither your scrollmate nor Scrollmates can turn that back into an app name. What your scrollmate sees is your daily minute count, your share of the shared pool, whether you're scrolling right now, and your bond events. Nothing else on your phone is visible to anyone.

No. Scrollmates has no analytics SDKs, no advertising SDKs and no third-party trackers, and nothing is sold or shared with advertisers or data brokers. On your own, nothing about your screen time leaves your iPhone at all — and until you first pair, there's no account of yours on our side. Once you're bonded, what's uploaded is minutes and event types. There is no field in which an app name could travel.

Yes — Apple's Screen Time is how iOS lets Scrollmates count your minutes and shield your apps, so nothing else in the app works without it. Apple keeps the details private; all Scrollmates ever receives is a number.

Nothing is confiscated. Scrollmates shields your chosen apps as the shared pool runs low, but lets you claim a few minutes whenever you genuinely need them — a speed bump, not a lock. When the pool is empty the apps stay shielded until your new day starts; you can still claim a session, but it counts against the rewards you're building together. Either of you can also call the day off entirely, which unlocks everything and is recorded as a broken day rather than scored.

Scrollmates gives you one invite code — eight letters, shown as BCDF-GHJK — and a link that carries the same code. Send it however you like; it's the same code however many times you share it, and it works for seven days. Your scrollmate types it in or taps the link, sees exactly who's asking and what you'll be able to see about each other, and accepts.

No — one Scrollmates subscription covers the bond, both of you. Either of you can be the one who buys it: the person who sends the invite can cover it up front, or the person who accepts can. If either of you already has an active subscription, the other pays nothing.

Using Scrollmates on your own is free and needs no account. Bonding with someone needs one subscription: $5.99 a month or $29.99 a year (US pricing; other regions vary). New subscribers get a free introductory period from Apple — the app tells you before you buy whether yours applies. Subscriptions are billed by Apple and managed in the App Store.

No. Scrollmates is an iPhone app and there is no Android version. It is built on Apple Screen Time, which is what counts the minutes and shields the apps, so both people in a bond need an iPhone.

Yes, either of you, at any time. Breaking a Scrollmates bond shows you exactly what that bond is first, asks you to hold the button, and then starts a one-hour window that either of you can cancel — your scrollmate is told the moment you confirm. If you pair with the same person again within 30 days, the bond comes back with its history and settings. After 30 days it's permanently deleted, apart from a summary of what it was.