Ex-Google engineer here, building a social app for being present and intentional phone use!

I quit Google last year to re-discover my own relationship with technology and the tech industry as a whole. Rather than create products to take advantage of people's attention, I wanted to find ways to give it back.

From that time came Nown (Own Your Now), an app centered around making presence a social norm. We provide tools to pause distracting apps, but the real power lies in the social component - friends & like-minded community also choosing to step away from our devices, and making that known to others. Scientifically, social norms are a powerful way we shape behavior. It's part of the reason social media is so addicting, and I wanted to see if I could use that for positive change too.

It's an app that my partner (a UX designer) and I have been working on for the last few months, and would love your feedback! We've purposefully tried to design an app that feels calm and minimal, leaning into a stars imagery (where every focus session adds a "star" to a shared community sky). We strayed away from any AI features or endless algorithmic feeds, as the app is meant to be a platform to get away from all that. So far internally testing amongst a few people, we've found it helpful and excited to share it with more people. It shifts the focus from individual willpower (most app blocking / screen time apps) to something we commit to together and be more present in our daily lives.

Would be great to gather feedback around:

1) If the core concept (using your social circle and joining a community committed to more mindful phone use) is something you resonate with.

2) Design and features you might like to see

3) What do you personally do when you catch yourself doom scrolling, and want to put your phone down?

You can also check out www.ownyour.now where we have a small waitlist page if it sounds interesting to you.

Thanks!