App Showcase: BePresent

What it does

BePresent is a digital wellbeing app designed to help users reduce their phone screen time. It reframes the challenge of digital addiction as a game. The app provides tools to track usage, block distracting apps through scheduled sessions, and set daily limits. Its core loop is built around gamification, including streaks, experience points (XP), and competitive leaderboards.

Where it shines

The app's strength lies in its comprehensive and persuasive onboarding. It effectively creates motivation by presenting a shocking statistic about time lost to screens (00:33), then immediately positioning itself as the solution. Another standout area is its focus on social accountability. Features like adding an accountability partner (07:22) or creating group leaderboards (07:37) are integrated as core mechanics, not afterthoughts. Finally, the "Beast Mode" for blocking sessions (04:55), which prevents users from ending a focus session early, is a powerful commitment device.

UX highlights

• Guided Tour: Upon first entering the main dashboard, a multi-step tooltip tour (02:09) walks the user through the key gamified concepts, ensuring they understand how to 'play the game'.
• AI Coach: An integrated AI coach (06:08) provides personalized tips and answers user questions, offering support directly within the app.
• App Intentions: Instead of just blanket blocking, the 'App Intentions' feature (02:21) allows for nuanced control, letting users specify how many times they can open an app and for how long.
• Screen Time Doctor: A dedicated troubleshooting flow (04:20) helps users fix common issues with inaccurate screen time data, showing an awareness of potential technical friction points.
• Pre-filled Session Templates: The app suggests various types of blocking sessions like "Morning Ninja" or "Dinner Time" (03:33), reducing the cognitive load of setting them up from scratch.
• Visual Goal Setting: The screen time goal selector uses a large, clear scrolling interface (02:16), making the interaction simple and satisfying.

Monetization & growth

BePresent uses a free trial model, presenting the paywall during onboarding after establishing a strong emotional need. The primary paywall screen (01:12) heavily features a carousel of user testimonials and star ratings to build trust and social proof. The offer is for an annual plan with a 7-day free trial, with the monthly equivalent price shown to make the cost appear smaller. Subscription is handled through Apple's native in-app purchase flow (01:24). The app also includes a Pro feature, "Beast Mode", which is highlighted as a premium benefit.

Who it’s for

The app targets individuals who are consciously aware of their excessive phone usage and are looking for a structured, motivating way to change their habits. Its gamified approach with XP and leaderboards likely appeals to a younger, competitive demographic or anyone who responds well to game-like challenges and rewards. The accountability features also make it suitable for groups of friends, family members, or study partners who want to support each other.

Notes & opportunities

The onboarding flow is very long and asks for a subscription before the user has experienced the core app, which could be a point of drop-off for some. The app also makes several attempts to get the user to select an entire category of apps to limit (02:24), even when the goal is to limit a single app, showing an error modal (02:31). This interaction could be streamlined to better match user intent. Finally, the UI for scheduled sessions shows a start time of "9:00 AM" and an end time of "8:30 AM" (03:47), which is an impossible schedule and suggests a minor bug in the time picker logic.