Guides
Walkthroughs for each step, from making a promise to what happens if you break it.
- How to make your first promise
- How to choose the apps you'll lose
- How to sign and swear a promise
- How to keep a promise before the deadline
- What happens if you break a promise
- What a third broken promise means
How to make your first promise
Write down what you're promising and by when — one-time, daily, or weekly. "Read 20 pages, every day before 9 PM" is a promise; so is a single deadline with no repeat. Be specific about the deadline, since SwornIn only ever checks one thing: whether you pressed "I kept my promise" before it passed.
How to choose the apps you'll lose
Next, pick the price of breaking your promise: the apps that get locked if you fail. On iOS, this uses Apple's own Screen Time picker — SwornIn never sees the names or icons of what you choose, only an anonymous token for each one. On Android, you pick from an on-device app list that never leaves your phone. Choose apps you'd genuinely miss; the deal only works if losing them costs something.
How to sign and swear a promise
Once your promise and its consequence are set, you sign your name, the date, and a finger-drawn signature, and read a consequences disclosure describing exactly what happens if you fail. Swearing arms the block immediately — from that moment, your phone enforces the deadline, not SwornIn, so closing the app doesn't cancel anything.
How to keep a promise before the deadline
Before the deadline passes, open SwornIn and do a deliberate press-and-hold on "I kept my promise" to disarm the block. SwornIn has no way to verify you actually did the thing — no camera, no location — so it tells you that plainly before you hold the button. The system only works if you're honest with yourself first.
What happens if you break a promise
Miss the deadline and the block you armed at swear time triggers automatically. The first broken promise locks your chosen apps for 24 hours; a second locks them for 48. There's no early unlock and no way to pay your way out once a block has started.
What a third broken promise means
On a third broken promise, your apps aren't the consequence anymore — SwornIn is. The whole app becomes a paywall, and you can't make a new promise until you pay to reset it. The first reset is $2, then $4, then $8 — the price doubles every time you pay. Paying only buys a clean slate going forward: your lifetime broken-promise count is permanent and survives deleting your data, deleting the app, or reinstalling.
More questions? See the FAQ or contact support.