ScrollWatcher

Personal doom-scroll budget for Android — a daily 30-minute cap across apps you mark as “evil” (social feeds, etc.), with a full-screen overlay lockout when the budget is exhausted.

No AccessibilityService. Foreground detection uses UsageStatsManager / usage events only.

Features

• List launchable installed apps and toggle “evil” targets
• While the screen is on and an evil app is in the foreground, accumulate usage time
• Daily base budget: 30 minutes (device local midnight reset)
• Buy / add +10 minutes of extra time for the current day only
• When remaining time ≤ 0 and an evil app is foreground → SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW overlay lockout
• Foreground service with a low-importance persistent notification
• Restarts monitoring after reboot (RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED)
• Persists evil list, used time, extras, and last reset date via DataStore Preferences

Requirements

• Android 8.0+ (API 26), target / compile SDK 35
• Kotlin 2.4 / AGP 9.4 / Gradle 9.6, Jetpack Compose, Material 3
• Special permissions (user must grant in system settings):
  • Usage access (PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS)
  • Display over other apps (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW)
  • Notifications (Android 13+)
  • Foreground service (declared; special-use type)

Build (Android Studio)

1. Clone this repo and open the root folder in Android Studio (Hedgehog / Ladybug or newer recommended).
2. Let Gradle sync; install any prompted SDK components (API 35 platform, build-tools).
3. Connect a device or start an emulator (API 26+).
4. Run app (Debug).

Command line (with Android SDK + ANDROID_HOME configured):

./gradlew assembleDebug
# APK: app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Sideload / install

adb install -r app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Then open ScrollWatcher → Permissions and grant:

1. Usage access → enable ScrollWatcher
2. Display over other apps → allow
3. Notifications (if prompted)

Mark evil apps under Evil apps, leave Monitoring on, and use the Home +10 min button when you need extra time.

How tracking works

• A foreground service polls ~every 1.5s while monitoring is enabled.
• Only counts time when the screen is interactive (PowerManager.isInteractive / screen on) and the current foreground package (from UsageEvents) is in your evil set.
• Daily reset: on each tick and on app open, if the calendar date (device timezone) changed, used minutes and same-day extras are zeroed; the evil-app list is kept.
• Remaining = (30 min + extras today) − used. Overlay shows when remaining ≤ 0 and an evil app is foreground.

Play Store caveats (later)

This app uses sensitive permissions (PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS, SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW, QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES, foreground service special use). Google Play requires declarations, justifications, and often restricted approval. Sideloading / personal use is the intended first path; do not publish without completing Play Console policy forms.

Architecture

app/src/main/java/com/juliensalinas/scrollwatcher/
  ui/          Compose screens (Home, Evil apps, Permissions)
  service/     Foreground monitor, boot & screen receivers
  data/        DataStore preferences + models
  tracking/    UsageStats foreground detection + permission helpers
  overlay/     SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW lock UI

License

Personal / open source — use and modify as you like.