Most screen time tools have one trick, which is to tell you how badly last week went. Ahil Sinnaiah built Champ because that report never changed what he did on a Tuesday night, so he aimed at the gap between reaching for an app and opening it instead.
Open a shielded app and Champ offers a 30-second reset first, then lets you decide, and finishing one opens a flower in your garden. Nothing in that garden ever withers, so a slip costs you nothing.
We caught up with Ahil, who runs Champ from Singapore, about why he skipped the punishment, where he draws the line between free and paid, and why he paused every ad campaign on November 2.
Give us the quick intro: who are you, what is Champ, and what made you start building it as a founder in Singapore?
I'm Ahilendran Sinnaiah, Ahil to most people. I'm the founder of Champ, based in Singapore. Champ is a gamified screen time app for iPhone and iPad: shield the apps you overuse, take a 30-second reset, and a flower opens in your garden.
I started it because the weekly screen time report never once changed what I did on a Tuesday night. It gave me a number about a week that was already over, and a small private shame. I wanted something that shows up in the moment instead.
Since the Screen Time shield shipped at the end of May 2026, people in 15 countries have finished more than 400 resets in Champ. That count leaves out Singapore, where Champ is built and tested.
Most screen time apps lean on blocking or guilt. Why did you go with a 30-second reset and a garden instead?
Blocking works for some people. It never stuck for me. A blocker you can't get past is a blocker you delete.
The moment that matters is about two seconds long: the reach. So Champ lives in that gap. Open a shielded app and it offers a short self-care habit instead: a little me time, 30 seconds that belong to you. Everyone's working hard. Most of us put ourselves last, and the reach for the phone is often the only break of the day. Champ turns that reach into the break.
Then you decide. Finish the reset and a flower opens in your garden.
There are hard lines too, for when you want them. Turn on Strict and a Rule can't be switched off while it runs, and a Focus round keeps the apps you picked closed until it ends.
Nothing in the garden ever withers or dies. Why did you decide not to punish slips, and what difference do you see it making to how people use the app?
A slip already comes with its own small shame. Add a punishment on top and I don't think most people try harder. They just stop opening the app. So Champ only ever adds.
A finished reset opens a flower, up to ten a day. Two resets in one day open a sunflower. The tree grows a stage when the day's self-care cards are done.
On the difference, it's honestly too early for me to claim it changes behavior. What I watch is whether someone takes a second reset on the same day, and that's what the sunflower is for. I'd rather someone open the app on a bad day than hide from it.
Shielding apps, the reset, Rules and Focus rounds are all free, with Champ Pro as an optional extra. How did you decide where that line sits?
One rule: nothing that guards your apps sits behind a paywall. You can shield as many apps as you like, take every reset, run Rules with Strict and start Focus rounds without paying, and Emergency access still works. The person who needs a shield most is often the one who won't pay on day one, and a shield that asks for a card is one more thing to dismiss.
Champ Pro is the optional part: most of the self-care library, plus the month and year views in Time Back. I'd rather earn Pro from someone the free app has already helped. And if the free side stays whole, I can't make it worse to sell the upgrade.
What's been the toughest part of building Champ, and what would you do differently?
The toughest part is building inside Apple's Screen Time framework. It's strict about what an app can see, which is right for privacy and hard to build on.
The second toughest is making 30 seconds feel worth it. A reset that feels like homework gets skipped, so every one has to feel like a break, not a test.
What I'd do differently is the order on ads. I ran Apple Ads before Champ had shown it could grow on its own, and I paused every campaign on November 2. Next time the product proves itself first, then I spend.
What's next for Champ?
Champ 9.3 went out in early November. You can now call a Guardian from their chat. There are two new resets: Push-ups, where the front camera counts your set, and Intention, where you name what you came for and take a breath. Mixes add timed soundscapes for focus, relax and sleep. The pause and your reset window show on the Lock Screen as Live Activities, there's a small Garden widget, and there's a Family option for a child's iPhone.
Next up is how the garden sits on Apple's foldable iPhone, the Duo, with no date I'd promise. And more kinds of reset. The free side stays whole.
Which founders inspire you, and why?
Steve Jobs, for putting the user experience first. At WWDC in 1997 he told developers to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around.
Champ starts with how the moment feels. You reach for an app, and the question is what would help right then: a breath, a kind word, a minute for yourself. The garden follows the same rule. Nothing in it dies, because a loss is a punishment, and punishment is bad UX. Every guard stays free for the same reason. The experience comes first. The business model fits around it.
Try Champ
Champ is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, listed as Champ: Screen Time & Self-Care. Shield the apps you overuse, take a 30-second reset, and watch a flower open in your garden.
