Sheet 02Serein
Walls you build in a clear moment.
Serein is an accountability tool for people ending a compulsive digital habit. You decide what to shut out, and you name someone you trust to hold that decision in place — so the limits are still standing later, when you would rather they weren’t.
iOS · In development · Not yet released
The problem it addresses
The moment someone decides to stop and the moment they are tempted are two different moments, and the second one is not a fair fight. Willpower is being asked to win an argument it is already losing, against something that is one tap away and has no friction left in front of it at all.
Serein takes the decision made in the first moment and gives it something to stand on in the second. The person sets the terms while they are clear-headed. Undoing them later is deliberately, structurally hard.
How it works
You choose what to shut out
Nothing is blocked by default and there is no preset list. Using Apple’s own Screen Time controls, you pick the specific apps, categories, and sites you want out of reach. Serein has no opinion about what belongs on that list — it is yours.
You write and sign a pledge
In your own words, not ours. The pledge is the thing your later self is arguing with, so it matters that it sounds like you.
Two layers hold the line
Serein combines on-device Screen Time restrictions with a local content filter that resolves requests on your phone. Between them they cover the routes back that a single blocker leaves open.
A Witness holds the gate
You name someone you trust. Tightening your limits is always free and instant. Loosening them requires your Witness to approve it. That asymmetry is the whole design: the version of you that wants the walls up can act alone, and the version that wants them down cannot.
What Serein does not do
This matters more than the feature list, so it is worth being exact. Serein blocks routes; it does not watch you travel them.
It does not read, scan, or record your browsing.
Serein blocks whole pathways rather than inspecting what passes through them. There is no log of what you looked at, because it is never examined in the first place.
It does not report your activity to your Witness.
Your Witness is asked to approve or refuse changes you request. They are not given a feed of what you have been doing.
Your Witness cannot change your settings.
There is no remote control. They can only respond to a request you chose to make. Serein is not a supervision tool and cannot be repurposed into one.
It is not a substitute for professional help.
Serein is a commitment tool, not treatment, and it does not pretend to be. For many people the right step is to speak to a doctor or a counsellor as well.
Status and documents
Serein is in development and is not yet available to download. It has not been released on the App Store, and there is no public beta or waiting list at the moment. When that changes, it will be announced here.
If you want to reach us about Serein in the meantime, write to support@solace-foundry.com.