Hi everyone!
I’m building Delta — an app designed to rethink time, because time is literally our most valuable currency. So the core mechanic involves earning time in useful apps and then spending it on apps that are a distraction.
I already have a prototype that’s being actively tested in a closed beta, but I’ve started noticing that more and more testers are reporting the same bug. “Time is being counted even when I'm not in the app I marked as useful.” I suspect that Screen Time is also tracking background time, although this behavior isn't correct for my app. Does anyone know how to track specifically those moments when an app marked as useful and used for “time-earning” is in the foreground?
Additionally, I hit a wall with Screen Time and had to accept that I can’t force a user away from another app if they’re active there, nor redirect them to my app to trigger the lock screen. Because of this, I had to resort to a penalty system, which is equal to the time the user spent additionally after their time ran out. And here, I run into the same problem I described at the beginning of the post. I can’t track the background status of another app, even though I’m trying really hard... Can anyone suggest any ways I can get out of this situation, or should I keep looking for a solution, or shift toward explaining this to the user?.. (However, I’m holding out until the very end before giving up on finding a solution)