Hi, I'm Gita. I built Redirect because I was losing — slowly, quietly, one unplanned scroll session at a time — and the apps that were supposed to help weren't helping.
I wasn't dramatically addicted to my phone. I was just constantly losing small fights with it.
Sitting down to study and surfacing 40 minutes later having learned nothing, just scrolled. Picking up my phone to check one thing and putting it down 20 minutes later with no memory of what the one thing was. Going to bed at 11 and starting to fall asleep at 1.
I looked around and saw the same thing everywhere. Friends who were sharp, motivated people — losing hours to their phones every day without deciding to. Not because they were weak. Because the apps are genuinely, deliberately, engineered to win.
That framing matters. This isn't a willpower problem. The apps winning your attention are built by teams of engineers whose job is to hold it. A gentle reminder notification isn't going to compete with that. Telling yourself to be more disciplined isn't going to compete with that.
I tried every app I could find. Most were too easy to override — one tap to extend, one moment of weakness and the rules evaporated. Others felt preachy, like they were quietly judging me. The best ones were just timers with no teeth.
So I started building Redirect. Not to shame anyone. Not to whisper wellness advice. Just to give your rules some teeth — and to make winning feel as good as the apps make losing feel.
I didn't want an app that would understand my struggle. I wanted one that would get in my face about it, and then celebrate when I fixed it.
Redirect does not whisper. It does not ask you to be mindful. It does not have a breathing exercise, a daily affirmation, or a pastel color scheme designed to make the problem feel smaller than it is.
It blocks your distracting apps until you've earned them back. It puts your habits on a leaderboard your friends can see. It tracks your streaks and makes breaking them cost something.
The mechanic is simple: set a redirect rule when you're thinking clearly. Read for 20 minutes first, then Instagram opens. Study for an hour, then YouTube unlocks. You set the terms. Redirect enforces them when you'd otherwise override them.
"Less screen time. More everything else."
Deciding you'll use your phone less doesn't work. Changing the cost structure of using your phone does. The best intervention is the one you don't have to remember to use — it's already in place when you reach for your phone on autopilot.
The redirect mechanicRedirect is not a parental control. It doesn't restrict you — it enforces rules you set yourself. The difference matters. You're not being managed. You're setting up a version of yourself that holds the other version accountable.
By you, for youRedirect will tell you when you've lost. It won't pile on. Breaking a streak means starting a new one — the data stays, the shame doesn't. The goal is momentum over time, not a perfect record that shatters on day 11 and never recovers.
Not a shame machineThe apps engineered to waste your time are very good at making that feel rewarding. Redirect tries to make the alternative feel rewarding too — leaderboard positions, streaks, unlocks, and the quiet satisfaction of a day that went the way you planned.
The design goalJoin the waitlist. One email when Redirect launches on Android.
No spam. No payment info. Just the launch email.