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The swap

The 30-Second Reset

The reset is the thing Champ offers you instead of the feed. It takes about 30 seconds and comes in four kinds — breathing, affirmation, meditation and visualisation — because the intervention only works if it is shorter than the impulse it interrupts.

Thirty seconds is the whole design constraint

A ten-minute meditation is a fine thing and a terrible interruption. If the alternative to opening Instagram costs more than opening Instagram, nobody picks it — so the reset is built to be over before the urge is.

Four kinds, all roughly half a minute: a guided breath cycle, a single affirmation, a short meditation, or a visualisation of something you are working toward.

You pick what a reset means to you

Breathing suits the moments when the reach is anxious. Affirmations suit the ones where it is avoidant. Visualisation pulls attention forward to something you actually want. Meditation is there when you have a minute rather than a moment.

You can set a default and change it whenever the default stops fitting.

The reset is the product, the blocking is the trigger

This is the part that separates Champ from a plain app blocker. Blocking creates an empty gap; an empty gap gets filled by the next-nearest app. The reset gives the gap something to be.

Champ is free on iPhone — three shielded apps, thirty-second resets, no card needed.

Get Champ — free

Questions about the 30-second reset

What happens during a 30-second reset?

One of four short practices — a guided breath cycle, an affirmation, a short meditation, or a visualisation — plays full-screen. When it ends you choose whether to continue into the app you opened.

Can I skip the reset?

Yes. The reset is a speed bump, not a lock. Skipping it is a decision, which is the point.

Do resets need an internet connection?

No. Breathing, affirmations and the core meditations work offline once the app is installed.

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