Apple Health run for brightness

Many of you likely know this already, but I am the co-founder of a competitive step-tracking app called Stompers. Think Mario Kart for walking. It’s a fun app, but it’s also exposed how little I walk compared to most people.

This got me thinking about ways to incentivize activity. If friends, push notifications, or even admonitions from a doctor aren’t enough to get you moving, what will?

Our devices take a huge amount of our time, so how might we use screen addiction as a way to drive users to walk?

Immediately I had the idea for an Apple Health feature where your phone’s brightness is at 0% if you aren’t moving. The faster you move, the brighter it gets. This is a nightmare for an unfathomable amount of reasons. It essentially renders phones unusable on planes or while lounging at home, but hey, maybe it’s good to stay active?

If this was an opt-in feature, I unironically think it could help a lot of people.

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