Our latest update forces you to pet your dog before you can scroll on social media. Turn a mindless habit into real world joy, and add a little friction to your doom scrolling. This isn’t just cute — it’s behavioral science meets emotional design.
Want to scroll? First, you have to literally pet your dog.
We thought about doing it as an April Fools joke, but once we tested it, we realized it actually works.
It brings a moment of real-world connection into a habit that’s usually unconscious and compulsive. Plus it’s way harder to mindlessly open TikTok when your pup is looking up at you for scratches. It’s camera-powered, privacy-safe, and designed to help you break the doomscrolling habit.
🐕 Works with any dog
📵 Block any app with custom rules
❤️ Built to help you be more present
Our goal with Roots is to help people build a balanced relationship with their phones — and change behavior in a fun, long-lasting way.
Would love to hear what you think. And if you don’t have a dog nearby… don’t worry, this is just the first in a series of new "speed bumps" we're releasing 😉
I'm personally a dog person. But what about cat owners? ...asking for a friend. 😇
Is this feature live? I downloaded the app (really liked it, great design and configs) but couldn’t find how to activate this. Was excited to try it out.
Very creative and I really like the angle you played on here before using apps. Congrats on a great launch!
Hey guys - do you have any plans to expand other rewards options to unlock your phone? I don't have a dog myself so I'm curious what other plans you have.
Creative (and really cute!) solutions for modern problems 😁 One more app added to my stack! :=)
Roots is such a brilliant idea! Can users customize the rules or timing for blocking apps, or is it more of a set-it-and-forget-it system?
Hey everyone! 👋 I’m Pontus, Co-founder and Head of Design at Roots, and I want to share a bit of the thinking behind this new (and maybe most charming) feature yet!
We’ve all been there as dog owners. You're sucked into your phone, scrolling that endless feed again… and your dog is just sitting there, eyes on you, waiting. That moment when you know you should put the phone down but don't, is exactly what we wanted to tackle.
This started as a playful idea, but as we explored it through the lens of behavioral design and emotional friction, it made perfect sense. By placing a real-world moment of connection between you and your phone, we interrupt the automatic habit loop in a way that felt human and relatable.
From a design perspective, we focused on creating a very simple experience with automatic detection of your dog, subtle delightful details when you complete it, and hints to actually rethink to unblock the apps and just keep enjoying the precious moment you now have in front of you instead.
As I was designing this, I find it funny how I ended up hunting down my dog to both test the feature but also create marketing materials and he was very confused why I kept doing it all of a sudden haha.
This is the first in a series of “speed bumps” we’re working on — small moments that help you pause, reflect, and make more intentional choices before diving back into your apps.
Would love to hear your thoughts or ideas for the next kind of “pause” we should build to keep you from scrolling.
Thanks for being here and for your support! 🙏
One of the cutest apps I have seen today (and maybe in the whole week) 😃
I am also a part of the digital detox project and have to say that the incentive in this one is very strong :)
Who can resist pets? :)
Next feature: tracking walks with pets, each 1km with your dog = 1 minute you can spend on your phone :)
I love how it blends behavioral science with emotional design in such a fun and heartwarming way. More of this kind of tech, please!
As a serial screen addict this is the perfect thing to keep me locked in on the things that matter + my dog loves the extra petting she gets.
