pray first, scroll later
your first minutes belong to your God, not your feed
Sankalp rests your most distracting apps behind a moment of devotion. When you reach for a blocked app, you meet your God instead — a darshan and a short mantra — and then your apps open.
- ◦darshan before the feed
- ◦every unlock, a remembrance
- ◦your phone, God-first
there's a short story below
the morning
the first thing you touch every morning is your phone.
before your feet find the floor, your thumb has already found the feed.
not because you chose it. because it's the path of least resistance — and nobody ever put your God on that path.
one honest number
at 6 hours a day, you'll spend 2,190 hours on your phone this year.
that's 91 days. three months of the year, in your hand.
6 h × 365 = 2,190 hours ÷ 24 ≈ 91 days
how much of it brings you closer to your God?
it doesn't have to be this way. sankalp doesn't ask you to put the phone down — it asks the phone to point somewhere first.
the ritual
what happens when you reach for the feed
you reach for instagram —
— and your apps are resting. 🪔 no lecture, no timer running down. just a pause, and an invitation.
instead of the feed, a face.
your God, filling the screen — the one you chose, painted to be beheld. this is darshan.
eleven beads. one mantra.
counted on the same thumb that was about to scroll. eleven, twenty-one, or a full mala of a hundred and eight — you set the size.
a gentle bell. your apps open.
you met your God before you met the feed. that's the whole app — and tomorrow it happens again.
meet your Gods
the face you meet is the one you chose
Pick your favourite deities from a library of 100, ranked to feel local to your family's tradition. Vinayaka, Krishna, Shiva, Hanuman, Lakshmi, and many more — painterly portraits you can truly behold, searchable by the name and the spelling your family actually uses.
No deity is ever chosen for you, and none is ever bound to a weekday. Tradition suggests; you decide. On the unlock screen you can swipe to any of your Gods — the app's suggestion is a suggestion, and it says so by giving way.
Krishna
the flute that calls you back, however far you wandered.
panchang
a calendar that knows
Sankalp carries a full on-device Panchang: tithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana, and the day's muhurta. It knows when it's Ekadashi, Pradosham, or a festival — so the God and the mantra you meet at the lock screen fit the day you're actually in.
It works offline, follows your timezone, and is verified against astronomical ephemeris. Your phone knew it was Ekadashi before you did.
vrat
fasting, when you're ready
Keeping a vrat is optional and never mandatory. When you want it, Sankalp guides the fast from prep to parana, marks the sacred days, and ties the fast to the deity you're honouring that day — so the lock and the fast hold each other up.
No fast is ever assumed for you. If you never add one, the app never asks twice.
made with respect
no shame, no red, no streak to be scolded for
This is not a punishment app. The lock is a seva we perform for you — a way to keep the vow you took. Skipping is always possible, and skipping is honest: your apps simply rest again a little later.
A japa counter with mantras and their meaning, a Prayer Focus timer, a private one-line journal. Local-first: your practice lives on your device, and it works with the aeroplane mode on.
questions, answered
- Why does Sankalp ask for Screen Time permission?
- Sankalp uses Apple's Family Controls (Screen Time) to rest the apps you choose behind a moment of devotion. You pick the apps, you set the ritual, and everything runs on your device — Screen Time data never leaves your phone.
- How does the darshan unlock work?
- When you open an app you've chosen to guard, Sankalp greets you with a full-screen darshan of your deity and a short mantra to chant. Complete the chant, and your apps open for the window you set. Prefer a gentler start? God-first mornings rests your apps only until your first darshan of the day.
- Is Sankalp free?
- Yes — Sankalp 1.0 is free, with no in-app purchases. Everything in the app, from the darshan lock to the panchang, is included.
- What about my privacy?
- No advertising, no tracking, and nothing that identifies you unless you choose to sign in. Without an account, your deities, japa counts, journal entries, and fasting records stay on your device and we never see them. If you do sign in, they sync to your own private account so a lost phone doesn't cost you your practice, and you can delete the account and everything in it from the app in one tap. The app does count anonymous usage — that a darshan happened, never whose or to which God — so we can tell which features earn their place; Account has a switch to turn it off. This site counts pageviews the same anonymous way, but has no switch of its own — a content blocker will stop it. Our privacy policy spells out exactly what that means.
- How accurate is the panchang?
- The panchang is computed entirely on your device and verified against astronomical ephemeris for tithi and nakshatra at sunrise. It follows your timezone, so the day's reading fits where you actually are. We'd rather be honest than flashy: panchang traditions vary by region, and Sankalp aims to be careful, not to over-claim.
- Is my deity chosen for me?
- Never. You choose your own Gods — one or many — from a library of 100, ranked to feel local to your family's tradition. On festival days and special tithis, Sankalp may suggest one of your chosen deities, but tradition only suggests; it never decides for you.
- Is there an Android version?
- Sankalp is iOS-first for now. An Android version is planned — if you'd like to hear when it's ready, write to us and we'll let you know.
- Do I have to fast?
- No. Fasting in Sankalp is always optional — a deepening you can add when you're ready, never a requirement. If you choose to keep a vrat, Sankalp guides it gently from prep to parana, with no guilt anywhere.
the vow
take the sankalp
“my first minutes belong to my God, not my feed.”
Sankalp is in TestFlight while we prepare for the App Store. Leave your email and we'll send your invitation — you'll be among the founding devotees, and first through the door when the doors open.
✦ launching for the festival season · Janmashtami → Diwali