Sage Iris: a calmer phone

Set aside, on your terms

The apps that pull you out of the now, resting until you choose them.

Your home screen holds only the few apps that matter. Everything else waits a tap away, and the apps you'd rather not reach for out of habit are set aside. If one is opened some other way, from a link or a search, a calm Sage Iris screen covers it. Turn on notification access, and their notifications are cleared as they arrive.

Your apps: Files and SIM Toolkit unlisted, and Chrome, Drive, Google, YouTube and YouTube Music set aside since Oct 29

Your apps in the dark look, with the set-aside list

Your apps, in four places

The home screen holds the few that matter. Everything else is a tap away. Unlisted apps stay out of every list but still open from links. Set-aside apps rest out of sight.

Moving an app further away never needs your key. Bringing one back does.

A moment before YouTube: your aim for YouTube is 15m a day, today so far 16m, a breathing countdown, Making time for a good book, and Don't open

A moment before YouTube, in the dark look

A breath before you open, and your reason to look up

Set gentle aims for your time, for the day or for one app. Once an aim has passed, opening that app begins with a short, breathing pause and one of the things you're making time for: a walk with the dog, a good book, playing music.

Aims never block anything. They're there to remind you of your intentions.

Bring back YouTube: for 30 minutes, then it's set aside again, with a one-time code from an authenticator app typed in

Bring back YouTube with a one-time code, in the dark look

Your key, and someone you trust if you'd like

Bring an app back for 15 minutes, half an hour or an hour, with your PIN. It's set aside again on time, with a countdown in your notifications.
If you'd like help, a friend can keep the key instead: Sage Iris works with any authenticator app, so they read you a six-digit code.
They never see what you do on your phone. There's no account and no reports.

Considering

No key to hand? Save the app for later. It waits under Considering until you decide.

A look that feels like yours

Sage, Clean, a memo pad or a retro LCD. Sage and Clean can follow your phone's dark mode.

Screen time, quietly

Today's time and unlocks at the top of the home screen, if you want to see them.

What stays

It's still your phone.

Sage Iris is an app on Android, not a new operating system, so your phone keeps everything it already does well.

/Android's security updates
/Your number, your carrier, calls and texts
/Your camera and your photos
/Maps, and any app you choose to keep close
/No account to make, no ads, no tracking
/Sage Iris never uses the internet, so what it knows stays on your phone. Privacy

Going further

For a firmer boundary, Sage Iris can look after the phone itself.

From Google Play, Sage Iris covers set-aside apps and quiets them. Some people would rather those apps were simply gone. Android lets one app look after a phone the way a work phone is set up, and Sage Iris can take that role.

When Sage Iris looks after the phone

Android puts set-aside apps away itself: out of search, share sheets and links. Apps that came with the phone disappear entirely.
New installs wait for you to decide where they go.
Steadfast mode, if you want it, keeps your choices from being undone in a passing moment.
Return to plain Android, behind your key, hands the phone back whenever you like.

Setting it up takes a freshly reset phone and a computer, about twenty minutes, once. A step-by-step guide is on its way. If you'd like to try it sooner, write to us and we'll walk you through it.

Trying it early

Sage Iris is in testing on Google Play.

A small group is trying it before it opens to everyone. If you'd like to help, write to us from the Google account you use on your Android phone, and we'll add you to the test.

app@sageiris.com

Which phones does it work on?: Android 10 or newer. It's built and tested on Pixels. Other phones may well work, and hearing how it goes on yours helps.
Is this a launcher?: It's a home screen, with a little more: it covers set-aside apps and quiets their notifications, and, looking after the phone itself, puts them away entirely.
Does it use the internet?: Never. Sage Iris has no internet access at all, so your choices, reasons and screen time stay on your phone.
What if I change my mind?: Choose another home app in Android's Settings, under Default apps, or uninstall Sage Iris. Every app is right where it was.