Grid

A focus app that feels like a race weekend.

Pick a circuit. Sign for a team. Stamp your paddock pass, watch the five lights go out — and your distracting apps stay shielded until the chequered flag.

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Overview

Grid reframes focus time as a race stint. You choose a circuit (which sets the session length) and a fictional team (whose livery themes your pass), commit by stamping a paddock pass, then work while your chosen apps are blocked via the Screen Time API. Progress is shown as laps around the real track outline, with a Live Activity in the Dynamic Island. Leave early and your pass is stamped DNF — allowed, but on the record in your Activity log.

Circuit select	Paddock pass	Locked in

Go Pro	Membership pass

How it works

1. Onboarding. A short, personalised quiz builds a "race plan" — how many hours Grid can help you win back — then a cinematic team signing puts your real signature on your first pass.
2. Pick your circuit. Twelve real-geometry circuits (plus a custom test track), each mapped to a focus duration from a 25-minute street sprint to a two-hour endurance run. A photoreal 3D flyover of the actual track plays behind the paddock.
3. Stamp your pass. A personalised paddock pass — name, circuit, team, session number, barcode — is issued for every session. Press and hold to imprint it: that stamp is the commitment. Fully customisable in Pass Studio.
4. Lights out. Five red lights, a random hold… and away you go. The shield activates the instant the lights go out.
5. Stay locked in. Your apps are blocked for the whole session. Progress is measured in laps; a Live Activity tracks it on the lock screen and Dynamic Island, with Race Control flags if you drift away.
6. Chequered flag. Finish and the pass is filed FINISHED; bail and it's a DNF. Every session feeds your stats and unlocks trophies.

Features

• 12 real circuits built from actual GPS geometry, with photoreal MapKit flyovers.
• Team liveries that theme your pass, timing name, and car number.
• Pass Studio — a direct-manipulation editor for every element of the pass (colours, wording, fonts, finish), including a holographic finish.
• Advanced stats — a last-session focus score, a GitHub-style contribution heatmap of your days on Grid, breakaway analysis, and a trophy cabinet.
• The 3D Pro pass — a gyro-reactive, holographic membership card that flips to reveal trophy stamps earned across your sessions.
• Race Control — yellow/red flags on the Live Activity when you leave mid-session, derived purely from time so they're crash-safe.

Free vs Pro

	Free	Pro
Circuits	5	All 12 + custom
Team liveries	6	+ 5 premium
Focus loop, Activity log, stats	✓	✓
Pass Studio + holographic pass	—	✓
Race Control flags + Live Activity	—	✓
3D Pro membership card + trophies	—	✓

Pro is a StoreKit 2 auto-renewable subscription (yearly with a 7-day trial, or monthly).

Tech

• SwiftUI, iOS 17+, dark theme only, MVVM, no third-party dependencies.
• FamilyControls + ManagedSettings + DeviceActivity for app blocking, with a DeviceActivityMonitor extension as a backstop that lifts the shield even if the app is killed mid-session.
• ActivityKit Live Activity (lock screen + Dynamic Island) with self-updating timers — no push updates needed.
• MapKit satellite flyovers driving along real circuit polylines.
• SwiftData for the Activity log; StoreKit 2 subscriptions for Pro.
• Session state machine survives termination via an App Group snapshot: idle → passIssued → lightsSequence → racing → finished | dnf.

Targets

Target	Purpose
Grid	The app
GridMonitor	DeviceActivityMonitor extension (shield backstop)
GridWidgets	WidgetKit extension hosting the race Live Activity

Building

Open Grid.xcodeproj in Xcode 26+ and run the Grid scheme, or:

xcodebuild -project Grid.xcodeproj -scheme Grid \
  -destination 'generic/platform=iOS Simulator' build

Simulation mode is on by default: the full session flow runs without applying a real Screen Time shield, so everything works while the FamilyControls distribution entitlement is pending. Toggle it in Settings once the entitlement is granted.

In-app purchases are wired against a local Grid/Grid.storekit configuration (referenced by the Grid scheme's Run options), so the full subscribe / restore flow is testable on-device with no App Store Connect setup. A DEBUG Pro access toggle in Settings → Developer flips entitlement state for exercising paywalls.

Roadmap

• Real paddock backdrop stills per circuit
• Proper open-wheel .usdz car model to replace the procedural one
• Sound design: doppler whooshes, light-gantry beeps, stamp thunk
• Mandatory pit-stop breaks (pomodoro mode)
• On-Demand Resources for the paid circuit assets

Credits

Circuit outlines are derived from the f1-circuits GeoJSON dataset (MIT © Tomislav Bacinger), simplified and normalised at build time.

A note on trademarks

Grid is a fan-flavoured theme, not an F1 product. It uses no F1 / Formula 1 logos, team or driver names, or official circuit branding — circuit names are invented-but-evocative and fully data-driven.