Dinner
A phone free dinner that holds.
Everyone at the table blocks every app for the same two hours. Nobody has to police it.
How the evening goes
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1
One person starts it
Two hours, picked before anyone sits down. Anyone in the crew can be that person.
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2
Everyone taps join
One notification, one tap. Every phone that joins blocks every app for the same two hours.
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3
It holds through the meal
The countdown runs on every Lock Screen. A Strict one ends on its timer, or if more than half of you vote to end it.
The problem with putting phones away at dinner is that it lasts until the first buzz. Someone checks something, then everyone has permission, and the conversation you sat down for never gets finished.
A pact removes the negotiation. You agree on the time while you are still in the car, and iOS holds every phone to it once you are at the table. There is nothing to be strong about at 8pm, because the decision was made at 6.
Your Always Allowed apps stay open the whole time, so whatever you genuinely need is still there. And if something real happens, the Emergency Pass opens everything for an hour.
Questions.
Can one person end it for everyone?
Under Strict, no: it ends on its timer, or when more than half of the people still in it vote to end it. A Flexible crew pact can be ended by whoever started it.
What if I actually need a blocked app?
Your Always Allowed apps stay open under every pact. Past those, the Emergency Pass opens everything for one hour, once a week.
Can my crew see which apps I use?
No. Members see your name, your initial and what you do in crew pacts, never your apps.
Where else it holds.
The same pact, wherever you block apps with friends.
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Study night
Three hours before the exam, spent on the exam.
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Game night
The only screen is the scoreboard.
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Date night
Both phones down for the whole evening.
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Bedtime
The hour before sleep stays the hour before sleep.