Touch grass first

Lock Instagram
until you've
been outside.

Tonic keeps Instagram, TikTok or any app you pick locked until your Apple Watch has recorded today's minutes of sunlight, then unlocks them on its own. You need a Series 6, SE (2nd generation) or later; with no Watch, a step goal works on iPhone alone.

☀️
20 min of sunlight today
Apple Watch measures it on your wrist
11 of 20 min
then they open: Instagram TikTok
☀️
Or bank it for days indoors
1 min of sunlight → 2 min of reward time
38 min banked
19 min of sunlight today

Which watch do you have?

Apple Watch Series 6, SE (2nd generation) or later

On watchOS 10 or newer the light sensor records Time in Daylight whenever you wear it. The same Watch feeds steps, workouts and brisk minutes to Apple Health, and any of those can be the goal instead.

An earlier Apple Watch

Series 5 and before, and the first SE, have no sunlight reading, and a sunlight goal would sit at zero. Make it steps or a workout instead: those still reach Apple Health.

iPhone, no watch

An iPhone records no sunlight. Without a Watch, make it steps: the phone counts them live, with no setup. Ask for 6,000 before Instagram opens. Or set a limit that runs only at home, and leaving the house frees the apps. Steps have their own page →

Garmin Connect

Garmin, Fitbit, Oura, Whoop

None of them records sunlight, even with Apple Health sharing on. Garmin and the Fitbit app (now called Google Health) can still feed a step or workout goal through Apple Health once sharing is switched on in their app.

It measures light on your wrist, so it counts less than you'd think.

GPS and time outdoors don't come into it. An hour in a shaded park can register far less, so pick a number you could still hit on a dull day.

Open sky, bare wristReads highest
Shade or heavy cloudReads lower
A sleeve over the WatchReads lower
A seat by a sunny windowReads lower

Nothing to log

You never open Tonic to unlock.

Tonic reads what the Watch has already saved, so there's no app to start, no timer and no photo of the sky.

From the Watch to the unlock

⌚ Apple Watch
Apple Health Apple Health
Instagram is unlocked.
You earned it. now

One-time setup: when Tonic asks for Apple Health access, allow Time in Daylight. It sits under Read, and it's easy to miss.

Every day, or save it for the rainy ones.

A daily goal starts from zero at your reset. A balance can roll over, so a sunny Saturday still pays on a wet Tuesday.

☀️20 min of sunlight→Apps open all day
☀️30 min of sunlight→60 min banked

"I love that Tonic allows you to use time outdoors as a way to “earn” time on other apps. Especially working from home, it gets me outside and away from my screens. This is a great tool to establish a new routine!" App Store review, July 2026

Quick answers

Can I earn screen time by going outside?

Yes, with an Apple Watch. Tonic keeps the apps you pick locked until the Watch has recorded your minutes of sunlight, then unlocks them on its own, with nothing to log.

Can I earn by going outside without an Apple Watch?

Not with sunlight. Make it steps instead: your iPhone counts them with no watch and no app.

I was outside for an hour. Why did it count ten minutes?

The Watch reads the light reaching its sensor, so shade, heavy cloud or a sleeve lower the reading, and an hour in a shaded park can register far less. If the Watch stayed home, you can add today's time by hand in Tonic.

What if it rains all week?

The apps stay locked until the minutes are in, and a daily goal starts again at your reset. You can give the rule a break and it comes back on its own, or let 6,000 steps open the apps too, which takes Tonic Unlimited.

Won't I scroll all afternoon once it opens?

You can, on a daily goal. To keep it short, bank the minutes instead, or add a time budget or a visit limit for after you've earned.

What does it cost?

Free to start: lock two apps and earn from one source, sunlight included, for as long as you like. Tonic Unlimited lifts the limits on apps and ways to earn, for $39.99 a year or $9.99 a month, with the first 7 days free.

Daylight, step by step → · Apple Health is on but nothing counts?

Checked against the app on November 1, 2026.

Start with two apps and twenty minutes of sunlight.

Get Tonic free
Free to start · no account needed · iPhone and iPad, iOS 17.4 or later · sunlight needs an Apple Watch

Tonic is an independent companion and isn't affiliated with Apple, Garmin, Google, Fitbit, Oura or Whoop.

Other ways to earn: today's steps · today's workout · any productive app · all of them