Tonic for students: do the reps, then the feed

The spiral every student knows

The reviews were never the hard part.

You pick up your phone to start the deck, and twenty minutes later you're somewhere in TikTok with the reviews still due. Skip one day and the queue balloons, which makes the next skip easier, and a daily habit quietly slides into a weekend cram. The work isn't hard. Getting to it before the feed is.

How it works

Put the study first.
Let the feed be the reward.

The setup

Pick the apps that eat your study time, and the study habit that earns them back. Instagram and TikTok stay locked until you've put your time into Anki, a study timer, a language app, or whatever you actually use. Do the work, and they open on their own. Skip it, and they stay shut.

📚 Anki 15 min → Apps all day

2 lessons → 20 min of scroll

A problem set → Apps all day

Honest about the tracking

Built for a crowd that won't trust hand-waving. Tonic counts the time you spend in the study app in the foreground on your iPhone. It doesn't read your due count, your ease, or your retention, so it's a time gate, not a stats integration. And it only sees your phone: reps you do in desktop Anki or AnkiWeb won't count. Honest, so you set it up for the way you actually study.

Counts

Foreground time in the study app on your iPhone.

Doesn't count

Desktop or browser reps, screen-off audio, or another device.

Students set up things like this.

Keep Instagram and TikTok locked until I've put 15 minutes into Anki.
Hard block social media until I've done a full study session, then give me an hour.
Bank study minutes through the week and spend them on a guilt-free scroll over the weekend.
Make YouTube pause longer each time I reach for it during a study block.
Don't let me into the group chat until I've cleared my reviews and done a Duolingo lesson.

No logging, no check-ins

Works with the study apps you already use.

Time in your reading, flashcard, and lesson apps counts straight from the time you spend in them. Workouts, walks, and meditation can earn your apps too, read from Apple Health, for the breaks that keep you sane.

Lessons, reading & practice

Breaks that earn, too

Quick answers

Does Tonic read my Anki stats?

No. It counts the time you spend in the Anki app in the foreground on your iPhone, not your due count, ease, or retention. It's a time gate, not a stats integration.

Do reviews on my computer count?

No. Tonic gates your iPhone and credits iPhone foreground time only, so reps in desktop Anki or AnkiWeb won't register. It fits study you do on your phone.

Is this a parental control?

No. Tonic is for adults setting rules for themselves. There's no parent, no admin, and no rule you can't change. You set it, you change it.

What does it cost?

Free to start: gate two apps behind one study habit, for as long as you like. Tonic Unlimited covers your whole phone for $29.99 a year or $9.99 a month, with the first 7 days free.

Start with one app and one study habit.

Pick the app that derails your studyingInstagram, TikTok, the group chat. The one your thumb finds first.

Pick the study habit it has to wait forFifteen minutes in Anki, a lesson, a problem set. Tonic counts it for you.

The deck gets cleared before the day gets lostThe reps go first. The feed is earned. That's the whole trick.

Get Tonic free Free to start · no account needed