Tuff

A competitive screen time tracking iOS app that gamifies reducing phone usage through friend leagues, betting, and high-friction blocking.

Download on the App Store now! App Store Link

Architecture

• SwiftUI with MVVM pattern
• iOS 17+ (Swift Charts, modern SwiftUI APIs)
• Apple Screen Time APIs: FamilyControls, DeviceActivity, ManagedSettings

Project Structure

Tuff/
├── Tuff/                              # Main app target
│   ├── App/
│   │   ├── TuffApp.swift              # App entry point + authorization
│   │   └── ContentView.swift          # Root tab navigation
│   ├── Theme/
│   │   └── Theme.swift                # Colors, fonts, reusable components
│   ├── Models/
│   │   ├── User.swift                 # User & LeagueMember models
│   │   ├── League.swift               # League & history models
│   │   └── ScreenTimeData.swift       # Screen time data models
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── ScreenTimeManager.swift    # FamilyControls/DeviceActivity integration
│   │   └── NotificationManager.swift  # Push notification handling
│   ├── ViewModels/
│   │   ├── HomeViewModel.swift
│   │   ├── StatsViewModel.swift
│   │   └── ProfileViewModel.swift
│   ├── Views/
│   │   ├── Home/                      # Home screen (carousel, leagues)
│   │   ├── League/                    # League detail, leaderboard, create
│   │   ├── Profile/                   # Profile & league history
│   │   ├── Stats/                     # Charts & streak tracking
│   │   └── Components/               # Reusable UI components
│   └── Assets.xcassets/
├── TuffDeviceActivity/                # DeviceActivity Monitor extension
├── TuffShieldConfiguration/           # Shield UI customization extension
└── project.yml                        # XcodeGen project specification

Setup

Option A: XcodeGen (Recommended)

1. Install XcodeGen:

   brew install xcodegen

2. Generate the Xcode project:

   cd Tuff
   xcodegen generate

3. Open Tuff.xcodeproj in Xcode

4. Set your Development Team in project settings

5. Build and run on a physical device (Screen Time APIs require a real device)

Firebase

• GoogleService-Info.plist is in the repo root and is added to the Tuff target (copy bundle resources).
• Firebase is initialized in TuffApp via AppDelegate and FirebaseApp.configure().
• Linking (per Firebase iOS setup): Add the SDK via File → Add Package Dependencies → https://github.com/firebase/firebase-ios-sdk. When choosing libraries, add FirebaseCore (and FirebaseAuth, FirebaseFirestore if needed) and set Add to Target to Tuff. The Tuff target has Other Linker Flags -ObjC set (required by Firebase).
• If you still see "No such module 'FirebaseCore'":
  1. In Xcode: File → Packages → Reset Package Caches.
  2. Product → Clean Build Folder (⇧⌘K).
  3. Quit Xcode, delete DerivedData for this project:
     rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Tuff-*
  4. Reopen the project and build again (⌘B).

Option B: Manual Xcode Setup

1. Open Xcode → File → New → Project → iOS App
2. Product Name: Tuff, Interface: SwiftUI, Language: Swift
3. Replace the generated files with the files from Tuff/
4. Add entitlements:
   • Select the Tuff target → Signing & Capabilities
   • Add "Family Controls" capability
5. Add extension targets:
   • File → New → Target → Device Activity Monitor Extension (name: TuffDeviceActivity)
   • File → New → Target → Shield Configuration Extension (name: TuffShieldConfiguration)
   • Replace generated files with those from TuffDeviceActivity/ and TuffShieldConfiguration/
6. Build and run

Apple Screen Time APIs Used

Framework	Purpose
FamilyControls	Request authorization to access screen time data
DeviceActivity	Monitor daily usage, set thresholds, track intervals
ManagedSettings	Block/shield apps, enforce restrictions
ManagedSettingsUI	Customize the shield shown on blocked apps

Key Flows

App Blocking (Friend 2FA):

1. User selects apps to block via FamilyActivityPicker
2. ManagedSettingsStore applies shields to those apps
3. When blocked app is opened, ShieldConfigurationExtension shows custom UI
4. Friend sends 2FA code → shields are removed

Activity Monitoring:

1. DeviceActivityCenter starts daily monitoring schedule
2. DeviceActivityMonitor extension tracks usage in the background
3. Thresholds trigger notifications and shield activation

Features

• Leagues: Create competitive groups, set buy-ins, track rankings
• Friend 2FA Blocking: Apps stay locked until a friend sends you a code
• Custom Challenges: Complete productive tasks to earn screen time
• Live Leaderboards: Real-time rankings within each league
• Stats & Charts: 7-day / 30-day screen time visualization with Swift Charts
• Streak Tracking: Consecutive days under your screen time goal
• Push Notifications: League alerts, daily recaps, streak reminders
• Payout System: Winner-takes-all or tiered payouts

Requirements

• iOS 17.0+
• Xcode 15.0+
• Physical device (Screen Time APIs don't work in Simulator)
• Apple Developer account with Family Controls entitlement

Applying for Family Controls Entitlement

The Screen Time APIs require special entitlement approval from Apple:

1. Go to developer.apple.com
2. Navigate to Account → Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Identifiers
3. Select your App ID → Enable "Family Controls"
4. Submit the request form explaining your use case
5. Apple typically approves within 1–2 weeks