WeWard locks users out of other apps—and calls it a feature, not a bug

WeWard's Walking Mode gates access to social apps and games until users hit daily step targets. The move inverts typical consumer-app strategy: most platforms optimize for session time because it fuels ad revenue. WeWard, backed by Venus Williams, monetizes through affiliate marketing and ads instead, so app-locking serves its business model. Users spend minutes per day in WeWard itself—a metric the company frames as positive. The feature's staying power depends on whether adults self-impose the same friction parental-control apps have long promised their children, with mixed results.