Prafull Sharma is the founder of Spool, an iPhone app that helps people stop doomscrolling through AI voice check-ins. Instead of blocking apps, Spool asks users to speak their reason out loud before opening distracting apps like TikTok, Instagram, or X — a 5-second pause that interrupts the autopilot habit loop and produces structured data about why people reach for their phones.
Prafull has been working on phone-addiction research full-time since 2024. Under his leadership, Spool has captured and analyzed over 8,000 first-person statements recorded at the moment of compulsive phone use — a category of data rare in the digital-wellbeing literature, which typically relies on retrospective self-report.
What I write about
- Behavioral design for phone-addiction interventions
- Affect labeling (Lieberman 2007) as a product mechanism
- Voice-based self-report data at the moment of impulse
- iOS Screen Time API and on-device intervention design
Research basis
The work on this site draws on peer-reviewed research from UCLA, Stanford, NYU, Yale, Harvard, and UC Irvine. See the science behind Spool for the specific papers and how Spool operationalizes each.
Posts by Prafull
- How to Stop Doomscrolling on TikTok (2026 Guide) —
- How to Stop Doomscrolling on Instagram Reels (Without Quitting Instagram) —
- How to Stop Doomscrolling on YouTube Shorts —
- How to Stop Doomscrolling on X (Formerly Twitter) —
- How to Stop Doomscrolling on Reddit (Without Quitting It) —
- Why Can't I Put My Phone Down? The Behavioral Science Answer —
- Is Doomscrolling an Addiction? What the Clinical Research Says —
- How Much Screen Time Is Too Much in 2026? The Honest Answer —
- Does Grayscale Mode Actually Reduce Phone Use? The Real Answer —
- Why Do I Scroll When I'm Anxious? The Connection Between Anxiety and Phone Use —
- Spool vs Apple Screen Time: Why the Built-In iPhone Tool Isn't Enough —
- Spool vs Freedom: Cross-Device Blocking or Single-Device Awareness? —
- Spool vs Forest: Grow Trees or Understand Your Scrolling? —
- Spool vs ScreenZen: Delay Timers or Voice Awareness? —
- Spool vs Jomo: Two Approaches to Mindful Phone Use —
- Spool vs Opal: Which Screen Time App Is Right for You? —
- Spool vs One Sec: Breaking Phone Addiction in 2026 —
- Spool vs Clearspace: The Ultimate App Blocker Showdown —
- Spool vs Brainrot: Which App Actually Fixes Your Scrolling Habit? —
- Spool vs Unrot: Earn Screen Time or Understand Why You Scroll? —
- Best Apps to Stop Doomscrolling in 2026 (Honest Comparison) —
- How to Stop Doom Scrolling: 10 Proven Strategies That Work —
- How Spool Breaks Your Doom Scrolling Habit —
- Transform Screen Time Into Intentional Time —
- Join Thousands Breaking Free From Phone Addiction —
Contact
Email: prafull@thespoolapp.com
LinkedIn: prafull-sharma
GitHub: @prafull2001
X / Twitter: @prafull_truffle