A receipt for the hours you type in

How do you read the lines on a receipt?

Take a daily average of 4 hours. Per week that is 28 hours, per year 1,460 hours. Divided into 16-hour waking days, that is about 91 days a year. At 6 hours per book it equals about 243 books, and at 600 hours per language it is about 2.4 languages to B2 level. Each of those is a plain division, and the receipt shows it as one.

Treat the book and language lines as scale, not as promises. Nobody turns every free hour into reading, and the 600-hour figure is the receipt's own assumption. The lines exist to make a large number feel real for a few seconds.

Why does Ebb ask me to type the number?

Because it does not use the Screen Time APIs. Ebb sees only that its own gate ran. This keeps your data on the phone, and it means the number is yours to enter honestly. The footer says it directly: math on your own number, not a measurement.

In practice the number takes ten seconds to find: open Settings, then Screen Time, and read the daily average. If you do not know it, skip the question and use an estimate you can defend. A rough figure keeps the maths honest and the receipt still makes its point.

What is the weekly receipt?

Each week the app has a receipt with two groups. From Ebb lists gate runs, times you turned back, passes, minutes you chose, Instead done and your best span. You reported has the Screen Time number you enter in a short weekly check-in on Sundays. The total shows the change you reported, such as minus 1 hour 20 minutes a day, or the turn-back count if you skipped the check-in.

The free version shows the first group and a teaser of the second. Pro shows the full receipt with a trend.

How do you get the most from the weekly check-in?

Do it on Sunday, using the weekly figure from Settings, Screen Time, and write down the number before you decide how you feel about it. The comparison across weeks is where the receipt earns its place: a drop of 40 minutes a day is more informative than any single total.

If you skip a week, the receipt shows your turn-back count instead of a change, so a missed check-in does not break anything.

What does the receipt not tell you?

It says nothing about which apps ate the hours, whether the time was useful, or whether it was work. A parent reading a recipe site and someone watching short videos produce the same hours. It also assumes your daily average stays flat for a year, which real weeks never do.

That is why the receipt is a prompt to look closer, not a verdict. If the number surprises you, the next useful step is the gate on the one or two apps behind it.

Can I share the receipt?

Yes. A receipt can be sent as a 9:16 image card from the share screen. The weekly and streak cards carry a code for a duel on your best score. See duels and cards.

Why a receipt at all?

A figure like 5 hours a day does not mean much until it is turned into days in a year. The receipt does only that, and it labels the result so no one mistakes it for a diagnosis. For reading on why short-form feeds eat time, see what brain rot means.

The format borrows from a till receipt on purpose: rows, a total and a footnote. It is meant to be read in a few seconds, and a plain list of numbers tends to land better than a long speech about habits.