Free-standing app adds to product mix for Aro Technologies
Now, users can still track their time away from their phone while traveling.
A little more than two years after unveiling the Aro smart box as the place where you “park” your mobile phone for an extended period (see teknovation.biz article here), Knoxville-based Aro Technologies has expanded its solution to allow customers to use Aro anywhere and at any time to reduce screen time.
The company just launched an app this week that is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play. It’s all part of the focus on what the start-up describes as “family-centric digital wellness” – a way to disconnect from the 24/7 addiction to mobile devices.
”Our customers kept telling us they established life-changing phone habits at home as a family but lost momentum when away from the box. They wanted and needed more accountability and motivation that wasn’t tied to the hardware,” said Heath Wilson, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
In response to this feedback, the company launched a feature that enables users to automatically track and get credit for intentional phone-free time using only the app. Since then, the app itself has become the primary way users rely on Aro to reduce screen time both on the go and at home.
“What started as an exploratory feature within the app led to a new appreciation of how our customers were relying on the product,” said Joey Odom, the other Co-Founder. “Whether driving, reading at a coffee shop, traveling for work or play, or out to dinner with friends, the app gave customers an entirely new way to demonstrate, track, and quantify their intentional moments.”
Since the initial launch, the Aro box and Aro app have been adopted by thousands of families to develop healthier habits and routines around their smartphones. Ninety-one percent of people keep their phones within arm’s reach 24/7, and Aro’s approach to reducing screen time is based on breaking that habit. Rather than block or limit screen time, Aro develops the habit of physically putting the phone down when individuals want to focus, engage, connect, or simply be present.
To-date, that experience has only been available through the use of the Aro box and Aro app in tandem. Now, the app, which is available for subscription on a monthly or annual basis starting at less than $9 per month for an entire family, adds an additional option.
The Aro box, made in Knoxville, is also available to purchase if customers are looking to add the design-centric, in-home, central charging hub that seamlessly pairs with the app.
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