Apple Watch app · In development

An Apple Watch app that catches your
skin picking, hair pulling,
and nail biting

— before you do.

UntangleIt spots the unconscious wrist movements behind your BFRB and taps you when it's happening — so you get the moment of awareness automatic habits steal, and a real log you can bring to therapy or use yourself.

No spam. One email when we're ready. Built by a BFRB sufferer.

✦  Almost there — check your inbox for a confirmation link. One click and you're on the list. (Look in spam if you don't see it.)
10:42
Wednesday
✦ UntangleIt
Your hands have been busy. Was that happening just now?
Yes
No

Three things.
All in the right order.

01

It notices for you

Your Apple Watch detects the repetitive wrist movements of your BFRB and sends you a gentle tap — before you've even looked down.

The tap is a single, soft haptic click — the lightest Apple Watch can make. Not a buzz, not an alarm. Just a quiet nudge that says: hey, notice what's happening.

This is the gap every other BFRB tool misses. They all assume you already know. We create the moment of knowing.
02

It gives your hands something else to do

The moment you confirm it's happening, the watch offers a quick competing response — something that physically occupies the hand that was picking or pulling.

Choose what works for you: scroll the Digital Crown to fill a bar, or press and hold the screen for 10 seconds. Both are immediate, tactile, and grounded in Habit Reversal Training — the gold-standard BFRB therapy.

No games. No instructions to read. Just something simple for your hands, right now.
03

It builds a picture you can actually use

Every confirmed episode is quietly logged. Over time, your phone shows you when it tends to happen, where you are, and how you're feeling — in plain language.

Bring it to your therapist — a real log of episodes with time, location, and emotional context is more useful than trying to remember in a session.

Or use it yourself — once you see that most episodes happen between 9pm and 11pm in your bathroom, you have something concrete to work with. That's awareness turning into understanding.

What happens in
under 30 seconds.

The entire watch interaction is two taps maximum. Nothing is forced. Every step is optional after the first one.

1

Watch detects movement

Repetitive wrist motion above a threshold triggers the system. Silent — nothing happens yet.

2

One soft tap

The lightest possible haptic. You feel it, you look down. That's the moment of awareness.

3

Was that happening?

Two buttons: Yes or No. One tap confirms the episode. No counts as a false positive and helps the app learn.

4

Something for your hands

A quick competing response — scroll or hold. Skip it anytime. No penalty, ever. Then it's done.

Why this is different

Every other approach

Requires you to notice the episode first — which is the exact thing automatic BFRBs prevent you from doing

Harsh buzzes that jolt you mid-episode and raise anxiety — making the urge stronger, not weaker

Streak counters that punish you for relapsing — putting the guilt on you, but you shouldn't be the one to bear it

Generic content written by someone who has never had a BFRB

UntangleIt

Creates the moment of noticing proactively — the watch catches what you can't catch yourself

The softest possible tap. Calm awareness, not alarm. Because calm is the whole point.

No streaks. No red marks. Relapsing doesn't erase your progress here — it just adds a data point.

Built by a BFRB sufferer, grounded in clinical research on what actually helps

It gets quieter, the more you use it.

UntangleIt ships with conservative detection — better to miss an episode than to fire when you're typing. But every Yes or No you tap is a labeled training example for the next release. The 100th person to join the waitlist shapes detection more than the 10,000th.

Your data is anonymized and used only to improve detection. You consent during onboarding.

"
I've struggled with dermatillomania for years. I pick at my back acne without realizing it. I pull at my hair in meetings without noticing it. Only when after the scars have formed, I start to regret and feel ashamed. I hid my scars for years from people I love, and I've tried everything that's not working - because I didn't even know what BFRB was. I knew something was wrong, and finally found the explanation. But even then, every tool I found was either too expensive or not tailored to my experience. Most assumed I already knew it was happening and I will be able to stop myself. That assumption was never true for me. So I built something for the moment before the noticing — because that's where I needed help.
H
Hanna
Founder · BFRB sufferer

Your story shapes this more than I could on my own.

UntangleIt is not a medical device and is not a substitute for professional treatment. If you're struggling, please reach out to a therapist or the TLC Foundation for BFRBs.

You've tried stopping.
Try noticing first.

UntangleIt is in development. Join the waitlist to be first to know when it's ready — and help shape what it becomes.

No spam. One email when we launch. Early adopters get lifetime access at our lowest price.

✦  Almost there — we just sent a confirmation link to your inbox. Click it to lock in your spot. Thank you — genuinely.