Two High School Students Built an App to Keep Their Classmates Off Their Phones at School

Key Takeaways

• App blocks apps with triple‑tap upon campus arrival
• Created by LA high schoolers Noah Fakheri, Brian Ohebshalom
• Free tier available for schools, scaling nationwide
• Targets screen‑time reduction and classroom focus
• Early adoption shows strong student‑led edtech interest

Summary

Two Los Angeles high‑school friends, Noah Fakheri and Brian Ohebshalom, launched LockedIn, an app that disables distracting applications with a triple‑tap when students step onto campus. The tool debuted at Milken Community School and is already being piloted at other campuses across the United States. LockedIn offers a free tier for schools, with optional paid features for expanded control. Early adoption suggests strong demand for student‑driven solutions to curb classroom phone use.

Pulse Analysis

Classroom distraction from smartphones has become a headline issue for educators, with studies linking excessive phone use to lower test scores and reduced engagement. While many districts have instituted blanket bans or punitive measures, schools are increasingly looking for nuanced, technology‑enabled solutions that respect student autonomy while preserving learning time. LockedIn taps into this trend by offering a simple, gesture‑based lockout that activates as soon as a student arrives on campus, sidestepping the need for complex network filters or constant teacher monitoring.

LockedIn’s design leverages the native capabilities of iOS and Android to temporarily suspend selected apps until a predefined unlock time, typically the end of the school day. The founders built the platform themselves, using a lightweight backend that schools can integrate without IT overhauls. Pricing starts with a free tier that covers basic app blocking, while premium tiers unlock analytics, custom scheduling, and parent‑notification features. This freemium model lowers the barrier to entry, allowing districts to pilot the solution before committing budget, a strategy that has accelerated its spread beyond the founders’ own high school to several districts in California, Texas, and the Midwest.

The broader implications extend beyond immediate distraction reduction. By demonstrating that high‑school students can create viable edtech products, LockedIn may inspire a new wave of youth‑led entrepreneurship in education technology. For school administrators, the app offers a data‑driven way to monitor device usage patterns, informing policy decisions and potentially improving academic outcomes. As districts grapple with balancing digital literacy and focus, tools like LockedIn could become a staple in the modern classroom toolkit, driving both pedagogical and commercial opportunities in the burgeoning K‑12 edtech market.