Login

u/Fantastic_Roof623

▲ 24 r/macapps+1 crossposts

ChessUnlock: Forces you to solve a chess puzzle to access your Mac

I'm a 2nd year CS student and this is the first thing I've ever actually shipped. What I'm more interested in is the feedback (look at end).

Problem:

I was stuck around 1100 elo at chess for too long. I knew the part of the answer was to do more puzzles but I could never stay consistent. It's not even about lack of motivation or discipline, I'd straight up forget about it for a while or just be too busy to stay active.

Solution:

I built an app to remove the decision: every time I wake my Mac, a fullscreen puzzle appears and I have to solve it to reach my desktop. Five days in, I'd done 41 puzzles. Testing with a friend for a month now, we both feel a (slight) improvement through pattern recognition simply from this passive drill.

Privacy:

  • Fully local. No server calls, puzzles bundled in the app from 5M+ Lichess database.
  • No account, no signup, no email, no tracking.
  • App doesn't see or transmit anything (logs are local in a txt file that you can choose to send when reporting an issue).

Comparison:

  • Lichess and chess.com puzzle pages: closest since puzzles, but I have yet to see any similar implementation stacking a habit on computer unlock.
  • Browser extensions that gate sites until you solve a puzzle: only work in the browser. ChessUnlock catches you at the OS level (and fully local).

Pricing:

  • Free 7-day trial, full features, no card, no signup.
  • $6.99 lifetime after that. Unlimited devices, free lifetime updates.

macOS 14+. Notarized by Apple. Menu bar app, no dock icon. Website: chessunlock.app About + LinkedIn: chessunlock.app/about

You:

  1. Would you use it?
  2. Would you pay for it? If yes, what's a fair price?
  3. I want to generalize the idea (stack micro-habit at unlock) to things beyond chess. What habit would you want to see next? Language flashcards, a code snippet, journaling prompts, typing speed, something else?

TLDR: You can't access your mac until you solve a chess puzzle.

[edit] ESCAPE MECHANISMS: In case you get stuck or need urgent access to your mac:

  • Reroll: to get a fresh puzzle.
  • Hints: 1 to show which piece to move, 2 to show where to move it.
  • Skip: as a last resort, must hold skip button for added friction and to avoid reflexive skipping.
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 5 days ago
▲ 1 r/ChessPuzzles

I'm 1100 in 10-min and like everyone here I "should" be doing daily tactics.
I never actually do them.

A few weeks ago I tried something different; I built an app to force me to do puzzle.
Every time I unlock my mac, a puzzle appears fullscreen, can't get to my desktop until I solve it. Just checked the stats: 34 puzzles in the last 5 days. 26 solved, 8 failed.
I genuinely did not realize I was doing this much. It's just folded into the day: open laptop, solve, get to work.

ps: no link as this is not advertisement, I am just proud of what I built and thought you'd find it interesting : )

reddit.com
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 10 days ago
▲ 4 r/chessbeginners

I'm 1100 in 10-min and like everyone here I "should" be doing daily tactics.
I never actually do them.

A few weeks ago I tried something different; I built an app to force me to do puzzle.
Every time I unlock my mac, a puzzle appears fullscreen, can't get to my desktop until I solve it. Just checked the stats: 34 puzzles in the last 5 days. 26 solved, 8 failed.
I genuinely did not realize I was doing this much. It's just folded into the day: open laptop, solve, get to work.

ps: no link as this is not advertisement, I am just proud of what I built and thought you'd find it interesting : )

reddit.com
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 10 days ago
▲ 3 r/Chesscom

I'm 1100 in 10-min and like everyone here I "should" be doing daily tactics.
I never actually do them.

A few weeks ago I tried something different; I built an app to force me to do puzzle.
Every time I unlock my mac, a puzzle appears fullscreen, can't get to my desktop until I solve it. Just checked the stats: 34 puzzles in the last 5 days. 26 solved, 8 failed.
I genuinely did not realize I was doing this much. It's just folded into the day: open laptop, solve, get to work.

Question for the sub: Has anyone else used "forced" or "ambient" practice setups for chess? Browser extensions, lockscreen things, pop-ups, anything that takes the decision out of the loop? Curious whether it actually compounds long-term or whether your brain just learns to autopilot through it.

ps: no link as this is not advertisement, I am just proud of what I built and thought you'd find it interesting : )

reddit.com
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 10 days ago
▲ 2 r/appledevelopers

I built a Mac app that forces a chess puzzle on every unlock. Two weeks in, I've done more puzzles than the previous 6 months combined and can feel a genuine improvement, without thinking about it.
Pure habit-stacking: the unlock is involuntary, the learning rides on top.

Chess is my case. But the pattern could generalize to anything where you can benefit from 10-15 sec effort (vocab, code review, music theory, language drills).

Built the chess version (chessunlock.app).
More curious about the pattern.

What do you think and which habit would like to see automated next?

u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 11 days ago
▲ 2 r/projects

I like chess, and I like playing here and there, but am stagnant at 1000 for a while now, and cannot seem to be consistent in solving puzzles which is commonly accepted as one of the best ways to improve especially in mid and late game. Wondering about how I could stop forgetting and be more consistent in solving chess puzzles, I reached for my phone and just like that the idea came to me: what if, every time I unlocked my phone, I was forced to solve a chess puzzle to access it? So I built ChessUnlock on mobile at first with the same logic. After a week of trying it out, I realized I often needed to use my phone in contexts where solving a puzzle was counter productive (in a rush, on a bike, etc) so then I thought, why not the computer? So I built the same concept for my Mac, and that's when it clicked. I struck the perfect balance where I don't unlock my computer as many times as my phone (so not overwhelming), I use it sitting down (right context for a 10 second think) and I'll usually use it for a longer period, making the 10-15 second solve feel reasonable. After trying it for a couple of weeks now, it feels natural, smooth and ingrained in the process of accessing my Mac.

This is essentially habit-stacking (Atomic Habits, BJ Fogg's tiny habits research) applied to the one device where the friction-to-context ratio actually works out, chaining a new habit onto an existing automatic one (unlocking your computer) rather than relying on willpower to open a tactics app.

Local-first, fully offline.

TLDR: You need to solve a chess puzzle to access your mac.

reddit.com
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 11 days ago
▲ 8 r/getdisciplined

I like chess, and I like playing here and there, but am stagnant at 1000 for a while now, and cannot seem to be consistent in solving puzzles which is commonly accepted as one of the best ways to improve especially in mid and late game. Wondering about how I could stop forgetting and be more consistent in solving chess puzzles, I reached for my phone and just like that the idea came to me: what if, every time I unlocked my phone, I was forced to solve a chess puzzle to access it? So I built ChessUnlock on mobile at first with the same logic. After a week of trying it out, I realized I often needed to use my phone in contexts where solving a puzzle was counter productive (in a rush, on a bike, etc) so then I thought, why not the computer? So I built the same concept for my Mac, and that's when it clicked. I struck the perfect balance where I don't unlock my computer as many times as my phone (so not overwhelming), I use it sitting down (right context for a 10 second think) and I'll usually use it for a longer period, making the 10-15 second solve feel reasonable. After trying it for a couple of weeks now, it feels natural, smooth and ingrained in the process of accessing my Mac.

This is essentially habit-stacking (Atomic Habits, BJ Fogg's tiny habits research) applied to the one device where the friction-to-context ratio actually works out, chaining a new habit onto an existing automatic one (unlocking your computer) rather than relying on willpower to open a tactics app.

TLDR: You need to complete a chess puzzle to access your mac.

reddit.com
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 11 days ago
▲ 4 r/MacOSApps

I like chess, and I like playing here and there, but am stagnant at 1000 for a while now, and cannot seem to be consistent in solving puzzles which is commonly accepted as one of the best ways to improve especially in mid and late game. Wondering about how I could stop forgetting and be more consistent in solving chess puzzles, I reached for my phone and just like that the idea came to me: what if, every time I unlocked my phone, I was forced to solve a chess puzzle to access it? So I built ChessUnlock on mobile at first with the same logic. After a week of trying it out, I realized I often needed to use my phone in contexts where solving a puzzle was counter productive (in a rush, on a bike, etc) so then I thought, why not the computer? So I built the same concept for my Mac, and that's when it clicked. I struck the perfect balance where I don't unlock my computer as many times as my phone (so not overwhelming), I use it sitting down (right context for a 10 second think) and I'll usually use it for a longer period, making the 10-15 second solve feel reasonable. After trying it for a couple of weeks now, it feels natural, smooth and ingrained in the process of accessing my Mac.

This is essentially habit-stacking (Atomic Habits, BJ Fogg's tiny habits research) applied to the one device where the friction-to-context ratio actually works out — chaining a new habit onto an existing automatic one (unlocking your computer) rather than relying on willpower to open a tactics app.

On the technical side: it's a regular .app running as a LaunchAgent in the menu bar — macOS's actual lock screen is untouched. When macOS unlocks, the app slams a full-screen NSWindow at .screenSaver level over the desktop before any click lands. Trigger is com.apple.screenIsUnlocked via DistributedNotificationCenter, with sessionDidBecomeActiveNotification as a fallback for fresh logins. I looked at login window replacement (deprecated since 10.10, can brick a Mac) and Endpoint Security entitlements (MDM-only) — the overlay approach is what every indie screen-interceptor app uses, and it's the only path that ships without admin install or kernel territory. If you're trying to bypass it, you don't want the product.

chessunlock.app
$5.99 one-time, 7-day free trial. Local-first, fully offline.

TLDR: You can't get in your mac unless you first solve a chess puzzle.

u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 11 days ago
▲ 0 r/ChessPuzzles

I know it is a commonly accepted fact that puzzles help recognize patterns in games and makes you a stronger player. But. Do you actually feel like you have become stronger by drilling puzzles?

reddit.com
u/Fantastic_Roof623 — 15 days ago