Make your phone answer to an intention.
Obelisk is a local-first Android app blocker and Obsidian companion. The line you write becomes the apps you can open—and the reflection you keep.
Private Android MVP · Built around Obsidian · Australian English beta
## Morning intention
08:30Obelisk, plan tomorrow's launch
Start an intention
Plan tomorrow's launch
- CCalendar
- BBrowser
- Messages
Illustrative workflow using current product behaviour
Intentionality Ledger summary
- 01Write
Capture your intention in your own words.
+ - 02Choose
Pick the apps and time that support it.
+ - 03Notice
Meet an unplanned app with one calm decision.
+ - 04Reflect
Return the session to your Daily Note.
+
One sentence changes the shape of your session.
Obelisk connects the reflective part of your phone life to the part that usually runs on reflex. The same intention moves through four visible states.
- 1
Write what you mean to do.
Your intention begins in the Daily Note you already own. One sentence gives the session a purpose before an app opens.
Daily Note ## Morning intention
08:30Obelisk, plan tomorrow's launch
- 2
Choose what supports it.
Select the apps and time the intention needs. Obelisk grants a bounded session instead of asking you to rely on memory alone.
Plan tomorrow's launch CCalendarSelectedBBrowserSelectedMMessagesSelectedHow much time will this take?00:45:00 - 3
Notice the detour.
When another managed app appears, Obelisk creates one calm decision point. Add a reason, return to the session, or go home.
Unplanned app Why do you need this app?
This app is not part of “Plan tomorrow's launch”.
Check the launch referenceAdd to sessionReturn - 4
Return and reflect.
Finish in Obsidian. The completed session and reflection return to the Daily Note as part of a journal you can read and edit.
How did that session feel? 
Outlined the launch. Ready to review tomorrow.Daily Note updatedSession · Plan tomorrow's launch
Press Home. Return to what you meant to do.
Obelisk can become the Android HOME app. Instead of landing on another grid of temptations, Home routes you back to your configured Obsidian Daily Note.
An active session stays intact. When you finish, its summary and reflection return to the note you can edit, link, and keep.
Follow the complete workflow## Obelisk Sessions
Calendar · Browser · Messages
Outlined the launch. Ready to review tomorrow.
A boundary you can inspect.
The private beta asks for powerful Android capabilities. The site explains those capabilities plainly because reliability and restraint are part of the product.
- Your words stay yours.
- Intentions, reflections, and completed session summaries return to user-editable Markdown in your Obsidian vault. Vault-owned
- Android observation is narrow.
- The accessibility service observes foreground-package changes so Obelisk can apply the app rules you configure. Package changes only
- Your screen is not the input.
- Obelisk does not read or record screen content, and it does not capture or store third-party application imagery. No screen capture
- You remain in control.
- Obelisk is a self-control aid, not a security boundary. Permissions, app rules, recovery, and HOME behaviour stay visible and reversible. Inspectable
Not a harder lock. A more deliberate opening.
Most app blockers begin with a schedule or a prohibition. Obelisk begins with your sentence: what are you doing, which apps support it, and how long should it take?
A detour becomes a question rather than a punishment. A completed session becomes a journal entry rather than another score on a dashboard.
That connection—reflection before, guidance during, and reflection after—is the part a generic blocker cannot copy without becoming a different product.
Help shape the private beta.
Obelisk is being validated first with Android users who already use—or want to begin using—Obsidian as a daily journal.