CTRL:Shift
App Summary for Counsellor Feedback

I'm building CTRL:Shift as a personal tool to support my mental health, mainly to track how I'm actually doing between counselling sessions. I plan to integrate AI in a way that can spot patterns in my behaviour or thought cycles that I might miss, and offer small, helpful nudges toward better habits. The idea is to help rewire how I respond to stress, triggers, or distractions through consistent tracking and feedback. The background animation is meant to reflect that. It's a quiet visual of new neural pathways forming as part of the long-term change I'm aiming for. Nerd Alert: Background Animation
The background is a visual metaphor for change: small, steady connections reshaping how your brain works over time. It symbolizes new neural pathways being formed.
The fact that I spent hours obsessing over this optional animation (writing the code, tweaking the timing, trying different node styles) is exactly why I need an app to help keep me in check.

As I kept working on it, I realized this could be useful for others too. Especially people dealing with similar challenges like ADHD, burnout, or those using CBT techniques on their own. That's why I'm building CTRL:Shift as a privacy-first, self-development app that supports habit formation, mood awareness, and behavioural change. It includes features like habit tracking, mood and craving logs, journaling (text and voice), and daily affirmations. Each feature is optional and can be toggled on or off based on what's helpful to the user. The goal is to keep it grounded, non-intrusive, and adaptable to different needs and goals.

Key Features

• Habit Tracker: Log daily habits and see streaks to reinforce consistency.
• Mood Logs: Track how you're feeling, what may have triggered it, and how you responded. Helpful for spotting early signs of depression or emotional burnout. Nerd Alert: Depression
  Consistent mood tracking activates metacognitive functions in the prefrontal cortex, which can help disrupt the distorted thought loops often seen in depression. Labeling internal states recruits neural pathways tied to emotional regulation and memory integration. Over time, this builds emotional pattern literacy, giving you a clearer sense of when you're starting to slide and the ability to take gentle, corrective action before things deepen.
• Journaling and Positives: Write or voice-record entries during moments that matter. You can also log one small win or positive moment each day to shift perspective.
• Addiction Recovery Support: Track cravings, urges, and relapse events with context, recognize behavioural patterns and progress over time.
• CBT-Inspired Coaching: Optional tools rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy to help reframe unhelpful thoughts and support healthier thinking patterns.
• Thought-Action Defusion: Use guided exercises to create distance from damaging thoughts. This feature helps you notice a thought, label it, and choose how to respond, instead of getting stuck in it. Nerd Alert: Thought-Action Defusion
  Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, TAD helps you notice a thought without becoming it. Saying “I'm having the thought that I'll fail” instead of “I'll fail” weakens the grip of that thought, like stepping back just enough to choose your next move more freely. A subtle but powerful shift in mental perspective (So they say. We'll see).
• Affirmations: Set up your own affirmations or choose from a list to revisit daily (especially helpful in the morning or when things feel off).
• Streak Feedback and Trends: Simple visual feedback helps you stay on track and build momentum without pressure.
• Modular Architecture: Each part of the app (like journaling, Ai feautres, experimental unlocking methods etc) can run independently. You can turn them on or off.
  Nerd Alert: Modular
  Modular framework is like LEGO for privacy-focused apps. Features load only when enabled. This minimizes RAM usage and permission bloat. This also allows me to start using and testing the core features of the app while developing other features
• Privacy is Paramount: Data is stored locally and fully encrypted. No accounts or cloud syncing required by default.
  Nerd Alert: AES-256 Encryption
  All sensitive information is encrypted using AES-256, the same algorithm used by governments and banks. The encryption key is derived using PBKDF2 with salt and multiple iterations. So even if someone cloned your phone's storage, they'd hit unreadable gibberish without your key.
• Personal: Even if the phone is shared or someone has access to unlocking the phone, sensitive information can only be viewed with a personal key.
• Unique Unlock Method: If enabled, the app will recognize user by how they type in responding to simple mindfulness checkins like "Hey, how are you feeling today?" No password required.
  Nerd Alert: Keystroke Patterns
  This is a brand new method of authentication I'm developing using keystroke pattern recognition, like a digital fingerprint based on typing rythim like speed, timing, and natural pauses between each keystroke. It adds a subtle, personal layer of security.

Privacy and Data Ownership

• All data is stored locally on the device and encrypted, meaning only the user can access it, not even the app itself.
• Nothing is uploaded, analyzed, or shared with third parties. Ever.
• Users stay in control of what features they use and when. Tools like voice journaling or AI suggestions only activate when the user turns them on and grants permission. There's no silent tracking or background syncing.
• Partners, significant others, siblings or parents cannot access any of the sensitive information.

Accessibility and Monetisation

• CTRL:Shift is completely free to use on both Android and Apple devices.
• Some features, like AI-based suggestions, may require extra processing resources. To help cover those costs while keeping the app free, unobtrusive banner ads may appear only when those features are used. Apple users may see more ads due to Apple's yearly developer fee.
• There are no pop-ups, no tracking, and no ads shown during journaling or habit tracking.
• Users can choose to remove ads entirely to support development.

Tone and Intent

CTRL:Shift isn't meant to replace therapy. It's something I'm building as a companion, mainly for myself, to help track thoughts, moods, and habits between sessions. The idea is to support awareness and progress over time. I'm doing my best to build it with care, with privacy and ethics in mind. Input from counsellors and other users will help shape where it goes.

Legal and Mental Health Considerations

• Disclaimers: The app isn't medical advice and won't try to be. I plan to include links to crisis resources.
• Informed Consent: Users will be told what each feature does, what data stays on-device, and how to export or delete entries.
• Data Protection: The plan is to align with privacy standards like GDPR and PIPEDA as the app develops.
  Nerd Alert: Privacy Laws
  CTRL:Shift is being designed to follow privacy laws like PIPEDA (Canada), GDPR (Europe), and CCPA (California) and by design: data minimization, purpose limitation, and full local control. Your data isn't sold, tracked, or stored outside your device, even if your region doesn't require that protection.
  PIPEDA: Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
  GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation
  CCPA: California Consumer Privacy Act
• Accessibility: No punishment mechanics. I want it to work with screen readers and support adjustable text sizes.
• Ad Ethics: Ads won't ever appear while journalling or using any recovery features. Users can remove ads entirely with a one-time donation to support the project.