【Japan】

Ever been called a Couch Potato for lounging around?Japan

Well, now you can know exactly how much time you've been inactive — though I'm not entirely sure why you want this statistic. At any rate, the Couch Potato app aims to be the anti-step tracker that rewards you for lounging. Maybe it's kind of nice that an app encourages you to chill out with no shame?

The app is only available for iOS users via the App Store, sorry Android users.

SEE ALSO: 'Time Well Spent' features are the Marlboro Lights of the tech industry

Couch Potato is made by Burrow, a couch company for the modern world — think Casper mattresses but for a sofa, loveseats, and ottomans. The app might be an advertising stunt, but it ends up succeeding in two unlikely ways.

First, it hits back against the recent time well-spent activity tracking movement from Silicon Valley. (Google and Apple are both adding in activity tracks, with Facebook and Instagram rolling out similar ones.)

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Second, for a marketing stunt, there was some effort put into Couch Potato. The on-boarding process is simple: Just launch and permit it to access your motion and fitness activity data. It uses the accelerometer inside your iPhone to track movement.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The interface is pretty bare bones, but the app gamifies the experience like any good tracker. You start off on Level 1, aka Tater Tot, and move all the way up to Level 5, a Mash Monster — and yes, this is something you should aspire to be. As more inactivity is tracked, your potato stem grows larger with more leaves, and the ottoman gets swapped out for a chair.

This is all strangely satisfying. I made up to Level 2, Small Fry, after just over 2 hours of inactivity.

For downloading the app and automatically reaching the first level, users are offered a 15% discount at Vinebox. For Level 2 my reward changed to $50 off a purchase of $1,000 or more from Burrow, and just like that, the advertising reference comes full circle.

The app doesn't appear to be tracking your data — the only thing it has access to is motion. The tracking itself goes by days, and shows how many hours you were inactive. Shaking your phone with the app open gets a "detecting motion" pop-up to appear. I could see a culture growing around the app; it would be cool for a community feature to be added in. I'll update this post to report whether you move down a level if you have less inactive hours — although considering this app encourages inactivity, I doubt it would shame users for not doing it.

Couch Potato doesn't innovate; it merely tracks when your phone isn't moving. But then again, is this app trying to be anything more?

---

Featured Video For You

---

This high-tech bracelet is both pretty and useful

---

Topics Apps & Software iOS

• Deals
• Life
• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Games
• Entertainment
• Science
• Shopping

• Best free ChatGPT courses
• iPhone 8 rumored to have larger, curved screens that extend to the edges
• Instagram's next big feature will be live video
• Facebook has discriminated against you, and it's not going to stop
• Ms. Frizzle spotted at Science Marches across the globe
• Next Spectacles vending machine location will be revealed Sunday
• Watch all the coolest video game speedruns at Smash The Record 2016
• Everyone is freaking out about President Trump, according to Merriam
• Best Presidents' Day deal: Save $250 on Peloton Bike
• Yoko Ono issues a completely Yoko Ono statement on Trump victory

• Muslim Americans' campaign to repair Jewish cemetery gets the J.K. Rowling bump
• Twitter exec teases possible major changes coming in 2020
• John Legend trolled Donald Trump like a champion
• Emma Watson just found a new, Earth
• Xiaomi’s 108
• You can almost taste McDonald's newest burger in this 'Star Trek' movie
• Chelsea Clinton remembers the good old days when fake news was about aliens
• YouTube livestream of pregnant giraffe briefly pulled for nudity and sexually explicit content
• Buying new AirPods Pro? Don't throw away your old AirPods, sell them instead.
• Boris Johnson's jogging gear is dividing the nation

• Clean energy projects soared in 2016 as solar and wind got cheaper
• The Best Strategy Games on PC
• Samsung has a patent for a foldable phone that looks like a tiny Surface Book
• What will Trump's presidency mean for technology?
• Best AirPods deal: Apple AirPods 4 for $99.99 at Amazon
• 7 smoky beers to challenge your taste buds
• Who you can blame for this election, in a helpful chart
• Saturday Night Live opens with Hillary Clinton, Leonard Cohen tribute
• The Best CPU & GPU Purchases of 2017
• The 4 ways to see 'Billy Lynn's,' and where to catch all 120 frames per second

• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for January 28: Tips to solve Connections #127
• Donald Trump's war on LGBTQ people has already begun
• Earth only has one moon. Next week that won't be true.
• Joe Biden plotting against Trump is the meme America needs
• SpaceX will try to achieve 2 impressive feats on Monday
• Samsung has a patent for a foldable phone that looks like a tiny Surface Book
• Facebook: We made a 'terrible error' when we killed everyone
• Katy Perry implores fans to donate to Planned Parenthood
• How to quit social media: This Gen Z
• 5 ways that President Trump could affect your student loans