The Vig thevig.eu

Help & setup

Install permissions in order. Arm enforcement last. Read this before you mark your first app.

Before you start

The Vig is invasive by design. You will grant invasive permissions — accessibility access, overlay permission, device admin, and battery exemption. If any step is skipped, enforcement may fail open or fail closed in ways you did not intend. Full list and rationale on the Permissions page.

Setup checklist

See Permissions for what each grant does and why it is required.

  • Grant Display over other apps for the grainy grey overlay.
  • Activate device administrator for anti-tamper protection.
  • Allow battery optimization exemption so the service is not killed.
  • Enable the The Vig accessibility service last.
  • Mark target apps under Marked Apps / soft marks as needed.

Grayscale permission (one-time ADB)

System grayscale during penalty requires a secure settings grant. With USB or wireless debugging enabled: 

adb shell pm grant eu.thevig android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

Package name may differ by build variant. Use the application id shown in your install source.

The Window

Default maintenance hours are early morning (6:00–11:00 local, configurable during The Window itself). While active, you may edit VIG, passes, launch hold, grainy grey overlay intensity, and marked lists. When The Window ends, those terms lock until the next day.

Background audio and screen-off listening

The Vig is built for blocking active use — scrolling, watching, reading with the screen on. It is not meant to punish passive listening.

  • Audiobooks, podcasts, music, and YouTube audio (including Premium background playback) with the screen off do not keep accruing tab on hard-marked apps such as YouTube.
  • Tab only runs while the display is on and you are in a marked app. Lock the phone and listen — the tab clock stops.
  • You may still owe a small tab from the few seconds before you locked the screen; that is expected.
  • With the screen on and YouTube (or another hard mark) in the foreground, tab accrues as usual — including passive video playback with no taps.

Soft-marked apps never accrue tab; they only use launch hold. See the FAQ for Tab vs Collection.

Emergency stop

If you are locked out and need immediate relief, connect via ADB and broadcast the emergency stop intent: 

adb shell am broadcast -a eu.thevig.EMERGENCY_STOP -n eu.thevig/.emergency.EmergencyStopReceiver

This clears penalty state, disables grayscale, and removes the grainy grey overlay. Alternative — disable accessibility entirely (last resort): 

adb shell settings put secure enabled_accessibility_services null

Still stuck?

Read the FAQ and Terms. This product assumes competent self-administration of a device you own.