A Maritime company has developed an app to encourage people to disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other.

REDspace is a tech-company based just outside of Halifax. Their team of 150 people creates websites, online games, apps, and video experiences.

While REDspace is in the business of getting people online, they’ve just come up with an app to explore the very opposite.

“So while your phone or the internet are great things if used properly, but if they are used improperly you start to get into some bad habits,” says Wes Gould, REDspace chief operating officer.

The app is called Put Your Phone Down and so far about 1,000 people are using it.

“How could we answer the question to actually get people to put their phones down, we thought turning it into a game was the best avenue,” says Nick Brunt, app designer.

The idea is that when you're ready to unplug, the app will track the time you spend away from your phone. If you hit a milestone there's a positive message of encouragement.

“If you calculate all the time they put their phone down we've given them 30 days they would have spent just staring at the screen,” says Gould.

“We wanted people during holiday dinners and parties to spread the idea of ‘hey check out this thing,’ we are all going to compete and see who can put it down the longest,” says Brunt.

While the original intent behind the app was to get people to connect with one another during the holiday season, the response has been so great the company has decided keep it going for the entire year.

Dalhousie psychologist David Mensink says he is wary of how isolating technology can be.

“We need to take a little space, or what I call it time for yourself, to focus on the present moment, to not be involved with having input or output going and intersperse that in our regular day,” saus Mensink.

Gould says he was surprised by how hard it is to stay off your phone.

“I didn't know how difficult it would be to accumulate solid blocks of time off my phone,” says Gould. “So I think people are surprised that ‘heck, I can't even get an hour off this thing anymore.’”

The longer you manage to stay off your phone, the more achievements you’ll earn on the app. You can even share your best times on social media to encourage others to also put their phones down.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl