Wrangler has released an anti-app app: Wrangler Mileage purports to be an escape from the overload of check-ins and recommendations and tips we’re bombarded with every day. And while not quite a respite in the wilderness, it is nonetheless an interesting prospect: it invites you to explore the world for yourself, serendipity and all, while it runs silently in the background. It records your trajectory and its various features, such as terrain, and allows the “unlocking” of new areas once they’ve been explored. All is translated into "mileage" points and some neat infographics that you can sporadically check up on.

While Foursquare and many other location-based apps reward you for engaging with physical places through their interfaces, Mileage rewards you for simply going. The rise of “app fatigue” may be leading to some welcoming evolutions, in the form of softer, less intrusive–yet still richly compelling–forms of digital engagement.