Paradox: Screen Time Control

You have tried willpower. Try losing to a friend. New in Paradox: one app, one week, one daily limit, and somebody watching.

You meant to read a book tonight. You opened your phone to check one thing. That was ninety minutes ago.

Paradox puts a wall between you and the apps that take the most — and fills the space that opens up with something worth reading.

GUARD THE APPS THAT PULL YOU IN Pick the apps, and whole categories, you would rather not open, and the hours they are off limits. Paradox holds the line even while it is closed: the wall goes up and comes down on schedule, on its own. Two rules ship ready to use — a working day from 9 to 5, and a 45-minute daily allowance — and both are yours to rewrite.

A PAUSE WHERE THE FEED USED TO BE Open a guarded app and you meet your guardian instead of the scroll. A few seconds to breathe before you decide — long enough for the impulse to pass, short enough that it never becomes a chore. And if you really do need in, you have to ask: choose how long, wait out the countdown, and the pass closes itself when the time is up.

SOMETHING WORTH YOUR ATTENTION In the space that opens up, Paradox hands you one short piece at a time, written by hand and meant to be read more than once. Not filler. Not a feed. Something that leaves you a little better than it found you.

YOUR NUMBERS, HONESTLY Where the week actually went, app by app, with the shape of the day underneath it. Put a daily allowance on an app and watch it fill. Numbers that measure the habit instead of flattering it.

NO ACCOUNT NEEDED Blocking, schedules, statistics and the whole library work signed out. Sign in only if you want your history to follow you to a new phone.

FREE, AND THE FREE TIER IS THE PRODUCT Not a trial. Not a trailer for a paywall. There is no advertising, and anything that ever costs money will say so before you pay.

Paradox needs Apple's Screen Time (Family Controls) permission, because it is the only way iOS lets one app hold another back. You grant it on your device, and you can withdraw it in Settings at any time.

Paradox is made by one person. Write, and you will get a real answer.