Digital Friction

Your distracting apps start each day blocked. Finish what matters to unlock your apps. Creating friction, not spending willpower. Spend your attention on purpose.

Digital Friction helps you put your phone down by making distracting apps something you earn, not something you mindlessly open.

Most app blockers are either too easy to ignore or so strict that you end up deleting them. Digital Friction takes a different approach: it adds a small, intentional pause between you and the apps you open on autopilot.

Your distracting apps start each day blocked. To unlock them, you finish what matters first: your recurring Dailies and today’s To-dos. Finish a list to open the apps connected to it. Finish everything to open it all.

It is friction, not a prison.

Features:

Dailies Create recurring rituals for every day or specific days of the week.

To-dos Plan today, schedule tasks ahead, and use a morning prompt to decide what matters.

Blocklists Create reusable groups of distracting apps and connect them to your lists, Focus mode, or evening cooldown.

Rest Need a short break? Rest gives you an escape hatch with a short escalating wait, then a break of up to 15 minutes. You can turn it off for stricter days.

Focus mode Block everything on demand for a set time, up to 24 hours, or until you are ready. Leaving early takes a short, growing wait.

App time limits Set daily usage caps for distracting apps. Use one shared timer across a group of apps, or individual timers per app. When the time is spent, the app locks again until morning.

Evening cooldown Automatically block chosen apps in the evening so the day ends more calmly.

Settings lock Lock your own settings so you cannot casually loosen them. Unlocking takes a 30 second timed breath, and settings re-lock when you leave.

Progress Track your streak, today’s task stats, and a monthly calendar of the days you finished your Dailies.

Privacy:

Digital Friction uses Apple’s Screen Time permission to block apps on your device. What you do on your phone stays on your phone. Calls, messages, and maps continue to work.

Digital Friction is free to use. Optional tips and a monthly support subscription are available if you want to support the app, but they do not unlock extra features.

Built by one indie maker, for myself first.

Digital Friction is free to use. If you want to support it you can leave a one-time tip, or subscribe to "Monthly support" for USD 2.99 per month, auto-renewing until cancelled. Neither unlocks extra features.

Privacy Policy: https://euphonious-crostata-9587b4.netlify.app/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/