Screen-time blockers and app timers are trivially bypassed, causing endless relapse
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Summary
Users who genuinely want to stop doomscrolling report that existing app timers, screen-time limits, and blockers fail completely — they simply tap through, find workarounds, or uninstall, and within days return to 8–12 hours of daily screen time. Even when they successfully quit cold-turkey (deleting TikTok/Instagram) or dramatically cut usage for a week, they relapse within days, and some report a lingering compulsive 'thumb reaching for the deleted icon.' There is no tool that creates lasting, reflective friction at the moment of weakness — current solutions are either trivially ignorable (soft limits) or create resentment and are removed (hard blockers). Users describe feeling 'sucked in,' hopeless, and physically unwell (burning eyes), yet no product has solved the relapse cycle. This is the core unsolved problem for adults trying to reclaim their attention, and it is exactly what a mindful, harder-to-bypass interruption layer would address.
Reddit context (brief)
Short excerpts derived from discussions—open the source links for full threads.
App timers and blockers fail because user finds workarounds, and screen time relapses after brief periods of control.
Phone addiction destroys focus and hobbies, and attempts to quit social media lead to relapse.
Mindless scrolling wastes life, destroys attention span, and creates difficulty sustaining focus or quitting consistently.
Vulnerability to dopamine feedback loops leads to hours lost on apps, with lingering compulsive thumb-reaching after deletion.
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Related angle: Screen-time blockers and app timers are trivially bypassed, causing endless relapse
Context: r/adhdwomen
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