Guard the apps that pull you in
Pick the apps and whole categories you'd rather not open, and the hours they're off limits. Paradox holds the line even while it's closed — the wall goes up and comes down on schedule, on its own.
Coming soon to iOS
Put the phone down. Pick your life up.
You meant to read a book tonight. You opened your phone to check one thing. That was ninety minutes ago. Paradox helps you take that time back — and gives you something worth reading in its place.
No ads, ever. Free tier is the product, not a trailer for it.
Why
Ambition versus impulse, every single day.
You get things done, you check the boxes, and still it feels like your real life is about to begin — but it never does. Most people expect the reason to be big. It never is. It's the small things, the tiny habits you repeat without thinking. Harmless once. Poison repeated.
You live in a world built to fight for your attention, and it is not your fault. Every feed you open, someone gets paid. Each minute they take is a minute stolen from what you were trying to build. That's why chasing your goals can feel like running in sand.
Paradox puts a wall between you and the apps that take the most, and fills the gap with something you actually chose.
What it does
A wall, a pause, and something better on the other side.
A pause where the feed used to be
Open a guarded app and you meet the shield 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.
Something worth your attention
In the space that opens up, Paradox hands you a short piece written by hand, one at a time, 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
How often the shield showed up, how often you walked past it anyway. The one number that measures the habit instead of flattering it — and your per-app screen time never leaves the phone.
Privacy
An app about attention shouldn't be selling yours.
Your screen time stays put
Per-app usage is read on the device and never sent anywhere. That's not a promise we could break — iOS doesn't let those numbers leave the phone.
No ads, no trackers
No advertising SDKs, no third-party analytics, no profile of you sold to anyone. Nothing to opt out of, because it was never switched on.
Signing in is optional
The app blocks, counts and reads with no account at all. Sign in only if you want your history to follow you to a new phone.