Stop mindless scrolling and earn app access through effort
ScreenBreak helps you cut off app addiction by adding effort at the exact moment you try to open a distracting app. Instead of simple blocking, it asks you to complete a quick challenge—tap fast, shake your phone, or draw a circle. Win, and you get a short access window; fail, and the urge breaks. ScreenBreak also provides detailed hourly and weekly screen-time insights to help you understand and improve your habits.
Hi everyone! 👋
I built ScreenBreak because traditional app blockers never worked well for me. Hard blocks felt too rigid — either I locked myself out completely, or I tapped Ignore Limit and kept scrolling. There was no middle ground.
But in real life, we do sometimes need to open addictive apps — to search something, reply to someone, check updates. The problem isn’t the intentional use; it’s the unconscious, endless scrolling that follows. Soft blocking creates a balance: you can still access the app when needed, but you must put in effort, which naturally filters out mindless usage.
After nearly a year of iteration, I designed multiple flexible ways for ScreenBreak to activate:
- Schedule Block – block during certain hours
- App Launch Limit – block after too many opens
- Usage Budget Limit – block after hitting time caps (daily or hourly)
When a block triggers, you must complete a quick challenge — tapping fast, shaking your phone, drawing a circle, etc. Win for a short access window; fail, and the urge usually fades.
I’d love your feedback on challenge design and which blocking rules fit your habits best. Thanks for checking it out! 🚀
About ScreenBreak on Product Hunt
“Stop mindless scrolling and earn app access through effort”
ScreenBreak launched on Product Hunt on December 3rd, 2025 and earned 125 upvotes and 10 comments, placing #11 on the daily leaderboard. ScreenBreak helps you cut off app addiction by adding effort at the exact moment you try to open a distracting app. Instead of simple blocking, it asks you to complete a quick challenge—tap fast, shake your phone, or draw a circle. Win, and you get a short access window; fail, and the urge breaks. ScreenBreak also provides detailed hourly and weekly screen-time insights to help you understand and improve your habits.
On the analytics side, ScreenBreak competes within Productivity and Health — topics that collectively have 658.4k followers on Product Hunt. The dashboard above tracks how ScreenBreak performed against the three products that launched closest to it on the same day.
Who hunted ScreenBreak?
ScreenBreak was hunted by Greg Zeng. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
For a complete overview of ScreenBreak including community comment highlights and product details, visit the product overview.
Greg Zeng