Free Strict mode

Most of the time you don't need a stricter blocker. You need one you can't talk yourself out of. Beyond Alarm's Strict mode removes the stop button from a Phone Block until the timer runs out, and it's free: one short ad turns it on. In many blockers the mode you can't cancel is a paid upgrade. Here, one short ad is the whole price.

What it does

Every Phone Block in Beyond Alarm runs at one of two strictness levels, and the app makes you choose one before the block starts:

Regular mode is for days when you want friction. Strict mode is for days when you already know the five-second hold would win. Once a Strict mode block starts, the countdown is the only thing that ends it.

How it works

1. You pick Strict mode on the setup screen. Under How strict, choose Strict mode: "No stop button until the timer ends."
2. You confirm with one ad. A Turn on Strict Mode? card spells out the deal: no stop button, a short ad to switch it on. Free users watch the ad to the end and Strict mode switches on. If you skip the ad, Strict mode stays off and nothing has started. Pro members don't see this step.
3. The block starts, with no stop button. The running screen shows the countdown, the time it unblocks and what's blocked. In Regular mode there's a Leave early button at the bottom. In Strict mode there isn't one.
4. It can only get stricter. Add Time adds 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. More Apps adds apps to the block. On Android, Lock the Whole Phone widens it to every app. Nothing shortens it. As the screen says, "A block can be made longer or wider, never shorter."
5. The timer ends it. Your apps open again on their own.

On Android, blocking runs through Beyond Alarm's accessibility guard. If you open a blocked app, it's sent back. If your phone restarts, the block picks up again and still ends at the same time. On iPhone, the block runs through Apple's Screen Time, and apps can't be deleted while a Strict mode block runs, so deleting the app doesn't get you out either.

Beyond Alarm

Beyond Alarm does this part for you: the alarm will not switch off until you have actually moved, and the apps you pick stay locked afterwards.

When to use it

• Exams and deadlines, when an hour of real work matters more than anything in your feed.
• The first hour of the day, if you keep breaking your own morning rules. (For a block that starts the moment your alarm ends, see Morning Lockout.)
• A night out or a family dinner, with the whole phone locked on Android and calls still getting through.
• Any time you've left a Regular mode block early and wished you hadn't.

Set it up

1. Open the Phone Block tab and tap Block now.
2. Pick a length: 15m, 30m, 45m, 1h, 1h 30m or 2h, or tap Custom for anything from 5 minutes to 8 hours.
3. Under What to block, choose Whole phone (Android), one of your saved block lists, or Pick apps.
4. Under How strict, choose Strict mode.
5. Tap Block for …. On Android the app checks that its guard is on first. If it isn't, it walks you through switching it on in Accessibility settings.
6. On the Turn on Strict Mode? card, watch the short ad. The block starts as soon as it finishes.

Related

• Phone Block: how the whole feature works
• Whole-phone block on Android
• Beyond Alarm on iPhone
• How to lock your phone for an hour
• Freedom vs Cold Turkey