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one sec alternatives
one sec had a simple, good idea: make people take a breath before a distracting app opens. If you like the idea and want something a little different, there are three other apps worth knowing.
We make Kiri, one of the three. The others are described the way we'd want ours described.
Short answer: ScreenZen is the closest to one sec and it's free. minimalist phone goes further and changes your home screen. Kiri puts the pause at the other end: you get your time first, then mist. If opening the app is the problem, stay with one sec.
What one sec does well
Makes you take a breath before a chosen app opens, then asks whether you still want it. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, and extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.
It is also the one app in this category with a peer-reviewed study behind it. In a six-week study of 280 people, published in PNAS in 2023, people closed the app after the pause on 36% of attempts, and tried to open their chosen apps 37% less often by the end. Together that came to 57% fewer openings. One of the three authors is the developer of one sec; the other two are researchers at Heidelberg University and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. The paper is here.
Price: Free for one app. Pro $6.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $99.99 once.
Why people look for something else
- The pause is every time. If you open an app thirty times a day, that's thirty breathing exercises, including the times you had a good reason.
- It's a subscription, unless you buy the lifetime option.
The alternatives
| App | What it does | Price | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| one sec | Makes you take a breath before a chosen app opens, then asks whether you still want it. | Free for one app. Pro $6.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $99.99 once | iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, and extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge |
| ScreenZen | Adds a wait before an app opens, which can grow each time, plus daily limits and a limit on opens. | Free, with optional tips | iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows |
| minimalist phone | Replaces your home screen with a plain list of app names, and adds a wait before chosen apps open. | Subscription or lifetime. The price varies, so check the store | Android, iPhone |
| Kiri | Covers the app with mist when its daily time is up. You wipe it away and take a breath. | Free for one app. Pro $7.99 once | iPhone, Android, Mac |
Prices are US prices, checked in November 2026. They change; each app's own site has the current one.
ScreenZen
Adds a wait before an app opens, which can grow each time, plus daily limits and a limit on opens. Depends on how you set it. It has strict blocks and a lock on its own settings.
Better than one sec at: price, and limiting how many times a day you open something. Choose it if you want one sec's idea with more dials and no bill.
minimalist phone
Replaces your home screen with a plain list of app names, and adds a wait before chosen apps open. It changes the home screen itself, so there are no icons to tap by reflex.
Choose it if the icons themselves are the trigger and you're willing to change how your phone looks.
Kiri
Kiri moves the pause. You choose a daily time for an app, and you get that time with no interruption. When it's used up, mist covers the screen. You wipe it away, take one breath, and decide: done, or two more minutes. On Android and Mac, a small hourglass hangs over the app while you use it, so the time is visible as it goes.
Worse than one sec at: stopping you opening the app in the first place. Kiri does nothing until your time is up. Better at: leaving you alone when you have time left, and price. Free for one app. Pro $7.99 once, with no subscription.
Choose it if opening Instagram isn't the problem and staying for an hour is.
Which pause suits you?
- “I open it without deciding to.” A pause before opening: one sec or ScreenZen.
- “I open it on purpose and then can't stop.” A pause after a set time: Kiri.
- “Both.” They don't conflict. You can run a pause-first app and Kiri together.
- “Neither works on me.” You may want a wall. The blockers are compared here.