Already available on Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, and as standalone browser extensions, DigitalZen now expands to Android, with iOS in development.
-- DigitalZen has released its website and app blocker on Android, with an iOS version currently in testing. The software was already available on Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, and through standalone browser extensions.
DigitalZen built around a problem most distraction blockers fail to solve: the moment when users want to turn them off. The Android release brings that approach to the phone, which for many desktop users had become the easiest way around their own rules.
It was a gap users noticed. A schedule could keep Reddit and YouTube locked on a laptop all afternoon while the same sites sat one tap away in a pocket, and reviewers of DigitalZen's browser add-on had been asking for a mobile version for months.
"A blocker that only covers the laptop leaves the most tempting screen wide open," said DigitalZen's team. "On Android, the decision someone makes at their desk can follow them when they pick up their phone."
The Android app was tested in stages, moving from internal testing in June to a closed group in July and selected beta testers in August. Along the way, the team added countdown notifications before blocks start and handling for phones that shut down background apps, a common weak spot for Android blockers. The iOS app entered internal testing in August.
Anyone who has installed a browser extension to block Reddit or YouTube knows how most blocking tools fail. The extension works well on Monday morning when focus comes easily. By Thursday afternoon, that same person clicks through confirmation dialogs to disable it for "just ten minutes." Or opens a different browser. Or, until now, picked up a phone that no desktop blocker could touch.
"A blocker that can be disabled in seconds may work when motivation is high," said DigitalZen's team. "But that is often not when people need it most."
DigitalZen puts distance between urge and action. Users can lock settings during work hours so the option to disable does not exist until a specified time. Cooldown timers force a 30-minute wait before any rule change takes effect, usually long enough for the impulse to pass. Blocking applies across all browsers at once, and optional uninstall protection keeps users from deleting the app in a weak moment.
"Strong blocking is not about making distraction impossible," the team explains. "It is about creating enough friction that an impulse does not immediately override a deliberate decision."
Some users store unlock codes on USB drives kept in their cars. Others configure a fee that charges them whenever they bypass protection. The accountability option sends unlock codes to a spouse, friend, or colleague who must approve changes.
That last option produced one of the more memorable support tickets in company history. A user chose his priest to hold his unlock code. Then the two had a falling out. The next time the user tried to change his settings, the request went to the priest's inbox and no response came. The priest had apparently decided to take a break from email.
A support message eventually reached DigitalZen: "My priest has my unlock code and won't give it back." Staff helped the user regain access, but the incident reinforced a principle the company builds around: sometimes the strongest protection is taking the decision out of one's own hands. For users who prefer not to involve clergy, the paid unlock option achieves a similar effect with fewer theological complications.
The product grew out of the same frustration. Founder Alon Nagar, who had started several companies and served as CTO at others, kept finding that existing blockers were either too easy to switch off, too rigid to allow any downtime, or limited to one operating system when he worked across three. After finishing a fintech project, he began building his own. An early alpha appeared in April 2023, a public beta followed in March 2024, and the stable 1.0 release arrived in February 2025.
DigitalZen serves students cramming for finals, developers who lose afternoons to Hacker News, remote workers whose home offices sit feet from the television, and gamers who need limits on session length. The common thread is experience: these users have already tried browser extensions, and the extensions did not hold.
DigitalZen is available on Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS, with standalone browser extensions available across major browsers. An iOS version is currently in development.
More information is available at digitalzen.app.
Contact Info:
Name: DigitalZen Team
Email: Send Email
Organization: DigitalZen
Website: https://digitalzen.app
Release ID: 89207143
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