How to block apps on Android

MassBlocker relies on one permission: the accessibility service. Through it, Android tells MassBlocker which app you just opened. Without it, MassBlocker has nothing to block with.

What a blocker needs from it is narrow. Android reports when an app comes to the foreground; the blocker checks that app against your list and, if it matches, shows a lock screen over it.

The permission itself is broad, which is why it matters what an app does with it. MassBlocker uses it only to see which app is in the foreground so it knows whether to block it. It never reads screen content, keystrokes, or what you do inside other apps. Accessibility data stays on your device and is never collected, shared, or sold.

MassBlocker takes you to the right Settings page when you first open it. You can turn the permission off there at any time.

You choose your way back in before you lock. This is the part that decides how much friction the lock has, so pick a key you won't route around.

• QR code

  Free

  Print the app's code, or open it on another screen, and put it somewhere that takes effort: another room, a drawer, your bag. Or enrol any QR code you already own, such as a sticker or a loyalty card with a QR code. It replaces the app's code. Codes are reusable. Generate a new code and every old printout stops working.

  Waits for your minimum lock time? Yes

• 3-word code

  Pro

  Three words that belong to your QR code. No camera? Type them instead. Turn on “Unlock without camera” to use it. The words are also shown in the app, so they add a wait, not a hidden key. Strict mode switches them off.

  Waits for your minimum lock time? Yes

• NFC tag

  Pro

  Enrol a tag, stick it somewhere out of the way, and tap it to unlock. The walk to the tag is the friction. With auto-relock on, each re-lock waits again before the tag works.

  Waits for your minimum lock time? Not for the first unlock

• Charging cable

  Pro

  Choose the charger as your key. Your apps stay locked until you plug in and tap Unlock, which ends the lock. No timer. Keep the charger in another room. A power bank counts as a charger too, so this works best if you don't carry one.

  Waits for your minimum lock time? No

• PIN

  Pro

  A PIN opens a lock you started, straight away. With strict mode on, MassBlocker's settings and ending a session also need it, and the app's own QR code and its 3-word code are switched off. A QR you enrolled yourself still works. So does an NFC tag or charger key. A PIN works best when someone else keeps it: a flatmate, a partner or a friend.

  Waits for your minimum lock time? No

No NFC on your phone? Use a QR code (Free) or your charger (Pro). See what each plan costs on the pricing page.

Starting a lock by hand works until the evening you decide not to. A schedule removes that decision: you set a window once, and your blocked apps lock themselves inside it. Schedules are free.

Name it, set the times and pick the days. An overnight window, such as 11 pm to 7 am, carries past midnight and ends the next morning. Study hours might be 9 am to 6 pm on weekdays. Nothing on the lock screen ends a window early; your apps open again when it ends.

Profiles go one step further: a set of apps with its own hours and its own way to unlock, either Scan, Charging, NFC or Hard block (PIN only). A profile's key opens its apps straight away. With set hours, they stay open until the hours end; without, they lock again after the profile's open window. Free includes one profile, in Scan mode. With Pro, run as many as you like, in any mode: say, a Charging profile for work hours and a Hard block profile overnight.

Auto-relock Pro (the app calls it Recurring cycles) covers the quick check. It's on by default with Pro and the trial, and you can turn it off. After you unlock, your apps stay open for a usage window you choose, then lock again, and the minimum lock time runs again.