Hey guys. I've tried pretty much every app blocker out there. They always fail for me because willpower is completely useless against muscle memory. I'd unlock my phone and my thumb was already opening the app before my brain even registered it. My biggest trap was the delete and reinstall loop. I would delete an app feeling super motivated. But the muscle memory doesn't care. A day later my thumb automatically swipes down, types the app name, and hits the cloud download icon in the App Store. I would be back scrolling in under 15 seconds. Not to mention, when the icon is actually missing from your home screen, it creates this weird visual void that practically begs you to go find it. I'm a web dev by trade, so I wanted to fix this by building something that works with behavioral science rather than brute willpower. Cravings naturally drop off in about 30 seconds if you don't act on them immediately. So I built Dopa-Mean. It is a dummy web app that replaces your addictive app icons with a placebo. Here is how you use it: Delete the real social media app. Install the fake Dopa-Mean icon to your home screen so it looks exactly like the original. Tap it on autopilot. Instead of an endless feed, you just get a 30-second timer. Those 30 seconds kill the dopamine surge. It gives your conscious brain time to catch up with your thumbs and ask if you really want to do this right now. Having the fake icon there completely stops the App Store search reflex, but you get the exact amount of friction you need to break the loop. It is completely free, open source, and needs zero permissions. No accounts and no tracking.   submitted by   /u/meta_phor [link]   [comments]