What Are The Best Android Apps To Block Websites On My Phone? Need Suggestions

General
1

I have been trying to find a good app that can block certain websites on my Android phone. The thing is, I get distracted way too easily when I am supposed to be working or studying, and I end up scrolling through social media or random sites for hours. I know Android has some built in settings but I am not sure if they are enough or if I need a third party app for this.

I am a college student and during my exam prep weeks, I waste at least 2 to 3 hours daily on Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube. I need something that can block these sites on my Chrome browser and also inside the apps if possible. Ideally, I want to set it up once and not have to think about it every day. If there is an app that lets me create different blocking schedules for weekdays and weekends, that would be perfect. Any suggestions would be really helpful.

2

So before you even go downloading anything, you should know that Android already has a few ways to deal with this. Let me walk you through what is already sitting on your phone.

##Google Family Link##

This one is technically designed for parental controls but it works perfectly fine if you want to block sites on your own device. You can set it up through Settings then go to Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls. From there you can manage which websites are accessible through Chrome. The filters let you block specific URLs or entire categories of content. The catch here is that it ties into a Google account supervision model, so it can feel a bit heavy handed for personal use.

##Chrome Browser Site Settings##

Inside Chrome itself you can go to Settings then Site Settings and from there you can manage permissions for individual websites. While this does not give you a full block list feature, you can restrict notifications and pop ups from specific domains, which reduces the pull factor of those sites.

##Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode##

This is the one most people overlook. Go to Settings then Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls then Focus Mode. Here you can select specific apps you want to pause during focus sessions. It does not block websites directly in the browser, but if your problem is with the Instagram app or YouTube app, this shuts them down during your scheduled focus times. You can set recurring schedules for weekdays and weekends separately.

##DNS Based Blocking Through Private DNS##

Android 9 and above supports Private DNS. Go to Settings then Network and Internet then Private DNS. You can enter a DNS provider like dns.adguard.com which blocks ads and known tracking domains at the network level. This method works across all apps and browsers, not just Chrome. The downside is you do not get granular control over which specific sites to block unless you set up your own DNS filtering server.

##Samsung Secure Folder and Knox (Samsung Devices Only)##

If you are on a Samsung phone, Knox lets you create a separate workspace where you can restrict app and web access. Secure Folder can isolate distracting apps so they are not on your main home screen. This is more of a separation method than a hard block but it adds friction which helps with impulse browsing.

These built in options are solid starting points and might be enough depending on how strict you need your blocking to be.

3

Alright so the built in stuff is fine for basic use but if you need real blocking power you gotta look at third party apps. I have tested a bunch of these over the past year and here is what actually works.

##BlockSite##

This is probably the most popular one on the Play Store. You install it, add the URLs you want blocked, and it redirects you to a block page whenever you try to visit them. The app also has a Focus Mode with a timer, category based blocking, and it can sync across devices if you use the Chrome extension on desktop too. The free version gives you a limited number of blocked sites and the premium unlocks unlimited blocking plus scheduling features.

##Cold Turkey Blocker##

This one is no joke. Once you set a block schedule on Cold Turkey, there is literally no way to bypass it until the timer runs out. You cannot uninstall the app during a block session and you cannot override it. That is the whole point. It is designed for people who know they will try to cheat. The scheduling system lets you create detailed weekly plans with different rules for each day. It is a paid app but the one time purchase is worth it if you are serious about this.

##Freedom App##

Freedom works across Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows so if you are blocking on multiple devices this is a strong pick. You create block lists called sessions and you can start them manually or schedule them. Freedom blocks sites at the VPN level so it works across every browser and app on your phone. The Locked Mode feature prevents you from changing your block list during an active session. It runs on a subscription model.

##AppBlock##

This one focuses more on blocking apps rather than websites but it does both. You can create profiles with different rules. For example a Study profile that blocks social media apps and their websites from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays. It uses the Android Accessibility Service to monitor and block access. The Strict Mode makes it impossible to change settings during an active blocking session.

##Stay Focused##

Stay Focused gives you app and website blocking with usage limits. Instead of a hard block you can set a daily time limit. So you could say you are allowed 30 minutes of Instagram per day and once that is up it locks you out. It also has a Strict Mode where you cannot disable the blocking without waiting for a cooldown period. Works well for people who do not want a complete blackout but want to limit their usage.

Each of these has a different approach so pick the one that matches how you actually behave when you are trying to avoid distractions.

4

The two answers above from PixelPioneer23 and CloudKernel11 pretty much cover everything you need, CloudShift. Between the built in Android features and the third party apps they listed, you have got a full toolkit right there.

What I want to add is some context on why certain approaches work better in specific situations. The DNS method that PixelPioneer23 mentioned using Private DNS is actually one of the most underrated options because it works system wide without draining your battery. A lot of these third party apps run a local VPN in the background which can eat into your battery life over time. If battery is a concern for you, the DNS route is the lighter option.

On the app side, I think CloudKernel11 nailed it with Cold Turkey Blocker. I have used it myself during deadline weeks and the fact that you literally cannot bypass it once it is running is what makes it different from everything else. Most other blockers have some kind of backdoor or uninstall workaround, but Cold Turkey locks you out for real.

One more thing that is worth mentioning is NetGuard. It is an open source firewall app that gives you per app internet access control. So instead of blocking websites, you block specific apps from connecting to the internet entirely. If your main issue is with the YouTube app or the Instagram app rather than the websites in a browser, NetGuard is a clean solution. You just toggle off internet access for those apps during study hours and toggle it back on when you are done.

Also want to point out that if you combine Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode with one of the third party website blockers, you get a pretty airtight setup. Focus Mode handles the apps and the blocker handles the browser side. That way nothing slips through.

5

Big agree with what has been said so far. PixelPioneer23 and CloudKernel11 dropped some really solid options and DevSyncer made a great point about combining methods for a tighter setup.

I want to build on the DNS angle a bit more because I think that is where a lot of people miss out. If you go with the Private DNS approach, you do not have to stick with the default AdGuard DNS. You can actually set up a free NextDNS account which gives you way more control. With NextDNS, you get a custom DNS endpoint that you enter in your Android Private DNS settings, and from their dashboard you can add specific domains to a deny list. So if you want to block reddit.com and instagram.com at the DNS level, you just add them to your NextDNS blocklist and they will stop loading across every app and browser on your phone.

The reason this matters is that a lot of website blocking apps only work inside the browser. If you open the Reddit app directly, those browser based blockers do nothing. But DNS level blocking catches everything because all traffic goes through DNS resolution first. No DNS resolution, no connection, no distraction.

Now there is a limitation. DNS blocking is an all or nothing approach for each domain. You cannot say block Reddit from 9 AM to 5 PM using DNS alone. For time based scheduling, you still need one of the apps CloudKernel11 mentioned. But what you can do is combine them. Use NextDNS for always blocked sites and then use something like AppBlock for the time scheduled stuff.

Another tool I would throw into the mix is Hosts Go. It is an app that modifies your local hosts file to redirect blocked domains to nowhere. It is similar to how desktop users edit their hosts file on Windows or Mac. The app needs no root access on newer versions and gives you fine grained domain level blocking. It is lightweight, free, and does not run a VPN service so zero battery impact.

The key takeaway is that layering multiple methods is better than relying on a single app. DNS for the foundation, a dedicated blocker for scheduling, and Focus Mode for the app side.

6

Let me share what actually happened with me because I was in the exact same situation as CloudShift about six months ago. I am a freelance developer and my biggest problem was that every time I opened my browser to look up documentation, I would end up on Twitter or some news site and lose 45 minutes without even realizing it.

First thing I tried was just using Digital Wellbeing. Set up Focus Mode, paused the Twitter app, paused the news app. That worked for about two days. The problem was that I would just open Chrome and go to the mobile sites instead. Focus Mode does not block websites in the browser so it was basically useless for my situation.

Then I installed BlockSite. It worked well at first. I added all the sites I wanted blocked and it showed a nice block page when I tried to visit them. But here is the thing, I figured out I could just switch to Firefox or Samsung Internet and BlockSite only had its filter running on Chrome. So that did not last either.

That is when I switched to a different approach entirely. I set up Blokada. It is a free and open source ad blocker and content filter that runs as a local VPN on your phone. The difference with Blokada is that it intercepts all DNS traffic from every app and every browser on your phone. I added my distraction sites to the block list inside Blokada and suddenly it did not matter which browser I used or whether I went through an app or a web link. Everything was blocked at the network level.

The result after using Blokada for six months is that my average screen time on non work apps dropped from about 4 hours a day to around 1 hour. The setup took me about 15 minutes and I have not had to touch it since. I keep it running during weekdays and I turn it off on weekends.

For someone like CloudShift who is a student, I think the network level approach is the way to go because students tend to have multiple browsers and apps installed and you do not want to be configuring blockers for each one separately.

7

Here is a step by step setup guide for anyone who wants to get this done quickly on their Android phone. I am going to break this down into three levels depending on how serious your blocking needs are.

Level 1: Basic Blocking (No App Install Needed)

  1. Open your Android Settings
  2. Tap on Network and Internet
  3. Tap on Private DNS
  4. Select Private DNS provider hostname
  5. Type in dns.adguard.com
  6. Hit Save
  7. This blocks ads and some tracking domains across your entire phone automatically

Level 2: Moderate Blocking (One App Install)

  1. Download Mindmaster from the Play Store
  2. Open the app and grant the required permissions including Accessibility Service and Usage Access
  3. Create a new blocking profile and name it something like Study Mode
  4. Add the websites you want blocked by typing in their URLs
  5. Add the apps you want blocked by selecting them from your installed app list
  6. Set your schedule, for example Monday to Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM
  7. Turn on Strict Mode so you cannot disable the profile during active hours
  8. The app runs in the background and blocks access during your scheduled times

Level 3: Maximum Blocking (Multiple Layers)

  1. Set up Private DNS as described in Level 1 for network wide filtering
  2. Install one dedicated blocker app for scheduled and targeted blocking
  3. Enable Focus Mode in Digital Wellbeing for app level pausing
  4. Remove browser bookmarks and clear autofill suggestions for distracting sites
  5. Rearrange your home screen so social media apps are buried in folders on the last page
  6. Turn off all non essential notifications in Settings then Notifications

Bonus Tips:

  1. Log out of social media accounts in your browsers so even if you access the site you face a login wall
  2. Use a separate browser like DuckDuckGo Browser only for work related browsing and block everything else on it
  3. Set your phone to grayscale mode during study hours because a colorless screen makes social media way less appealing. You can find this in Accessibility then Color Correction
  4. Ask a friend to set the password for your blocking app so you physically cannot turn it off yourself

The combination of all three levels makes it nearly impossible to get distracted unless you go out of your way to factory reset your phone, which nobody is going to do just to check Instagram.

8

I am going to push back a little on the idea that you always need a third party app for this. The whole website blocking app industry has turned into a subscription money grab and I think people should be more critical about what they are paying for.

Think about it. Freedom charges you a subscription fee. BlockSite pushes you toward premium constantly. A lot of these apps collect your browsing data as part of their functionality because they literally need to monitor every URL you visit to know what to block. You are handing over your complete browsing history to a third party company just so they can stop you from going to Reddit. That trade off does not sit right with me.

The Android operating system already gives you the tools to handle this without giving up your data. Private DNS with a provider like dns.adguard.com or a self hosted Pi Hole if you are on your home network works at the system level without any app having access to your browsing patterns. Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode handles app blocking natively. And if you really want browser level blocking, you can use the Brave Browser which has built in content filtering and shield settings where you can block specific domains through custom filters without installing any additional app.

Now I am not saying the third party apps are all bad. Cold Turkey is genuinely good because it is a one time purchase and it does not harvest your data. But the subscription based ones that need VPN access and Accessibility Service permissions are a privacy concern that nobody in this thread has mentioned yet.

Accessibility Service in particular is a powerful permission. An app with that access can read everything on your screen, intercept your taps, and see your passwords as you type them. That is the level of access you are granting to a website blocker. Before you install any of these apps, go read their privacy policy and check what data they collect. If the app is free and it is not open source, you are the product.

My recommendation is to stick with the built in tools and open source options like Blokada or NetGuard that have been audited by the community. You can get the same result without compromising your privacy.

9

If you are someone who uses your phone for both work and personal stuff, the Android Work Profile feature is a game changer for this. Basically it creates a separate sandboxed environment on your phone with its own set of apps and settings. Your IT department usually sets this up if you have a corporate phone, but you can create one yourself using the Island app.

So what Island does is it creates a work profile on your phone where you can clone specific apps. You could have a Chrome browser in your work profile that has all distractions blocked and a regular Chrome in your personal profile that is unrestricted. When it is time to study, you switch to the work profile and you only have access to the apps and sites you need. Everything else is in your personal profile which you can freeze with one tap.

The freezing part is key. When you freeze your personal profile through Island, all those apps stop running. They do not send notifications, they do not update in the background, and you cannot open them until you unfreeze the profile. It is like putting half your phone in a drawer.

This approach is different from everything else mentioned because it is not just blocking websites. It is creating a completely separate phone environment where distractions do not exist. You are not fighting the urge to visit a blocked site because the site is not even available in that environment.

I use this setup for my work from home days and it has genuinely changed how I manage my time on my phone. The mental separation between work profile and personal profile makes a huge difference.

10

Alright so reading through everything here, I think we can help CloudShift put together a specific setup that matches their situation. They said they are a college student losing 2 to 3 hours daily on Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube during exam prep. Let me piece together the best approach from what everyone has suggested.

The core problem here is threefold. First, website access through Chrome. Second, app access through the native apps. Third, the need for different schedules on weekdays versus weekends. No single tool handles all three perfectly, so here is how I would combine them.

For the browser side, I would go with the Private DNS approach that multiple people have recommended. Set up a NextDNS account like CodeSphere12 suggested. Add instagram.com, reddit.com, and youtube.com to the deny list. This kills access through any browser on the phone without installing anything.

For the app side, Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode is the cleanest solution. Set up a Focus Mode schedule that pauses Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube apps during study hours. You can create different schedules for weekdays and weekends right there in the settings.

For the override protection, this is where it gets tricky. The problem with both DNS and Focus Mode is that you can turn them off yourself when the urge hits. To prevent that, you could use a Screen Pinning or App Pinning feature. Go to Settings then Security then App Pinning and enable it. Then pin your study app or notes app and you cannot navigate away without entering your PIN.

If CloudShift wants an even tighter lockdown during exam weeks, I would suggest adding Detox to the mix. It is a minimalist app that lets you lock yourself out of specific apps for a set duration. Once you start a Detox session, you cannot end it early. No workaround, no backdoor. Pair that with the DNS blocking and Focus Mode and you have a three layer system.

The whole setup would take about 30 minutes to configure and after that it runs on autopilot. CloudShift would not have to think about it every day which is exactly what they asked for.

11

Quick list of methods ranked from least to most restrictive based on everything in this thread. Figured it would help anyone who is skimming and just wants to pick a level.

  1. Browser Level: Use Brave Browser built in shields to block specific domains through custom filter lists. Zero extra apps needed but only works inside that one browser.

  2. App Level: Use Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode to pause distracting apps on a schedule. Built into Android, no download needed, but does not block websites in browsers.

  3. DNS Level: Configure Private DNS in Android settings with a filtering provider. Blocks domains across all apps and browsers but no scheduling built in.

  4. VPN Based Blocker: Apps like Blokada that run as a local VPN and filter all traffic. Works everywhere but uses more battery and you cannot run it alongside a real VPN.

  5. Accessibility Based Blocker: Apps like BlockSite or Stay Focused that use Accessibility Service to monitor and block. Very flexible with scheduling but come with privacy trade offs as ModTechLab pointed out.

  6. Lockdown Blocker: Cold Turkey or Detox style apps where once you start a block session you literally cannot stop it. Maximum restriction but no flexibility once activated.

  7. Profile Based: Using Island or Android Work Profile to create a separate distraction free environment. Most comprehensive separation but requires more setup.

  8. Hardware Level: You could also configure your home router to block specific sites using OpenDNS or your router built in parental controls. This blocks sites on every device connected to your WiFi, not just your phone.

Pick your level based on how much self control you actually have. If you are the type who will find a way around anything, jump straight to level 6 or 7. If you just need a gentle nudge, levels 1 through 3 should do it.

12

Man I wish this thread existed two years ago lol. I went through like five different apps before I found something that worked for me.

Something I want to add that is a bit more technical. If you are on a rooted Android phone, you can directly edit the hosts file at /etc/hosts or /system/etc/hosts and redirect any domain to 127.0.0.1 which basically sends the request nowhere. This is the same thing that desktop ad blockers do and it is the most resource efficient method because it happens at the operating system level with zero battery impact and zero background processes.

For rooted users, here is how it works. You open a terminal app or use ADB from your computer, get superuser access, and add lines like:

127.0.0.1 www.instagram.com
127.0.0.1 www.reddit.com
127.0.0.1 m.reddit.com
127.0.0.1 www.youtube.com
127.0.0.1 m.youtube.com

Save the file, reboot, and those domains are dead across your entire phone. No app can reach them. No browser can open them. The only way to undo it is to go back into the hosts file and remove those lines which takes enough effort that impulse browsing is basically eliminated.

Now if you are not rooted, which is most people, you obviously cannot do this directly. But that is essentially what apps like Blokada and Hosts Go do behind the scenes. They simulate the same behavior using a local VPN or a virtual hosts file.

One more tip for anyone using Samsung devices. Check out the Samsung Good Lock module called One Hand Operation Plus. While it is not a blocker, you can customize gestures to launch Focus Mode instantly with a swipe. So instead of digging through settings every time you want to start a study session, you just swipe from the edge of your screen and your blocking setup kicks in automatically.

13

Since there are so many options flying around in this thread, let me do a quick comparison of the main approaches so CloudShift and anyone else reading this can see the differences side by side.

DNS Blocking versus VPN Based Blocking:
DNS blocking through Private DNS or NextDNS is lighter on battery and does not interfere with actual VPN usage. However it cannot do time based scheduling natively. VPN based blockers like Blokada give you more flexibility with custom lists and some scheduling but they prevent you from using a real VPN at the same time, which is a problem if you need a VPN for school or work networks.

Built In Android Tools versus Third Party Apps:
Digital Wellbeing and Focus Mode are free, private, and battery friendly but they only block apps not websites. Third party apps fill that gap by blocking websites too but they require permissions like Accessibility Service and VPN access which raise privacy questions. The middle ground is using a combination of both.

Free Options versus Paid Options:
Free apps like Blokada, NetGuard, and Hosts Go are open source, privacy respecting, and fully functional. Paid apps like Cold Turkey and Freedom offer more polished interfaces, cross device syncing, and unbreakable lock modes. The main advantage of paid options is the anti bypass feature. Free apps usually have some way to work around them if you are determined enough.

Browser Based versus System Wide:
Browser based blocking like using Brave filters only protects one browser. System wide blocking through DNS or VPN covers everything. For students like CloudShift who probably have multiple browsers and social media apps installed, system wide is clearly the better choice.

Simple Setup versus Layered Setup:
A single app like BlockSite is easy to set up in five minutes but has gaps. A layered approach using DNS plus Focus Mode plus a lockdown app takes longer to configure but leaves almost no room for bypassing. The question is really how much effort you want to put in versus how strict you need the blocking to be.

Hope this clears things up for anyone still deciding.

14

For anyone who wants a technical reference on how these different blocking methods actually work under the hood, here is a breakdown of the mechanisms involved.

Method: DNS Filtering
How It Works: When your phone tries to load a website, it first sends a DNS query to resolve the domain name into an IP address. DNS filtering intercepts this step and returns a null response or a block page IP for domains on your deny list. Since every app and browser relies on DNS resolution, blocking at this level is universal.
Implementation: Android Settings then Network and Internet then Private DNS. Enter a hostname like dns.adguard.com or a custom NextDNS endpoint.
Limitations: Cannot schedule blocks based on time. Bypassed if an app uses hardcoded IP addresses instead of domain names. Also bypassed if the user switches to a different DNS provider.

Method: Local VPN Interception
How It Works: Apps like Blokada create a local VPN tunnel on your device. All network traffic routes through this tunnel where the app inspects the destination and either allows or blocks the connection. No data leaves your device through an external server.
Implementation: Install the app, grant VPN permission, configure block lists.
Limitations: Only one VPN can be active at a time on Android, so this conflicts with actual VPN usage. Uses more battery than DNS filtering because all traffic is being processed by the app.

Method: Accessibility Service Monitoring
How It Works: Apps with Accessibility Service permission can observe the current URL in the browser address bar. When a blocked URL is detected, the app overlays a block screen or redirects the browser.
Implementation: Install the app, enable it in Settings then Accessibility then Installed Services.
Limitations: Only works in supported browsers, typically Chrome. Can be bypassed by using an unsupported browser. The Accessibility Service has broad permissions that include reading screen content which is a privacy consideration.

Method: Hosts File Modification
How It Works: The hosts file maps domain names to IP addresses locally before any DNS query is sent. By mapping distracting domains to 127.0.0.1, the connection attempt goes to your own device and fails immediately.
Implementation: Requires root access to edit /system/etc/hosts directly. Non root users can use apps that simulate this through a local VPN.
Limitations: Requires root for direct editing. Cannot schedule blocks. Editing the file incorrectly can cause system issues.

Method: Android Work Profile Isolation
How It Works: Android Work Profile creates a containerized environment with a separate set of apps, accounts, and data. Apps in one profile cannot access or interact with apps in the other profile.
Implementation: Use the Island app or a device management solution to create a work profile. Clone only productivity apps into it.
Limitations: Requires device support for managed profiles. Some phones limit work profile functionality. Adds complexity to daily phone usage.

15

Let me put together a quick FAQ since I keep seeing the same questions pop up in forums like this.

  1. Will blocking apps slow down my phone?
    Most blocking methods have minimal impact. DNS filtering has basically zero performance impact since it just changes where your DNS queries go. VPN based blockers add a tiny amount of overhead because traffic passes through a local tunnel. Accessibility based blockers can sometimes cause slight lag because they are continuously monitoring your screen. Overall none of these should noticeably slow down a modern phone.

  2. Can I block websites on all browsers at once?
    Yes but only with system wide methods like DNS filtering or VPN based blocking. Browser specific extensions or Accessibility based blockers usually only work with Chrome. If you use Firefox, Samsung Internet, or any other browser alongside Chrome, you need a system wide approach.

  3. What if I need to access a blocked site for legitimate work?
    Most third party apps let you create different profiles. You can have a Study profile that blocks social media and a Work profile that allows certain sites. DNS based blocking is trickier because it is all or nothing per domain. NextDNS lets you change settings from their dashboard but it is not as quick as toggling an app profile.

  4. Do these apps work with mobile data and WiFi both?
    App based blockers work on any connection because they run on your device. DNS settings configured through Private DNS also work on both WiFi and mobile data. Router based blocking only works when you are connected to that specific WiFi network.

  5. Can someone bypass these blocks easily?
    Depends on the method. DNS blocking can be bypassed by changing the DNS setting back. VPN blockers can be bypassed by disconnecting the VPN. Accessibility blockers can be bypassed by disabling the service. The only truly unbypassable options are Cold Turkey and Detox style apps that lock the settings during active sessions. For extra protection, some people have a friend set the blocking app password.

  6. What is the best free option right now?
    For system wide blocking without paying anything, the combination of Android Private DNS with a filtering provider plus Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode gives you solid coverage at zero cost. If you want more control and scheduling for free, Blokada is open source and does not charge for its core features.

  7. Do I need to root my phone for any of this?
    No. Every method discussed in this thread works without root access. Rooting only becomes relevant if you want to directly edit the hosts file for the most efficient blocking, but non root alternatives exist that achieve the same result.

16

I have been helping friends set up website blocking on their phones for a while and the one thing I have noticed is that people overcomplicate this.

CloudShift, based on your situation as a student who needs exam prep focus, here is what I would actually do if I were you. Forget about installing five different apps and setting up DNS servers and work profiles. That is overkill for what you need.

Just download one app called Focus To Do. It combines a Pomodoro timer with app and website blocking. You set a 25 minute focus session, pick the apps and sites you want blocked, and start the timer. During those 25 minutes, you cannot access anything on your block list. When the timer ends, you get a 5 minute break where everything unlocks. Then you start another session.

The reason I recommend this over everything else for a student is that the Pomodoro technique actually matches how studying works. You are not meant to study for 8 hours straight with everything blocked. Your brain needs breaks. And the structured break system keeps you on track without making you feel like you are in digital prison.

I have seen people go crazy with Cold Turkey and complete lockdown apps during exam season and then the moment exams are over they binge on social media twice as hard because they felt so restricted. The Pomodoro approach is sustainable because it gives you permission to take breaks.

Also do not underestimate the power of just rearranging your phone. Move Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube off your home screen into a folder on your last page. Turn off all their notifications. Log out of them in your browser. These friction based methods sound too simple but they work because most impulse browsing starts from a notification or a home screen icon. Remove those triggers and you remove half the problem without any app at all.

Whatever you end up choosing, the best blocker is the one you will actually keep using. A complex setup that you disable after three days is worse than a simple one that runs for the whole exam period. Keep it simple, keep it running, and good luck with your exams.