A pause, not a block
You can always continue. Pause adds friction and intention, never shame.
By Proteinslice
Pause
Use your phone intentionally.
Pause adds a short, calm moment before the apps you choose, so opening them becomes a decision instead of a reflex.
Free. For Android 7.0 and later. Works entirely offline.
A breath between you and the scroll
No blocking and no lectures. Just a moment to check in with yourself.
Choose your apps
Pick the apps where you'd like a moment of intention. Change your mind anytime.
Take a breath
When you open one, Pause gently asks if you really need it right now, and guides you through a 30-second breathing moment.
Decide
Continue to the app, or go back. Either way, it's your choice, made on purpose.
Gentle by design
Pause is a calm mindfulness tool, not a parental control.
Guided breathing
A soft circle breathes with you: in, hold, out. Choose a 15, 30 or 60-second pause, or turn the breathing guide off.
A kind cooldown
After you continue, Pause won't ask again for that app for 30 minutes. Adjust it, or switch it off.
Private by design
No account, no ads, no analytics. The app doesn't even have internet access.
Why Pause asks for accessibility access
To notice when you open an app you've chosen, Pause uses Android's Accessibility Service. We want to be clear about exactly what that means:
- It only checks which app is coming to the front.
- It can't read your screen, messages, photos, or passwords.
- The only thing it leads Pause to save is a private 30-day history of your pauses, kept on your phone.
- Nothing leaves your phone unless you export your history or email us.
- You turn it on yourself, and can turn it off anytime in Android settings.
Read the details in our privacy policy.
Questions
Will Pause stop me from using apps?
No. After the pause you can always continue. The goal is a moment of awareness, not a lock.
Does Pause collect my data?
No. Your choices and pause history are stored only on your phone, and the app has no internet permission, so it couldn't send anything even if it wanted to.
Why does it keep asking every time I open an app?
That's the point, gently. But after you choose Continue, there's a cooldown (30 minutes by default) before Pause asks again for that app.
Pause stopped working. What happened?
Some phones turn off accessibility services to save battery. Open Pause: it will show whether access is on and take you to the right setting.
Which phones are supported?
Android phones running Android 7.0 or later.