good afternoon
John
Identity
I am someone
who reads at night.
Breath
Spend
Reinforce
Today
Your identity, your earned minutes, the small habits that keep adding up.
You don't actually
want to open
Instagram right now.
Your thumb gets there before your brain does. Pauz puts the half-second of self between you and the apps you wish you didn't open, with your own identity statement on the shield, not a generic block.
Free, forever. iOS only, built on Apple Family Controls. Everything stays on-device.
Pauz
Pauz.
I am someone who reads at night.
Take a moment to reflect. Open Pauz to override.
Inside the app
Three surfaces do the work.
The evidence
What the research actually says.
Seven peer-reviewed findings. Pauz is the implementation. Every mechanism traceable to a study.
36% of consumption attempts dismissed.
A delay-plus-message screen between user and target app reduces opens and dismissals at scale. Pauz's shield is structurally identical.
37%
fewer target-app opens overall6 wks
effect sustained at follow-up48% of binge-drinking habit explained by identity.
The stronger you identify with a behavior, the more you actually do it. In addictive contexts the effect is dominant. Pauz's onboarding encodes the mechanism.
11%
across all behaviors in the meta3 weeks at ≤2h/day improves four mental-health metrics.
A randomized trial with 111 students measured the actual outcome Pauz is trying to produce, and it produced gains across stress, well-being, depression, and sleep.
Less
stress + depressive symptomsMore
well-being + sleep qualityImplementation intentions, 94 studies, medium-to-large effect.
"When X happens in Y context, I will do Z." The mechanism Atomic Habits formalises. Pauz's habit-stacking + time + location triggers operationalise it directly.
CBT-integration beats pure restriction.
Apps that combine cognitive reflection with blocking outperform blocking alone. Pauz prompts a one-line reflection after every override. Captures the craving, not just the lapse.
Tracking alone changes nothing at 6 weeks.
Showing users their screen-time number produces no measurable behavior change. Most cessation apps are unvalidated. Pauz's Insights measures behavior, not hours.
Self-selected limits outperform assigned ones.
Letting users pick their own targets beats algorithmic recommendations on adherence. Pauz lets you choose your identity, your apps, your cooldowns, your daily tasks, by design.
How it works
Six mechanisms. One per finding.
M1
Identity-anchored shields
Pick the apps. Your own identity statement on every shield, not a generic block.
M2
Earned time
Plan your day. Finish the tasks. Earn the minutes you spend on what you wanted to block.
M3
Three-tier urge response
Ride it out. Spend earned minutes. Reinforce for two hours.
M4
CBT reflection
After each override, one question, what were you looking for?
M5
Behavioral insights
Turn-back rate. Identity-aligned days. Evening pickups. Hours are the wrong metric.
M6
Habit triggers
Anchor habits, time-of-day, location-based, implementation intentions, in iOS.
Pauz Plus
The app is free. Always.
Pauz Plus is the tip jar. For people who want indie software like this to keep existing. The membership funds the work. It doesn't unlock anything in the app.
Pauz Plus
good afternoon
Sam
The ★ is the only visible difference. It sits beside your name on the Today screen. That's the whole product change.
$4.99/ month
Cancel anytime in iOS SettingsWhat you get
- Our genuine thanks.
- A ★ beside your name on the Today screen.
- That’s the whole list.
What it pays for
- Independent development.
- No VCs, no ads, no data deals.
- Servers, devices, and the people writing the code.
What it does not unlock
- Every shield, every mechanism, every research-backed feature.
- Pauz works the same whether you subscribe or not.
- The split is on purpose.
FAQ
Asked, answered.
What does Pauz actually do that Apple Screen Time doesn't?
Apple's Screen Time blocks apps and shows you hours. Pauz puts your own identity statement on every shield, makes you earn the minutes you spend by completing the day you said you'd have, and surfaces behavioral metrics (turn-back rate, identity-aligned days) instead of raw hours. The mechanisms are cited above.
Why does Pauz reference research so heavily?
Because most cessation apps don't. Heffner et al. 2021 (PMC8578285) reviewed the category and found very few apps in the App Store have any peer-reviewed evidence behind them. Pauz's positioning is that every mechanism it ships should be traceable to a study.
Is the earned-time mechanic gamification?
No. Gamification adds external rewards (points, badges, leaderboards) to drive engagement. Earned time is the opposite. You've decided in the morning that screen time has a cost, and the cost is doing the things you said you'd do. The mechanism is constraint, not reward.
Does Pauz work without Family Controls authorization?
No. Apple's Family Controls + ManagedSettings + DeviceActivity frameworks are the only sanctioned way iOS lets a third-party app block other apps. The trade-off: everything runs on-device. Pauz never sees what apps you use or what you do on them.
Is there a paid tier?
Pauz is fully free for everyone, every shield, every mechanism, every research-backed feature. Pauz Plus is an optional $4.99/month membership that funds independent development. You get our genuine thanks and a gold ★ beside your name on the Today screen. It does not unlock anything. The split is on purpose.
Why no Android?
Pauz shields apps using Apple's Family Controls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity frameworks, the only sanctioned way iOS lets a third-party app block other apps on-device without uploading your behavior to a server. Android has no equivalent. We won't ship an Android version that's worse than the iOS one. So: iOS only, on purpose.
Where do I get it?
The App Store. Search "Pauz" or use the download link at the top of this page. Requires iOS 17 or later. Two taps to install, one short Family Controls authorization, and the first shield is live.