Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels

  • Posted 1 week ago by adrianhacar
  • 685 points
https://scrollguard.app/
I wanted to find a way to use Instagram without ending up scrolling for two hours every time I open the app to see a friend's story.

Most screen time apps I found focus on blocking the app itself instead of the addictive feed, so I created this app to allow me to keep using the "healthy" and "social" features and block the infinite scrolling (Reels)

After implementing the block on Instagram Reels, I got addicted to YouTube Shorts and Reddit feed. So, I extended the app to cover these as well.

To avoid replacing the scrolling for regular feeds, I also added a feature that shows a pop-up when I'm overscrolling in any app. It forces me to stop and think for a minute before I continue scrolling.

I built it on Android Studio, using Kotlin and Jetpack Compose for the UI. I use the Accessibility Service to detect scrolls and navigate out of them. Unfortunately, this only works for Android. There is no way (as far as I know) to do this on iOS.

I'd love to hear your thoughts

90 comments

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