getIRL

Block the apps that pull you in.

At work and at night, getIRL shuts the apps you choose on your own iPhone. Getting back to them takes a few minutes, not willpower.

Get getIRL on the App Store

Free · iPhone · iOS 17 or later · No account

getIRL Home: Focus is on, five apps blocked until 17:30, shown on a printed scale of the day.

Every screen in getIRL reads time off one printed scale with one needle, like the dial of an old radio.

Friction, not punishment.

Blocking is easy. What getIRL changes is the way back: a short wait you have to sit with, so opening the app is a choice instead of a reflex.

Choose what to block

Apps, categories and websites, picked from Apple's own list. Make a routine for focus, sleep, deep work or family time.

Blocks start on their own

On a schedule, like every night 23:00–07:00, or for an hour right now. They hold even when the app is closed.

Unlocking takes a few minutes

Wait out a short countdown and apps open for 10 minutes, then the block comes back by itself. A few emergency unlocks each week skip the wait.

The wait is the point.

Ask to unlock from the block screen and getIRL opens a calm countdown. Stay with it and the apps open. Leave, and it starts again. Most of the time, you'll find you didn't need them.

The countdown: about 12 minutes left, read off a printed scale, with a Never mind button.

Night is its own place.

When Sleep is on, getIRL goes dark and still: warm grey on charcoal, nothing ticking, nothing to watch. Just a quiet reminder that it's late, and that the apps will still be there in the morning.

getIRL at night: Sleep is on until 07:00, rest well, in dark warm tones.

See the hours you got back.

History shows the week on the same printed scale, the hours each routine protected, and a quiet note at 08:00 about the day before. No streaks, no guilt.

History: hours protected this week, a timetable of blocked hours per day, and totals by routine.

Nothing leaves your iPhone.

There's no account, no server, no ads, no analytics and no tracking. getIRL uses Apple's Screen Time, which never even tells it which apps you picked.

Your routines, schedules and history live only on your phone, and go when you delete the app.
You stay in charge: Screen Time access can be switched off in Settings at any time, and every block lifts.
getIRL is a commitment tool, not a lock. It doesn't pretend it can't be bypassed.

Read the privacy policy

Help

An app is still blocked after I removed it from a routine.

Open getIRL once; it repairs blocks each time it opens. If it is still blocked, go to iPhone Settings → Screen Time, switch getIRL's access off and on again.

Blocks don't start.

getIRL needs Screen Time access. Open the app; it asks for access if it is off.

I didn't see the unlock notification.

Notifications can be silenced by a Focus mode. Open getIRL within 10 minutes of tapping "Ask to unlock" and the countdown opens by itself.

Can getIRL be switched off?

Yes. Screen Time access can be turned off in Settings with Face ID or your passcode. getIRL notes it in History, without judgement.

Contact

Questions, problems or ideas: bruno.pais88@gmail.com. I read every message.