one sec

So what does one sec actually do? It makes you wait.

You tap Instagram, and before it opens you get a few seconds of slow breathing. Then two buttons: carry on, or don't. It also shows how many times you've tried to open the app lately, which stings a bit.

That's the whole trick, and it's a clever one. Most of us never decide to open these apps. Our thumb does it. A short pause gives your brain time to catch up and say "actually, no".

Breathing not doing it for you? Swap it for a mirror, a maths task, turning your phone round or typing out random text.

Then there's Re-Intervention, which is the bit we like most. Say you let yourself in. After a set time, like 5 minutes, it kicks you back out and you go through the pause again.

And there's some science behind it. one sec points to a peer-reviewed study with the Max Planck Institute and Heidelberg University, where people opened their apps 57% less. The founder is one of its authors, so keep that in mind, but it did get published.

It nudges. It doesn't lock. That's the complaint we saw most.

Even fans on Hacker News say they wish it couldn't be switched off so easily. One App Store reviewer asked for a passcode that a friend could set, because they kept finding excuses to turn it off. Paying gets you strict block sessions on iPhone, but the pause itself is only ever a polite ask.

Some people stop noticing it, too. One Android user said it popped up so often on their browser that they began tapping through without thinking. Another said it worked for about a month and then wore off, though they were plugging a friend's app at the time.

Setup on iPhone has been the other big moan. For years you had to build an automation in Apple's Shortcuts app for every app you wanted slowed down.

Is that fixed? Partly. The notes for version 6.0, out in September 2026, say it's now one tap on the newest iOS. On an older iPhone, expect the fiddly way, which the help centre still walks through in seven steps.

And Android is a step behind. one sec's help centre table still marks strict block sessions and website blocking as missing there, so check before you pay. A couple of people found the browser extension hit and miss as well.

Start with the free version. It never runs out, it has no ads, and it covers one app or one website. So pick your worst one.

Got more than one? That's one sec pro, at $19.99 a year. The yearly plan starts with a 1-week free trial, and one payment covers your phone, tablet, Mac and browser.

Monthly is where it gets odd. It's $3.99 a month on one sec's own web store, and $6.99 in the US App Store. So if you must pay monthly, do it on their site. Yearly is the better deal anyway, at about 58% less than twelve months at $3.99.

There's a lifetime unlock for $99.99 as well. That's five years of the yearly price, so we'd only go for it once you know the pause works on you.

Students get 50% off, going by the help centre, though it doesn't say how to claim it. Families can buy a Family Plan at $29.99 a year in the App Store, but the listing doesn't say how many people that covers.

One thing to watch: prices change by country, so the number you see might not match ours.

one sec has 4.8 on the App Store from about 23,700 ratings. Not bad for an app whose whole job is to get in your way.

So what do the happy ones say? That the pause made them notice. They'd been opening Instagram all day with no reason at all, and seeing it counted was enough. One reviewer says their Instagram time went from five hours one day to under an hour the next.

It keeps coming up on Hacker News as well, in threads about phone habits. The praise there is that it asks instead of blocking. A hard block makes you want to beat it. A short wait just makes you think "do I even care?"

The unhappy reviews are mostly about money. One person was cross that the family plan had gone up. Another likes the app but thinks a lifetime licence costs too much for what it does.

And then there are the people who say it wore off. We'd take that one seriously, because a pause only helps while you still notice it.