Halo stops scrolling before bed so you can go to F for sleep

I had all I intend to read when I go to bed, however E-reader Power will not arrive. Instead, I launched Instagram because I’m Gen X, which is where we watch TikTok. After 20 minutes, I was almost done, except the last video wasn’t funny enough, so I needed another one.

By the time I moved my gaze two centimeters up to examine the small clock on my screen, a full 65 minutes had passed. Like everyone else on the planet, I was deeply disappointed in my lack of self-control over the great smartphone and vowed to leave it in another room every night after that, which I did exactly zero times.

A few weeks later, a small white disc arrived in the mail. A representative from ScreenZen sent me a message auraa $49 app blocking device that creates a geofence (or “halo”) around any space you choose. Halo is the device, and ScreenZen is the app used to manage it, as well as the company name. The app is free with no upsells and doesn’t require a subscription, and you can use the app without Halo, though you’ll miss out on the geofencing feature.

My expectations were low because the other app blockers I tested (Brick, Unpluq Tag, Opal) either didn’t work in a way that suited my lifestyle, or were very easy to defeat. The costs aren’t trivial either, especially for app blockers that don’t do much unless you also pay an annual subscription fee. Honestly, some of the things you can buy to keep you from using a device you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on are: Really strange.

Halo is different, not only in how it works but also in how it frames my mindset.

Go to the frig to sleep

Courtesy of ScreenZen

Halo technology works by creating a geo-fence that blocks apps on your phone once you cross into the designated space around the device. You can set it to block apps 24/7 or only during certain hours, and you can choose which apps to block or allow. The radius of the geofence is adjustable, so it’s suitable for large and small bedrooms alike. You can also set it up to work across multiple rooms, as long as your walls aren’t solid concrete. I found a YouTuber who put a halo in his car.

The marketing angle is part of Halo’s brilliance. Blocking apps in the bedroom when you’re supposed to be sleeping (or doing other activities in the bedroom) leads to a specific problem people face when it comes to practicing moderation with their devices. Brick, which I think is the most popular app blocker, promises to block your most distracting apps until you actually go to your Brick device and tap your phone on it — a good idea, and one that many people have found valuable, but it doesn’t strike the same chord.