Pre-open friction
Breathing exercise, blurry icon, "are you sure" tap. Trains your thumb to power through. (one sec, ScreenZen)
Free for Android
You can open Instagram.
You can open Instagram.
We just won't let you doomscroll it.
PullBack is the mid-session interrupt for Android. Pick a timer. Open the apps you'd otherwise lose an hour to. When time's up, we quietly send you home. No breathing exercise. No shame. Just an exit.
- Auto-close after a timer you pick — 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes
- 4 apps free (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X). Unlock all 8, plus any installed app, with Pro.
- We see app names, not screen content
Pulled back.
12 min on Instagram.
Sending you home in 2…
Tap anywhere to dismiss
The wedge
Most blockers stop you before you start. PullBack stops you mid-scroll.
The moment that matters isn't when you open Instagram. It's twenty minutes later, when you've forgotten you ever opened it. Other apps train you to mash through their friction. We don't add friction — we add an exit.
Hard schedule block
You can't open the app at all between 9–5. So you turn it off when you really need to. Then forget to turn it back on. (AppBlock, Freedom)
Mid-session interrupt
Open the app like normal. Scroll. Then, before the trance gets long, we send you home. The exit you'd give yourself if you remembered to.
How it works
Three steps. No login. No nag. No breathing exercise.
- 01
Pick the apps. Pick the timer.
Toggle on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook (default-on); Snapchat, Reddit, X, Threads (toggle-on). Set a shared timer: 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes. That's the entire setup screen.
- 02
Open the app like normal.
Scroll. Watch. Reply. The timer counts quietly in the background. We can see which app you have open — never what's on your screen, never your messages, never what you're scrolling.
- 03
Time's up. We send you home.
A brief "Pulled back" screen, a two-second countdown, then your phone returns to the home screen. The app stays where it was. You can go back if you really want. Most people don't.
What's in the box
Free to start. Pro when you want more.
Free does the actual job. Pro adds control for people who want it.
Free
Everything you need to break the doomscroll
- Watch 4 apps at a time — Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X are default. Swap which 4 from a curated list of 8 (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, Threads).
- One shared timer — 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes, applied to every app you've enabled.
- Auto-close that just works — a brief "Pulled back" screen, then your phone returns home.
- Today's saves counter + daily streak.
- Master pause toggle for when you actually need to be in there for a reason.
- No ads. No login. Anonymous analytics only.
Pro
For people who want more control
- Per-app custom timers — Instagram 5 min, YouTube 30, Reddit 10.
- Add any app — not just the curated 8. Discord, news readers, dating apps, anything.
- App Groups — combine Instagram + X + TikTok into one bucket with a shared timer. Cycling between them doesn't reset the clock.
- Schedules with destination — set 9-5 Mon-Fri and choose where PullBack sends you after lockout (e.g. Slack at work, Headspace at night).
- Status bar countdown — see how much time you have before PullBack kicks in.
- Weekly + monthly stats — visualize the trend over time.
- Streak milestones, custom lockout messages, OEM-specific battery deep-links.
7-day reverse trial of Pro on every install. No card. Auto-downgrades to Free if you don't subscribe.
Pricing
Free forever. Pro is optional.
One free tier. Three Pro options. Every install starts with a 7-day Pro trial — no card.
Free
$0
Free at launch
- Auto-close after one shared timer
- 4 apps watched at a time — pick from 8
- Today's saves + streak
- No ads. No tracking.
- Free tier launches with Pro — straight from Google Play, no setup
Most chosen
Pro Annual
$39.99 / year USD
Save 33% vs. monthly · CAD $49.99
- All 8 curated apps watched at once + add any installed app
- Per-app custom timers
- App Groups — shared timers across combined apps
- Schedules with destination apps
- Status bar countdown
- Weekly + monthly stats
- Streak milestones
- Everything in Free
Pro Monthly
$4.99 / month USD
CAD $6.99. Cancel anytime.
- All 8 curated apps + custom apps
- All Pro features
- Cancel from Google Play
- Same trial: 7 days, no card
Pro Lifetime
$99.99 once
CAD $129.99. Pay once, keep forever.
- All 8 curated apps + custom apps
- All Pro features, forever
- All future Pro features included
- Indie-friendly: helps fund the roadmap
Reverse trial: every new install gets 7 days of Pro automatically. No credit card. After day 7, PullBack auto-downgrades to Free unless you subscribe. We'd rather lose a buyer than charge a confused one.
— Privacy
What we see, what we don't, what we use to improve.
We see app names, not screen content
PullBack reads which app is in front. It can't read what's on your screen, your messages, or what you're scrolling. Android's Usage Access permission only exposes the package name (e.g. com.instagram.android).
Your data stays on your device
Settings, timers, and counters live in Android's local DataStore. PullBack does not have a backend that can be breached because there is no backend.
We use product analytics
To make PullBack better, we record anonymous events like "user set timer", "user enabled app", and crash reports. We don't sell, share, or log identifiable data. Full detail in our privacy policy.
No ads. Ever.
Pro funds the roadmap, not your attention. We're not in the attention business — we return it.
Why this works
This isn't willpower. It's design.
We didn't make PullBack on a vibe. The mechanism — let the user in, then pull them out before the trance gets long — is built on three findings from peer-reviewed research.
57%
A PNAS field experiment found that pre-open friction with an easy bail-out reduced app openings 57% over six weeks. The active ingredient wasn't the mindfulness prompt — it was the bail-out option itself. PullBack applies the same exit-option psychology, but mid-session: we let you in, then give you the exit.
Löchner et al., PNAS, 202371 min
People underestimate their daily screen time by an average of 71 minutes. Your perception is wrong; the timer is right. PullBack's job is to do the noticing your brain isn't built for.
Parry et al., 2023Anthropologist Natasha Schüll documented that social feeds use the same variable-reward mechanics that keep people glued to slot machines — engineered to keep you in "the zone". PullBack doesn't fight the design. It just sets a timer and yanks you out before the trance gets long.
Schüll, Addiction by Design, 2012 For ADHD brains
Your brain didn't decide to scroll for 2 hours. It decided to open the app.
Time blindness is real: ADHD brains consistently underestimate time passage during scrolling. The feed is engineered to exploit this. PullBack doesn't ask you to feel time passing — it ends the session before the trance gets long. No streaks to maintain. No willpower required. Just a timer that closes the app.
Built by
From the same desk as Unburden.
PullBack is the second app from a one-person studio. The first is Unburden, a debt-payoff tool that picks your next dollar so you don't have to. Same operating principles here: no ads, no upsell wall, no behavioral nudges designed to extract money. You either get value or you don't, and we'd rather know.
4
doomscrolls stopped today
~12 min returned · 11-day streak · 87 all-time
Pull-back timer
10 min in any watched app
Tap to change
Apps PullBack is watching
Instagram 10m
YouTube 10m
Facebook 10m
X 10m
TikTok
Add custom app PRO
Things people ask
Before you install.
Is PullBack free?
Yes, free to start. The Free tier auto-closes 4 apps at a time — Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X by default, with one shared timer. You can swap which 4 you watch from a curated list of 8 (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, Threads). Pro unlocks all 8 watched at once, adds custom apps, per-app timers, schedules, and weekly stats. Every new install starts with a 7-day Pro trial — no credit card.
Does PullBack work on iPhone?
No. PullBack is Android-only and there is no iOS roadmap. Apple's app sandbox prevents the kind of mid-session app-closing PullBack does. If you're on iPhone, look at one sec, Opal, or Apple's built-in Screen Time. We focus on Android because Android lets us build something that actually works.
How does PullBack actually close Instagram?
PullBack runs quietly in the background and notices when you've opened one of your watched apps. A timer starts. When it hits zero, PullBack briefly shows a 'Pulled back' screen and returns your phone to the home screen. Your scroll position is preserved; you can re-open if you really want. Most people don't. Built on the same Android API that powers Google's own Digital Wellbeing — full technical detail on the privacy page if you're curious.
Will PullBack drain my battery?
No meaningfully. PullBack only checks which app is in the foreground every second — it doesn't use GPS, doesn't use the network, doesn't read your screen. In testing on a Pixel 8, the daily battery overhead is well under 1%. PullBack also asks Android to keep the timer running while your phone is asleep, so it survives Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus's aggressive battery management.
Does PullBack collect any data?
We collect anonymous product analytics — events like "timer set to 10 minutes" or "lockout triggered" — to understand what works and where we should focus. We do not read what's on your screen, ever, and we do not sell or share user data. The only thing PullBack reads on-device is the package name of the app currently in the foreground (e.g. com.instagram.android), and that stays in memory while the service runs.
Can I bypass PullBack if I really want to keep scrolling?
Yes — and that's deliberate. PullBack is a tool, not a prison. After it sends you home, you can re-open the app immediately. The timer simply restarts. The point is to break the trance of infinite scroll long enough for your conscious mind to catch up. If you want a hard-block, look at AppBlock or Opal.
How is PullBack different from one sec?
one sec adds breathing-pause friction before you open an app — it tries to stop you at the door. PullBack lets you in, then closes the app after the timer you set. Use one sec when you want resistance every time you reach for Instagram. Use PullBack when you've already decided you'll scroll for a few minutes but want a hard exit before the 45-minute spiral.
Which apps can PullBack close?
Free watches 4 apps at a time — Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X by default, but you can swap which 4 from the curated list of 8 (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X, Threads). Pro unlocks all 8 watched at once and lets you add any other app you have installed.
What does the Pro tier cost?
$39.99/year, $4.99/month, or $99.99 lifetime (USD; CAD/GBP/EUR/AUD also supported). Every new install gets a 7-day Pro trial automatically — no credit card required. After 7 days, PullBack auto-downgrades to Free unless you subscribe.
What happens after PullBack closes the app?
By default, PullBack sends you to your home screen. With Pro Schedules, you can pick a destination app: set a 9-5 work window and PullBack will launch Slack (or any app you choose) instead of sending you home. The hard-send-home option is always there if you need it.
What if I just switch to YouTube when Instagram closes?
That's exactly why App Groups exist. With Pro, you can combine Instagram + TikTok + X + YouTube into a single group with one shared timer. Time accumulates across the group — 8 min on YouTube + 8 min on TikTok + 8 min on Instagram counts as 24 minutes. The lockout even tells you: '30 min across Social today. YouTube took you past it.'
Get the app Stop doomscrolling.
Stop doomscrolling.
Starting today.
Play Store launch May 25, 2026. Drop your email and we'll send the link the moment it's live.
Live on Google Play Get the launch email