Built by an ADHDer

Your brain didn't decide to scroll for 2 hours.
It decided to open the app.

PullBack is the mid-session interrupt for Android. Open Instagram. Scroll. The timer starts automatically. When time's up, we quietly send you home. No willpower required. No daily action. Just a timer that knows you can't feel time passing.

Get the launch email Coming May 25, 2026

Free tier launches alongside Pro on May 25. Drop your email — we'll send the Play Store link the moment it's live. Two emails a year max.

  • Timer auto-starts when you open the app — zero daily action required
  • 4 apps free. Unlock all 8, plus any installed app, with Pro.
  • We see app names, not screen content
The problem

Time blindness is the bug. Not discipline. Not willpower.

ADHD brains consistently underestimate time passage during absorbing activity. Barkley et al. (2001) and Toplak et al. (2003) found this across age groups — it's a measurable temporal-processing difference, not a moral failing. When TikTok says 47 minutes, it feels like 10. The feed is engineered to exploit this.

47 min

People with ADHD routinely lose 45+ minutes to a single scroll session. Subjective time compresses. The internal clock goes offline.

4–7

Number of productivity apps ADHDers try before one sticks. They fail because they require consistent daily action — the one thing ADHD brains are bad at.

0

Daily actions PullBack requires. Install, pick apps, set timer, forget it exists. The timer auto-fires. You don't have to remember.

Why the others fail

Pre-open friction trains habituation. Hard blocks trigger reactance.

Every other app asks you to fight the wrong battle. They try to stop you from opening Instagram. But you opened it intentionally. The problem is you can't close it.

Pre-open friction

one sec, ScreenZen

Breathing screen becomes wallpaper by day three. Intention prompts get clicked through on autopilot. The friction fires every tap, so the brain habituates it into background noise.

Hard block

AppBlock, Cold Turkey, Freedom

Psychological reactance: being told you can't have something, even by yourself, makes you want it more. You disable the block, forget to re-enable it, and never come back.

Gamification

Forest, Opal

Dead trees create guilt, not change. Focus scores become another number to ignore. The shame loop makes you feel worse, not better.

Mid-session interrupt — ours

PullBack

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. After self-permission. Before the binge.

How it works

The timer auto-starts. You don't have to do anything.

PullBack doesn't ask you to build a habit. It removes the need for one.

  1. 01

    Pick the apps. Pick the timer.

    One time. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit — toggle them on. Set a shared timer: 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes. That's the entire setup screen. You never have to open PullBack again.

  2. 02

    Open the app like normal.

    Scroll. Watch. Reply. The timer counts quietly in the background. No friction. No breathing exercise. No "are you sure." You opened intentionally. We respect that.

  3. 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.

Built by

From one ADHDer to another.

I'm Alex. I have ADHD. I was losing 12 hours a day to short-form video. Not because I wanted to — because I'd open an app for a specific reason, get pulled into the feed, and emerge 3 hours later with no memory of deciding to stay.

I tried every tool. one sec became wallpaper I autopiloted past. ScreenZen's "turn off for 60 min" button killed it. Forest made me feel like a murderer. Cold Turkey triggered reactance so hard I uninstalled it in rage.

The insight: I don't need help before I open the app. I need help after. So I built PullBack: a timer that starts when you open the app, and closes it when time's up. No daily action. No streaks. No guilt. Just an external stop signal for a brain that doesn't generate its own.

Built by an indie developer in Canada who has ADHD and was losing 12 hours a day to Reels. Roadmap and changelog are public.

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
Get the launch email →
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
Notify me at launch

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
Notify me at launch

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
Notify me at launch

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.

Things people ask

Before you install.

What if I forget to use it?

You don't have to remember. The timer auto-starts when you open a watched app. Set it once, and it runs in the background forever. The only time you notice it is when the app closes and you realize you just got 45 minutes back.

What if I just disable it?

You can. PullBack is a tool, not a prison. But disabling requires more steps than scrolling, and the ADHD brain is lazy in very specific ways. The bypass exists, but the friction of finding it is often enough to redirect you. Plus, the lockout screen is designed to screenshot and share. Disabling means losing the dopamine receipt.

Will this work with medication?

Meds help focus. PullBack is the stop signal. Different jobs. Meds sharpen your prefrontal cortex at work. They don't close Instagram at 11pm. PullBack is one tool, not a substitute for medication. Think of it like glasses: meds sharpen focus. PullBack is the external stop signal your brain doesn't generate on its own.

I tried Brick, Opal, or Forest. Why is this different?

They all intervene at the door. PullBack intervenes inside the room. one sec becomes wallpaper within days. ScreenZen's intention prompt gets clicked through. Opal gets disabled. Forest makes you feel worse when the tree dies. PullBack catches you mid-scroll, after you're already in, before you've lost the evening.

Is this going to shame me?

No. The lockout screen says 'Pulled back. 12 min on Instagram.' No shame, no dead trees, no streaks to maintain. Just data. You opened, you scrolled, now you're out. We built this because shame-based apps made us feel worse, not better.

What if my hyperfocus is on something good?

PullBack only closes the apps you tell it to watch. If you're hyperfocused on something productive — writing, coding, creating — and it's not on your watched list, PullBack never touches it. You can also pause PullBack anytime with the master toggle when you actually need to be in there.

Get the app

Your brain opens apps.
We'll close them.

Play Store launch May 25, 2026. Drop your email and we'll send the link the moment it's live.

Coming May 25, 2026 Get the launch email

Android 9.0+ · No ads · No tracking