Many people spend too much time on their phones, mindlessly cycling through social media and other apps. This app may be the best way to help regain that lost focus by limiting smartphone usage.

What Is One Sec?

One Sec is an app for iOS and Android that allows you to force a 10-second pause before opening certain apps and websites, among many other features. It has both free and pro versions, with the free version only supporting interventions on one app. The pro version supports unlimited app interventions and a heap of other features.

One Sec handles its interventions via programmable automations in iOS Shortcuts or more simply via the app on Android to trigger a pause every time you open certain apps or websites. It’s helpful for people who’ve developed a habit of mindlessly opening apps—by forcing a pause, it’s hard to be totally mindless about opening an app. The app also has numerous tutorials for proper setup.

The app’s main purpose is to promote mindfulness and help users regain focus by changing their habits with apps they deem problematic, such as social media or shopping. According to the app’s website, the average One Sec user spends 57% less time on social media. The One Sec Research webpage also cites studies to scientifically back up its methodology. Many people might need to reduce their phone usage but cannot do a total social media detox, and One Sec is a perfect middle ground.

One Sec’s Additional Features for Focus

In addition to its core intervention feature, One Sec has many more options on its Pro plan. First, rather than a simple 10-second pause, you can have a different intervention activity, such as a short focus exercise, journaling on a schedule, or suggestions for healthy alternatives.

You can also modify the trigger to completely block apps and websites for a certain duration, and you can schedule recurring hours when apps are blocked. For example, if you want to avoid social media before bed, you can use One Sec to force yourself from checking it entirely. You can also schedule hours when the app doesn’t trigger any interventions, in case you want time to allow yourself to be relatively mindless. On iOS, you can additionally sync certain interventions with Focus Modes.

Additionally, you can set reminders if you spend too much time in a paused app, or you can program re-interventions. Re-interventions are set after an initial intervention when opening an app: you select how much time you plan to spend on an app, and if you exceed that, another intervention is automatically triggered.

There are additional quality of life features, too, such as allowing you to go back to an app without intervention if you briefly switch off from it via the Intentional App Switching setting. It also has adult content filtration, as well as a Morning Countdown setting to not check your problematic apps for a certain duration after waking up.

Getting One Sec Pro for Free

One Sec knows many people struggling with phone addiction may also be struggling financially, so the developers allow people to apply to receive the app’s premium version for free, indefinitely. In return, they ask that you review the app in the App Store and switch to a paid plan when you can to support further development.

Stats and Thoughts After Over 3 Months of Usage

We’ve tested this app over the last few months. From our firsthand experience, we’ve had over 2,700 preventions saving an estimated 5.6 days of time.

The most prevented app was YouTube. One Sec reduced attempts to open from 87 per week to 18, saving an estimated 2.3 days of time based on the average time spent in the app.

One Sec Is Great but Not Perfect

Clearly, the app’s results speak for themselves. However, the app is useful but not perfect. First, it can be frustrating to use when opening an app is actually necessary in a social setting, like opening an email confirmation, exchanging Instagram handles, or showing someone a video.

One Sec also helps you pause and re-focus, but it doesn’t do as much to help someone’s tendency towards distractibility. If you find yourself shuffling between apps because you’re feeling unfocused, it can be easy to tune out the pauses. That said, the re-intervention feature is designed to moderate this, and setting your phone to grayscale may also help make apps less stimulating.

Last, the stats show that this technique does indeed work for reducing time in problematic apps. However, those stats may not be as amazing as they seem for some. If One Sec reduces your frequency of checking problematic apps and sites, you might then respond by spending more time on those apps per session.

If you might have spent 5 minutes on Instagram 10 times per day, you might now simply spend 10 minutes 5 times per day instead. Still, more often than not, the pause prompted by One Sec prevented us from mindlessly opening apps, and it may be a fantastic addition to other digital detox apps in your arsenal.

Sometimes a Pause Is All You Need

One Sec has the data to back up its success. While it certainly isn’t perfect for everyone or every situation, it is certainly one of the most realistic options to help you mend your relationship with technology. Take one second to pause, and you might regain your focus.