First the work. Then the scroll.
First Then puts your most distracting apps and sites behind a door. The key is your own study material — answer the questions, and you get a timed pass.
How it works
- Pick what to block Choose the apps, categories and websites you keep falling into. iOS Screen Time does the blocking, so there's no way around it in another browser.
- Upload something worth learning A spreadsheet of vocabulary, an Anki deck, a list of formulas — whatever you actually want in your head.
- Answer before you get in Tap a blocked app and you get quizzed on your own deck instead. Get through it, wait out the cooldown, and the block lifts for a set stretch.
- The door shuts again When the pass expires the block comes back on its own. Turning it off isn't one tap — that's the point.
Why it works
A cost, not a wall
Hard blocks get switched off. A price you can actually pay gets paid — and you learn something on the way through.
Your material
The questions come from the deck you uploaded, so the time you spend at the door isn't wasted time.
Websites too
A Safari extension covers the sites that don't have an app to block.
Your usage stays put
What you open and for how long never leaves Screen Time on your device. Your decks and what you type at the door do go to the server. Details.
Get in early
First Then is in private testing on iOS. If you have an invite, install TestFlight, then upload a deck so the app has something to ask you about.