Ride out the urge.
Urges build, peak and fade on their own. We help you wait for the fade.
Urge surfing — Marlatt & Gordon, 1985; Bowen & Marlatt, 2009When you try to quit an app
Delete. Reinstall. Repeat?
Lock it instead.
Pactroll helps you ride out the urge.
Why quitting an app is so hard
One tap to delete.One tap to get it back.
Deleting removes the app — not the urge.
Why Pactroll works
Lock it. Ride it out.Understand it.
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01
Lock it.
Pick the apps that pull you in. Unlike deleting, a lock isn’t one tap to undo.
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02
Ride out the urge.
Reach for a locked app and Pactroll walks you through it: name what’s going on, then five minutes of something else. Still want it after two rounds? Your call.
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03
See how it hooks you.
A research-backed Toolkit explains how these apps are built to keep you hooked. It’s not a willpower problem, so you can stop blaming yourself.
Whatever pulls you in.
One more pull. Then one more.
Why we’re different
Built on decades of research.
Do something else.
Pushing a thought away brings it back. Five minutes of something else helps it pass.
Wegner et al., 1987A slip isn’t a reset.
Break a strict rule and many people just give up. Your day count keeps going.
Polivy & Herman, 2020; Larimer et al., 1999We stay quiet.
Reminders can spark the urge. We’re there when you need us.
Carter & Tiffany, 1999Free guides
Not ready for an app?Start with a guide.
Start here
All guides →
How to stop being addicted to your phone
A 3-step plan for any app, using only your iPhone's settings.
7 min read Common problemDeleted it, then reinstalled it again?
Why it keeps happening, and how to break the loop.
7 min read iOS 27Where did Downtime and App Limits go?
Every Screen Time setting under its new name.
3 min readWillpower runs out.Your lock doesn’t.
No account. Your data stays on your iPhone.