A time limit on certain apps before you need to walk to the brick to unbrick the apps would be a really nice middle ground on your days off.

Hi Brick Team,

I just want to say—I’m loving my Brick! It’s been such a helpful tool for managing my phone use, and I’ve been recommending it to everyone I know.

That said, I have a few suggestions that I think could make the experience even more effective:

Make Bricking Easier (but Keep Un-Bricking as It Is):

Right now, I find that getting up to brick my phone can sometimes be a barrier—especially when I’ve already grabbed it and started scrolling on social media from somewhere comfortable, like my bed. In those moments, the effort to get up and go brick my phone is just enough to keep me stuck scrolling longer than I’d like.

On the other hand, having to get up to un-brick my phone has been a perfect deterrent—it adds just the right amount of friction to help me break the habit.

I’d love it if there were a way to brick my phone remotely—maybe through a button in the app or a shortcut—while still requiring the same in-person effort to un-brick. That would keep the core benefit of the Brick intact while making it easier to use when I need it most.

Set a Timer That Auto-Bricks:

Sometimes I do want to use social media, just for a limited time. I’d love the option to set a timer (say, 15 minutes), after which the phone bricks automatically. That way, if I really want to keep going, I’d have to get up and un-brick it—introducing helpful friction and making overuse less likely.

Add Apps to the Brick List Mid-Brick:

There are times when I need to keep access to certain apps—like Messages—temporarily while my phone is bricked. But after I’m done replying, I’d love to be able to add Messages (or any other app) to the brick list without having to un-brick and start the whole process over. Right now, it seems I can’t add apps to the brick list once my phone is already bricked—unless I get up, un-brick myself, and then manually add the app (like Messages). The problem is, the effort it takes to do that often leads me to just leave Messages un-bricked, even though it becomes a distraction. That laziness to get up and go through the whole process ends up limiting my productivity, since messages is a very distracting app.

Overall, my biggest request is this: please consider making bricking easier, while keeping un-bricking the small challenge it currently is. This idea reminds me of the concept in the book Atomic Habits—making healthy habits easier to access and unhealthy habits harder to access.

Lastly, I just want to say—I really love the scheduled brick feature. It’s made a big difference in helping me stay on track without resistance.

Thanks for creating such an innovative and genuinely helpful tool!

Warmly,

Nicole B

It's easy to unbrick my phone with the intention of quickly checking social media and then getting sucked into doomscrolling. I would find it beneficial to set up daily app limits that would auto-brick those specific apps once the time limit has been reached.

I have loved my brick so far while I've had it, but one idea that I had was to give a quick break while the Brick is still unlocked so that I don't have to fully unbrick my phone to do a quick tast. Like maybe a 1 time use 15 minute "break"

Would love to set up a "Countdown to Brick" timer. Dopamine breaks are inevitable for me, and I like to check up on recent news via social media, but if I could set up a countdown timer to Brick mode this would help keep users from losing track of time during phone "vice" sessions. Allows a little bit of dopamine hit, but locks you out just the same way as a scheduled Brick does. Certainly useful for folks who take long bathroom breaks lol.

As an aside, I've been a user of Brick since spring/summer of 2024, I have really appreciated the remote Brick feature being added as I used to find myself forgetting to Brick before leaving for work or a dinner. Scheduled Brick has also been a game changer to keep my morning routine consistent and remove the doom scroll when waking up. Thanks!

Would like to set a timed unbrick scheduling so that I can take the bus to work, brick my phone remotely when I get there and then it unbricks at my lunch hour or at the end of the day so I don't have to go home immediately after work

I have two Bricks, one on the fridge and one in my purse. The fridge one is great but the purse one gets lost at the bottom, and if I go to a concert or sporting event with a bag policy it's awkward to bring, but it can be a liability if my phone is bricked and I don't have a way to unbrick it in order to look something up for the babysitter or download a ticketing app last minute or something. Would be incredible to have a credit card sized Brick that I can just keep in my wallet. I saw that one of your competitors did this but I'd like to stick with Brick since I've already invested.

I have a weird request - not sure if this will resonate with anyone else, but thought I might as well add it and see what people think: I want to unblock an app with brick, keeping it blocked all other times. I only use TikTok when I need to publish a video for work. I don't want to ever use it otherwise. Is there a way to make it so that this app will be blocked when unbricked and unblocked when bricked (i.e. in my work mode)?