Brick alternatives: same friction, nothing to buy
Brick works, and it works for a reason worth understanding: it converts a mental barrier into a physical one. You can argue with a passcode. You cannot argue with a tag that's sitting on your kitchen counter while you're on a train. But it's also a purchase, an object to keep track of, and a system that fails awkwardly the moment you're away from home and genuinely need something. Here's how to get the same effect in software.
Quick Answer
Brick's real mechanism isn't NFC - it's making the unlock cost something you can't pay from the couch. Software can charge the same kind of cost. FightMode charges a 60-second boxing round, which you also can't do absent-mindedly. Freedom's locked sessions and Opal's deep focus modes make ending a block slow and deliberate. And iPhone's Screen Time, with the passcode set by someone else and stored away from you, is a free approximation of the same distance.
What Brick is actually doing
Strip away the hardware and Brick is one idea: the unlock has to happen somewhere you aren't. That's it. Distance is doing all the work. Every failed blocker in history failed because the unlock was available at exactly the moment of temptation, from exactly the position you were already in.
Once you see it that way, the question stops being "what other NFC products exist" and becomes "what else can I make expensive at the moment of the urge?" There are three good answers: distance, effort, and time-plus-deliberation. Brick picks distance. Software can pick the other two - and one of them, effort, is arguably harder to cheat.
The honest downsides of hardware
- It's a purchase. Blockers are a category where people are already reluctant to spend; buying an object raises the bar further.
- You have to not lose it. A blocking system whose critical component lives loose in a drawer is a blocking system with a countdown on it.
- It fails in the wrong direction. Locked out at home is fine. Locked out at an airport when you need a boarding pass is not, and the workaround you set up for that becomes the hole in the system.
- Travel breaks it. The tag stays home; you don't.
Software alternatives, ranked by how well they replace distance
| Option | What it charges | Works away from home | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| FightMode | A 60-second boxing round | Yes - anywhere you can stand | Free |
| Freedom locked sessions | Deliberate, slow session-breaking | Yes | Subscription |
| Opal deep focus | Hard-to-end focus blocks | Yes | Subscription |
| Screen Time + remote passcode | Asking another person | Yes, socially | Free |
| one sec / ScreenZen | A few seconds of waiting | Yes | Free tier |
1. FightMode - effort instead of distance
The closest philosophical match to Brick without the tag. You can't unlock your apps from a slouched position on the sofa, because the unlock is a 60-second boxing round: a coach calls combos, you throw them, an AI scorecard grades whether they were real. Standing up and throwing sixty seconds of punches is exactly as unavailable to a bored, half-asleep version of you as a tag in another room.
And unlike a tag, it travels, it can't be lost, and the cost you pay produces something. A month of unlocks is a month of conditioning. More on why boxing is the right toll.
2. Freedom's locked sessions
Freedom lets you start a session that's deliberately painful to end, across your phone and computer at once. It's less physical than Brick but it targets the same failure: the easy, instant escape. If your distraction lives on a laptop as much as a phone, this is the better trade. See the Freedom breakdown.
3. Screen Time with someone else holding the passcode
The free version of distance, and it's underrated. Set up App Limits and Downtime, then have a partner or roommate set the Screen Time passcode and not tell you. Now the unlock requires a conversation with another human, which is a genuinely high cost at 11pm when you want to scroll.
Two caveats: it puts a real social burden on the other person, and it only works if they'll actually say no. Setup steps are in how to block apps on iPhone.
4. The lo-fi version, for completeness
Free things that work like distance
Charge the phone in another room overnight. The single highest-leverage change most people can make, and it costs nothing.
Log out of the apps, delete the saved password. Re-entering credentials is a small, real toll.
Delete the app, keep the account. Reinstalling takes a minute and a decision. That minute is the whole point.
Grayscale. Doesn't stop you, but strips out a lot of the pull. Works well stacked with anything above.
Which should you pick?
If you love the physicality of Brick and you're home most of the time, Brick is fine - buy it. If you travel, lose things, or don't want another object, pick the software that charges effort rather than time: that's the property that made Brick work, and it's the property most software blockers are missing. Full landscape in the app blocker comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a Brick alternative that doesn't need hardware?
Yes. Brick's effectiveness comes from making the unlock unavailable from where you're sitting, and software can do that too by charging effort instead of distance. FightMode requires a 60-second boxing round to unlock, which a bored person on a sofa is no more able to fake than they can tap a tag in another room. Freedom's locked sessions and Screen Time with a passcode held by someone else are the other two credible no-hardware options.
What happens with Brick if you leave the tag at home?
Your apps stay locked until you get back to it, which is the intended behavior and also the main practical complaint. It's excellent for a focused workday and awkward when you're travelling and need something you blocked. Any workaround you set up for that case tends to become the permanent hole in the system, which is why some people prefer a blocker whose unlock travels with them.
Does an app blocker need to be unbypassable to work?
No, and none of them are - Apple doesn't let an iPhone app make itself unremovable. What matters is whether the bypass costs more than the scroll is worth in the moment. A one-tap dismissal costs nothing and fails. A 60-second boxing round or a walk to another room costs enough that the urge usually passes before you finish paying.
Is a free app blocker good enough?
For most people, yes. The difference between a working blocker and a decorative one is the mechanism, not the price tag. A free app that charges you real effort will beat a subscription that charges you a dismissible dialog every time. Start free, and only pay for something once you can name the specific thing the free tool failed to do.
Related Articles
- The Best Opal Alternative for iPhone
- The Best one sec Alternative
- The Best Freedom App Alternative for iPhone
- Exercise-to-Unlock Apps: Every "Workout to Scroll" App Compared
- Boxing App Blocker: Built for Fighters
- Best Free App Blockers for iPhone
Scope
This article compares third-party iPhone apps based on their publicly described features as of August 2026. App features, pricing, and availability change often - check the App Store listing before deciding. FightMode is made by the author of this site, so treat its inclusion as what it is: the app I built because I wanted this category to work differently.