BreakFree is a digital wellbeing tool designed to help you break free from addictive apps and websites — on your own terms. Unlike parental control apps, BreakFree is built for adults who want to impose meaningful, hard-to-bypass restrictions on themselves.

How it works

BreakFree runs a local DNS-based VPN on your device that silently blocks any domain you choose — social media, news feeds, adult content, gambling sites, or anything else that pulls you away from what matters. It never routes your traffic through external servers; all filtering happens entirely on your device.

A companion Accessibility Service monitors your app usage in real time. When you open a blocked app, BreakFree immediately covers it with a full-screen overlay showing your personal reason for blocking — the "why" you wrote yourself during setup.

Key features

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Domain blocker — Block any website by domain. Supports wildcard patterns (e.g., *.tiktok.com). Comes pre-loaded with the most commonly blocked addictive sites.

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App blocker — Block entire apps with a single tap. BreakFree detects all installed apps and lets you choose which ones to restrict.

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Commitment Lock — Lock your protection settings for 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, or a custom duration. Once locked, you cannot disable blocking until the timer expires.

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Schedule Blocking — Set daily start and stop times for automatic protection. BreakFree activates and deactivates the VPN on schedule, even when the app is closed.

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PIN Lock — Protect your BreakFree settings with a 4-digit PIN. Includes a recovery phrase option in case you forget your PIN.

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Anti-Uninstall Protection — Optionally grant BreakFree Device Administrator rights to prevent the app from being uninstalled while protection is active. This is a self-imposed feature — you can disable it at any time from BreakFree Settings by entering your PIN.

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Auto-start on Boot — BreakFree automatically restores your protection after every device restart.

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Streak tracking — See how many consecutive days you have kept protection active.

Privacy first

BreakFree does not collect, transmit, or store any of your browsing data. All blocking logic runs entirely on your device. No account is required. No data leaves your phone.

Permissions explained

BreakFree requests the following permissions, each for a specific and transparent purpose:

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VPN — Required to intercept DNS queries and block domains locally on your device. No traffic is routed to external servers.

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Accessibility Service — Required to detect when a blocked app comes to the foreground and display the blocking overlay.

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Device Administrator (optional) — Required only if you enable Anti-Uninstall Protection. Prevents the app from being uninstalled while active. You can revoke this at any time from Settings → Security → Device Admins → BreakFree → Deactivate (your PIN will be required).

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Receive Boot Completed — Required to automatically restore VPN protection after device restart.

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Post Notifications — Required to show protection status alerts.

Who is BreakFree for?

BreakFree is for anyone who has tried to cut back on social media, news, adult content, or gaming and found that willpower alone is not enough. It can be used as a parental control app and is not intended to monitor or control another person's device.