Brick gadget helps users cut screen time by adding physical friction

I've had screen-time limits on my iPhone for years, allowing me 30 minutes on social media each day. How many times have I dismissed the limit notification and continued watching mindless Reels? I'd be horrified to find out.

It turns out that all along, what I needed was a $59 hunk of grey plastic (self-discipline would have been more affordable, but it was out of stock). The Brick — a magnetic, matchbox-sized gadget — has accomplished what no screen-time app has ever achieved. It actually got me to use my phone less and improve my sleep habits.

Brick stands apart from your standard screen-time app because it takes things a step further into the physical world. The gadget is a branded, NFC-enabled square that only lets you deactivate your custom screen-time limits if you tap your phone to the Brick, just like you're buying something at a tap-to-pay kiosk. Apparently, if I have to physically get up and tap my phone to the Brick to go on Instagram, I will not go on Instagram.

“Brick was born from a personal need: our phones were getting in the way of living,” co-founder Zach Nasgowitz told TechCrunch via email. “We searched for solutions to this problem in our lives, but we found that nothing was quite right, so we decided to build something for ourselves that would solve this problem.” I used Brick to help me with my sleep hygiene, and I am embarrassed to say that it's working even better than I could have hoped. Like many other millennials — especially those of us whose jobs are so connected to the internet — I have a bad habit of getting into bed at night and scrolling mindlessly on my phone, making it harder to sleep.

Even worse, sometimes when I wake up, I end up staying in bed on my phone, and I start the day feeling groggy. I created a “Sleep” mode on the Brick app, which turns on each night at 10:30. Then, my phone automatically blocks all apps except for messaging apps (I want to be reachable, just in case) and audio apps (I sometimes listen to podcasts or audiobooks to help me sleep).

When I wake up, I can't waste time on my phone unless I get out of bed, walk downstairs, and tap my phone to the Brick. (If you want to leave your phone out of your bedroom altogether, but use podcasts as a sleep aid, I'd suggest the Dreamie alarm clock.) It's hard to admit that I needed a $59 piece of plastic to make a lifestyle change, but without the Brick, it would be too easy for me to fall back into old habits. I've been testing a Brick that the company sent me to review, and it's been so effective that I'm going to buy one so that I can keep using it (we return or give away our review units for ethical reasons).

If you really wanted to, you could even try to DIY something like a Brick by using an NFC tag and Apple Shortcuts. “Software-only solutions like Screen Time and Digital Wellbeing are easy to bypass, and what actually works is adding friction,” Brick co-founder TJ Driver told TechCrunch via email. “This has allowed physical technology to come into play to create real separation that a software can't replicate.