bloc vs one sec (2026): A 10 Second Pause, or a Walk to the Fridge to Unblock?

If a 10 second breath is enough to make you close Instagram, one sec is the cheaper, research backed choice, and it works wherever you are. If you take the breath and open the app anyway, bloc is stricter: blocked apps stay blocked until you walk to the fridge and tap your phone on the bloc.

bloc (by Letsbloc) is a small magnetic NFC device for your fridge, plus a free app for iPhone and Android and bloc for Chrome for websites. ₹1,699, pay once, no subscription, ships across India.

Disclosure: this comparison is written by the team that makes bloc. one sec's details were checked against the sources listed at the end, as of November 2026. Prices and features change, so check the one sec app for current pricing.

In 30 seconds

• ·one sec is a pause. Tap Instagram, wait 10 seconds, breathe, then choose. Free for one app.
• ·It works for the average person. A peer reviewed study found people opened the chosen app 57% less.
• ·bloc is distance. Apps block on a schedule, and the only way back in early is a walk to the fridge. ₹1,699 once.
• ·Pick by behaviour. Breathe and close the app: one sec. Breathe and open it anyway: bloc. Many people use both.

You know the moment. Your thumb is on the Instagram icon before you have decided anything. Both tools are built for that half second. They just do different things with it.

What is one sec?

one sec is an app that steps in when you tap the icon of an app you have chosen, say Instagram. It makes you wait about 10 seconds, with an invitation to take a deep breath before you continue (Time, 2022). Then you choose: open the app, or close it.

The breath is the default. 9to5Mac notes there are other options besides the breath, plus schedules, Focus mode integration and a way to block apps completely.

one sec launched on iPhone first. Android followed in 2023 with almost all of the iPhone features. There are also browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and more, plus a Mac app (one sec platforms).

Price: limiting a single app is free, and Time reported it "will always be free". In December 2024, 9to5Mac listed Pro at $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $49.99 lifetime, in US dollars.

Does one sec actually work?

For the average user, yes, and that is rare in this category. Psychologists at the Max Planck Institute and Heidelberg University ran a six week study with 280 people. By week six, one sec had cut how often the average user actually opened their chosen app by 57% (Time). Some of the drop came from people closing the app at the breathing screen, some from fewer attempts in the first place.

The study was published in PNAS in February 2023 as "Directing smartphone use through the self-nudge app one sec" by Grüning, Riedel and Lorenz-Spreen. one sec's research page also lists a peer reviewed CHI 2024 paper on design frictions and smartphone overuse.

From PNAS, Grüning, Riedel and Lorenz-Spreen, 21 February 2023.

So a pause works for many people. The question is whether it works for you. If you breathe and then tap continue every time, the pause becomes a step on the way into the app, not a barrier. That is the gap bloc is built for.

What is bloc?

bloc is a small magnetic NFC device that lives on your fridge, with a free app for iPhone and Android. bloc for Chrome does the same job for websites.

You pick the apps to block. They block on their own: on a schedule you set, such as 10 pm to 7 am or your study hours, or in a session you start from the app. While an app is blocked, opening it shows a shield screen with a limited peek, not the full feed.

To unblock before the schedule or session ends, you walk to the fridge and tap your phone on the bloc. There is no continue button on the shield.

We compared bloc with another NFC blocker in bloc vs Bloom Card. The gap with one sec is wider, because one sec is not a physical object at all.

Source: one sec's flow is from its description in Time (2022); bloc's is from Letsbloc.

bloc vs one sec: side by side

Pause or distance: the real difference

Both tools start from the same fact. You rarely decide to spend an hour on Instagram. You open it without deciding at all. We wrote about this in why willpower isn't enough to stop doomscrolling.

one sec breaks that with a pause. Ten seconds and a breath is long enough for "do I actually want this?" to show up. For many people, much of the time, the answer is no. You keep full control.

bloc breaks it with distance. The app is already blocked when the urge hits, and the exit is on the fridge. You can still get in. You have to stand up, walk, and tap.

A pause is gentle, flexible, and easy to override. Distance is harder to override, and less flexible, because the bloc stays at home when you don't.

Where one sec is better

• ·Cost. One app, free, no hardware.
• ·Evidence. A peer reviewed study with 280 people is more than most blockers can show.
• ·Everywhere you go. The pause works on the metro, at the office, at a friend's house.
• ·More surfaces. Extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and more, plus a Mac app.
• ·You stay in charge. If the breath is enough, you never feel locked out.

Where bloc is better

• ·When you tap through pauses. If "breathe, then continue" has become muscle memory, a walk to the fridge is a different kind of friction.
• ·Nights and study hours. A schedule blocks the apps at 10 pm without you switching anything on. Getting them back at 1 am means getting out of bed.
• ·A household on one bloc. Several phones can pair with one bloc, so parents and kids, or flatmates, share one rule.
• ·No subscription. ₹1,699 once. The app is free. Bloc Score tracks how you are doing.
• ·A limited peek, not a locked door. The shield lets you check something quickly without the full feed.

Which one should you pick?

Pick one sec if you want something free today, most of your scrolling happens away from home, and a moment of reflection is usually enough to put the phone down. Start with the free single app version and see what a few weeks of pauses do.

Pick bloc if you have tried pause screens and timers and tapped through them, your worst hours are at home (late nights, study sessions, the sofa after dinner), or you want one rule for the whole house.

Use both if you can. one sec handles the small urges through the day. bloc handles the hours when you know in advance that you do not want the apps at all.

A pause makes you decide. Distance makes the decision cost something. Pick the one that matches how you actually behave, not how you hope to.

Sources

• ·Time on one sec and the Max Planck study (Billy Perrigo, December 2022)
• ·PNAS: Directing smartphone use through the self-nudge app one sec (Grüning, Riedel, Lorenz-Spreen, February 2023)
• ·one sec research page
• ·one sec platforms page
• ·9to5Mac: Indie App Spotlight, one sec (December 2024)

bloc ships free across India. Starts at ₹1,699. See bloc →