{"slug": "foqos", "name": "Foqos", "category": "productivity", "category_name": "Productivity", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 3.865, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2025-12-28", "latest": "2026-09-21", "why": "Based on my screen time reports, I got back about 2 hours per day average after blocking all my favorite sites.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Based on my screen time reports, I got back about 2 hours per day average after blocking all my favorite sites.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "foqos.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.foqos.app", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Foqos"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 796167008, "item_id": 49760438, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49760438", "by": "olwmc", "date": "2026-09-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can't recommend https://www.foqos.app/ enough", "excerpt": "Not to shill but if you're struggling with apps on your (i)phone, I can't recommend https://www.foqos.app/ enough. My weekly screentime (as measured by my iphone, not true screen time) is <1hr. NFC tag is optional you can literally buy a candy bar and tape the barcode to an index card and that will work. The physical layer is massive. Now my problem is just limited to desktop which is easier to control.", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting phone apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Minimal Phone 2"}, {"id": 792625568, "item_id": 49539098, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539098", "by": "projproj", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Based on my screen time reports, I got back about 2 hours per day average after blocking all my favorite sites.", "excerpt": "I had an interesting experience after I stopped reading HN comments for two weeks. I think it had to do with not reading the doom and gloom on here, which I tend to agree with. But after two weeks of reading neither the hype nor the doom about LLMs, I realized how amazing (though not perfect) this tool is. My point isn't whether LLMs are good or bad, but just how I didn't realize how much my consumption of other peop", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been?"}, {"id": 774391520, "item_id": 48399470, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48399470", "by": "saltysaltysalty", "date": "2026-06-04", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Check out Foqos. Free for iOS, lock any apps down with a QR code which you leave in a cupboard for the times you really need to unlock.", "excerpt": "Check out Foqos. Free for iOS, lock any apps down with a QR code which you leave in a cupboard for the times you really need to unlock. Otherwise great for calls and messages, that it! Works great for me", "context": "", "use_case": "Locking apps with a QR code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dumbphone 2"}, {"id": 742560288, "item_id": 46410018, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46410018", "by": "tailspin2019", "date": "2025-12-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just installed Foqos[0] (iOS, free) for this exact purpose. Excellent app.", "excerpt": "I just installed Foqos[0] (iOS, free) for this exact purpose. Excellent app. You can require scanning an NFC tag or QR code to disable app/web blocking. I plan to put an NFC tag in my car, so that (while I\u2019m home or working at my desk) I have to physically go outside if I really want to unlock my blocked apps before the end of the preset schedule. Meaning\u2026. in reality\u2026. I\u2019m not likely to. [0] https://www.foqos.app", "context": "", "use_case": "App and web blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Go Gray, Not Cray: Why You Should Grayscale Your Phone"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["nfc/barcode app blocking", "blocking distracting phone apps", "blocking distracting sites", "locking apps with a qr code", "app and web blocking"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49790409", "title": "Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49749369", "title": "Minimal Phone 2", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49526069", "title": "How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48392203", "title": "Dumbphone 2", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46347893", "title": "Go Gray, Not Cray: Why You Should Grayscale Your Phone", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 2, "compare": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 796696688, "item_id": 49793543, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49793543", "by": "snazz", "date": "2026-09-21", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "basically Brick but open source and with any NFC tag or barcode", "excerpt": "What have you found to be effective for you? I recently heard of this (basically Brick but open source and with any NFC tag or barcode), but I haven\u2019t gotten a chance to test it out yet: https://www.foqos.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "NFC/barcode app blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Turn off and restrict access to Apple Intelligence features on Mac"}, {"id": 796167008, "item_id": 49760438, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49760438", "by": "olwmc", "date": "2026-09-18", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I can't recommend https://www.foqos.app/ enough", "excerpt": "Not to shill but if you're struggling with apps on your (i)phone, I can't recommend https://www.foqos.app/ enough. My weekly screentime (as measured by my iphone, not true screen time) is <1hr. NFC tag is optional you can literally buy a candy bar and tape the barcode to an index card and that will work. The physical layer is massive. Now my problem is just limited to desktop which is easier to control.", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting phone apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Minimal Phone 2"}, {"id": 792625568, "item_id": 49539098, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49539098", "by": "projproj", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Based on my screen time reports, I got back about 2 hours per day average after blocking all my favorite sites.", "excerpt": "I had an interesting experience after I stopped reading HN comments for two weeks. I think it had to do with not reading the doom and gloom on here, which I tend to agree with. But after two weeks of reading neither the hype nor the doom about LLMs, I realized how amazing (though not perfect) this tool is. My point isn't whether LLMs are good or bad, but just how I didn't realize how much my consumption of other peop", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking distracting sites", "switched_from": "", "story": "How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been?"}, {"id": 774391520, "item_id": 48399470, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48399470", "by": "saltysaltysalty", "date": "2026-06-04", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Check out Foqos. Free for iOS, lock any apps down with a QR code which you leave in a cupboard for the times you really need to unlock.", "excerpt": "Check out Foqos. Free for iOS, lock any apps down with a QR code which you leave in a cupboard for the times you really need to unlock. Otherwise great for calls and messages, that it! Works great for me", "context": "", "use_case": "Locking apps with a QR code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dumbphone 2"}, {"id": 742560288, "item_id": 46410018, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46410018", "by": "tailspin2019", "date": "2025-12-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I just installed Foqos[0] (iOS, free) for this exact purpose. Excellent app.", "excerpt": "I just installed Foqos[0] (iOS, free) for this exact purpose. Excellent app. You can require scanning an NFC tag or QR code to disable app/web blocking. I plan to put an NFC tag in my car, so that (while I\u2019m home or working at my desk) I have to physically go outside if I really want to unlock my blocked apps before the end of the preset schedule. Meaning\u2026. in reality\u2026. I\u2019m not likely to. [0] https://www.foqos.app", "context": "", "use_case": "App and web blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Go Gray, Not Cray: Why You Should Grayscale Your Phone"}]}