CogniFocus: Block Apps & Focus

CogniElevate

In-app purchases

About this app

You open Instagram for one second. Twenty minutes later you're still there.

CogniFocus is a focus timer and app blocker that pushes back when your attention slips. Start a session and the Distraction Shield watches for the apps you said you'd stop opening. The moment you switch, it blocks it. Then the Goblin reacts.

Not a push notification. An actual reaction shaped by what you've been doing all session. Annoyed if you keep slipping. Cheerful when you finish clean. Angry if you really push it.

It sounds small. It isn't.

HOW THE APP BLOCKER WORKS
CogniFocus monitors your active app during focus sessions using Android's Usage Access permission. Open a blocked app and the screen blocker kicks in immediately, before one quick check becomes a 30-minute scroll. Lockout countdowns get longer each time you try. You pick the apps to block. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, or anything else. The Shield holds the line.

THE GOBLIN
Most focus apps ignore you the moment you drift. The Goblin doesn't. It tracks your distraction rate, recovery speed and session momentum, then reacts at the moments that count. When you slip. When you recover. When your streak is at risk. When you finish a clean session. It builds context over time so reactions fit your actual week, not a random trigger.

FOCUS SESSIONS
Set a custom or preset duration. Live countdown timer. Pause, resume or adjust mid-session. Session quality is scored automatically so you can see whether you're actually improving or just logging time.

MANUAL BLOCK (PRO)
Lock yourself out of distracting apps between sessions. Stronger than a screen time limit. Comes with a 4-second confirm countdown so you can't impulse-block something you'll need in ten minutes.

DND FOCUS MODE (PRO)
Silence calls and notifications automatically when a session starts. Combine it with the app blocker for a real distraction-free mode.

PLANNED SESSIONS (PRO)
Schedule focus blocks ahead of time with reminders before they start. Completions and misses are tracked so you can see your planning against your follow-through.

BEHAVIORAL STATS
Distraction patterns, recovery speed and focus trends tracked across your history. The Goblin reads all of it. After a rough week it knows, and its tone shifts to match.

STREAKS AND FOCUS SHARDS
Daily streak tracking with streak shields so one bad day doesn't erase a long run. Earn Focus Shards for showing up and level up over time.

CLOUD SYNC (PRO)
Stats, blocked apps, sessions and progress backed up and restorable. Switch devices without losing your history.

WHO IT'S FOR
Students who lose study sessions to social media. Developers and remote workers who keep switching apps during deep work. Anyone who tried screen time limits and found them too easy to override.

CogniFocus works differently from standard screen time or parental control apps because it reacts. A timer that ignores you when you break it teaches you nothing. A Goblin that gets genuinely annoyed is harder to ignore.

PLANS
Basic (Free): 3 blocked apps, sessions up to 90 minutes, Distraction Shield, core Goblin reactions.

Pro: 7 blocked apps, sessions up to 4 hours, Manual Block, DND Focus Mode, Planned Sessions, recovery nudges, full cloud sync.

Less drifting. More locking in.

What’s new

Sharper Shield (v5.2.2)

- Shield now catches app opens more reliably so fewer distractions slip through
- Goblin reacts better when focus gets messy
- Progress makes your focus patterns easier to read
- Shield warns you when protection needs fixing
- Long-session notifications are more reliable