I've had it looks at two things on every page of a supported site: what kind of page it is (a feed, your messages, or a specific post, video or profile) and how you got there (a link from somewhere else, or an address you typed). The feed is what gets shut. Specific pages open, briefly when a link brought you, or after a short pause and a reason when you went looking.
The four kinds of page
Every address on a supported site is sorted into one of these. The exact paths per site are in supported sites.
| Kind | Examples | Treated as |
|---|---|---|
| Feed | Instagram Reels, YouTube home and Shorts, the TikTok For You page, X Home, a subreddit listing | The thing that scrolls forever. This is what gets shut. |
| Messages | Instagram Direct, Messenger, X messages, LinkedIn messaging | Open, uncounted, when "Messages always open" is on. |
| Specific page | A post, a single video, a profile, a search, a Reddit thread | Opens, with a time box. |
| Anything else | Pages I don't recognize | Treated like a specific page. |
How you arrived matters
The extension asks the browser how each page was opened.
- A link from somewhere else, like a Google result, an email or a chat, counts as an arrival. You get a quick pass: the page opens for 30 seconds, no questions.
- An address you typed, a bookmark, a reload or the back button counts as a deliberate visit. You get the intent gate: a few seconds to breathe, then you say what you came for and pick a window.
A quick pass covers the page you arrived at, never a feed. If you follow it from a post into Reels, the feed is still shut. You get up to four quick passes per site per hour, so retyping an address in another app doesn't become a way round it.
The order of the checks
For every page, the extension works down this list and stops at the first rule that applies.
- Untouched site. Open, not counted.
- Messages, with "Messages always open" on. Open, not counted.
- A paid hour for this site is running. Open.
- A window you already chose is running, from the gate, a 10-minute unlock or the scroll check's two extra minutes. Open until it ends.
- No trial or plan on the account. You see "Start your 10 free days" with a Let me in button that leaves the site open for an hour. See pricing and trial.
- Daily limit with minutes left. The site works as usual until its own minutes are used. The one exception is feeds before noon, when no feeds before noon is on.
- A feed. If the site is set to No feeds, its daily limit is spent, your daily budget is spent, or it's before noon with that setting on, the feed is shut. On Ask first, you get a 15-second breath and a choice of 2 or 5 minutes.
- A specific page you arrived at by a link. A quick pass.
- A specific page you typed, on a closed site. An 8-second breath and two minutes for something specific, like a message or a business page.
- A YouTube lesson with "Longer for lessons" on. A 3-second breath and 15, 30 or 60 minutes. See YouTube Learn mode.
- Any other specific page you typed. A 6-second breath and 2, 5 or 15 minutes.
What a shut feed looks like
A shut feed is a full-screen page that says "This feed is shut", with Take me back as the main button. Video and audio pause behind it. Underneath there's a small link: "I really need it: unlock for 10 minutes". To use it you type one sentence (pasting is blocked) and wait 60 seconds. Details in unlock a feed.
If you come back to the same shut feed a third time in one day, the screen also offers to open that site for an hour for a one-off $1.99. You never have to take it.
Your daily budget and daily limits
Your daily budget, 20 minutes by default, is the total time across the sites you watch. When it's spent, sites on Ask first behave like No feeds until midnight. A site on Daily limit runs on its own minutes instead: it works as usual until they're used, then its feeds shut until midnight. Time only counts while the page is open, visible and in focus, and not while a pause screen is up. More in daily budget and limits.
While you scroll
Even on a page that's open, the scroll check counts how far you scroll. After 25 screens without a long pause it asks whether you found what you came for.
Questions
Does I've had it block the whole site?
No. It shuts the feed pages and leaves posts, single videos, profiles, search and messages usable. Set a site to Untouched to leave it alone completely.
Why did a link open for only 30 seconds?
Links from other sites and apps get a quick pass so you can see what was sent without being pulled into the feed. Staying longer is a new decision, made at the pause screen. You can change the length to 15, 30, 60 or 90 seconds on the dashboard.
Why do I get a pause when I type the address?
A typed address is a deliberate visit, so the extension asks what you came for first. Pick a reason and a window, and the page opens for that long.
Does it read what's on the pages?
No. It reads the page address to tell a feed from a single post, and asks the browser how the page was opened. On YouTube it also reads the video's category to spot lessons. See privacy.