Let's make your
phone boring.
Smart, focused, productive people don't have exciting phones. They have boring ones. Mono makes yours boring enough that your only interesting option is the work that changes your life.
Smart people have boring phones.
The most focused founders, the deepest thinkers, the people who actually ship — their phones don't excite them. They bore them. No red badges fighting for attention. No scroll that never ends. No notification every eight minutes. Just a tool that does what they tell it, then gets out of the way. Mono makes yours like that. Not through willpower — through a phone that simply stops being interesting.
You don't have a discipline problem. You have a phone problem.
You've tried deleting apps. Bought a dumb phone. Downloaded five focus apps. Moved social media to the last page. You know what happened next.
The reason none of it lasted? Every other app can be turned off. Three taps in Settings and it's gone. The willpower you needed to resist scrolling is the same willpower you used to disable the app that was stopping you.
Mono lives at the home screen level. There's no shortcut past it — because the shortcut would have to go through it.
"I thought I had a discipline problem. Turns out I just had a phone that made scrolling easier than working."
r/nosurf · 4.2k upvotes
Everything you need to ship. Nothing that pulls you away.
Built for makers who want to create things, not consume them. Each feature solves one specific way your phone was working against you.
Your calm home screen
A clock. A date. Four apps you chose. No notifications. No app icons to tap. No colour designed to pull your eyes somewhere else. Just the start of your day.
FreeEnter the zone, on purpose
Name what you're working on. Set the timer. Everything that could distract you stops working. Come out the other side with something built instead of consumed.
FreeThe block that doesn't ask twice
When you say an app is off-limits, it's off-limits. No workaround. No settings shortcut. The app simply doesn't open — because Mono is the door it would have to walk through.
FreeYou decide before you open
Before Instagram loads, Mono asks: how long? Five, ten, fifteen, thirty minutes. You choose while you still can — before the scroll has already started.
FreeNo escape hatch. Not even yours.
Strict Mode locks your session. The version of you right now protects the version of you in two hours. Can't cancel. Can't override. The work gets done.
FreeRemove the candy coating
All that colour is designed to keep you looking. Grayscale removes it. The screen becomes a tool again, not a magazine. Less attractive. More useful.
FreeYour attention, held in reserve
Every notification during your session gets held. Not deleted — held. One batch when you're done. They waited. Your focus didn't have to.
ProMake not-scrolling a habit
A streak of days. A chain you don't want to break. Even when motivation is low, the streak is a reason. The habit builds on itself until it stops feeling like effort.
ProFace where your hours actually go
Your real daily screen time, per app. Not an estimate. Not a weekly average buried in settings. Today. Now. The truth that makes you want to change something.
ProTwo seconds of intention. That's all it takes to save an hour.
Most of us don't decide to open Instagram. We just find ourselves there. Forty minutes later. Mid-scroll. Somewhere we didn't plan to be.
Mono interrupts that moment — right before the app opens — and asks one question: how long? It takes two seconds. But those two seconds are the difference between a choice and a habit.
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You tap Instagram. Before it opens, Mono catches you.
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You choose your time. 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes — while you're still thinking clearly.
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When time's up, you get a nudge. Then you decide — consciously — what comes next.
Other apps ask you to be stronger. Mono fixes the system.
Focus apps that live in Settings can be disabled in Settings. Mono lives where your phone starts. There's no workaround — because every workaround goes through it first.
| What you need | Mono | Opal | Freedom | Minimalist Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home screen you control | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
| Blocking that can't be bypassed | ✓ | partly | partly | — |
| Ask "how long?" before apps open | ✓ | — | — | partly |
| Strict mode — no cancelling sessions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Works on both Android & iPhone | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Annual price | $3.49 / yr | $99.99 / yr | $39.99 / yr | $19.99 / yr |
Close your eyes. Imagine a phone that didn't want anything from you.
No red badges counting your attention. No rows of icons competing for your next tap. No widget begging to be checked. Just the time, the date, and the four things you decided matter today.
That's Calm Mode. Your home screen becomes the most peaceful place on your phone — because it's the one place that isn't trying to sell you your next minute.
Most users say the first morning with Calm Mode feels like waking up without an alarm. Quiet. Theirs.
Try Calm Mode freeNinety seconds to a different phone.
Replace your home screen
Download Mono, set it as your launcher when your phone asks. Your existing apps stay exactly where they are. Nothing moves. Only your starting point changes.
Choose what waits
Tell Mono which apps get a time limit, and which ones are blocked entirely during focus. Social media waits. Email waits. The thing you're building doesn't.
Do your best work
Set your intention. Start the session. Come out the other side with something created, not consumed. Build the habit. Watch what you're capable of.
The phone doesn't change. Your relationship with it does.
One habit. One year. Less than a coffee.
The free version changes your relationship with your phone. Pro turns it into a long-term practice — with the data to prove it's working, and iOS coverage so both your phones are on the same team.
Annual payment. Free plan stays free forever. No tricks.
- Daily streaks that build the habit
- Real session stats and weekly history
- iOS companion — same habits, both phones
- Notification digest — held until you're done
- Schedule focus sessions in advance
- Export your habit history
Things people wonder before they start
Will this actually change my habits?
Most focus apps fail because they can be turned off. Mono is your home screen — the only way past it is through it. Users report meaningful habit change within the first week because the friction shifts: scrolling becomes harder than working. That's a different kind of motivation.
What if I genuinely need Instagram for work?
The Time Limits feature lets you open any app — it just asks how long first. Choose 30 minutes for a work session. Mono's not about never opening things. It's about opening them on purpose instead of by accident.
Is this too extreme if I'm just starting out?
Start with Calm Mode only — it just changes your home screen to a clock and four apps. No blocking, no timers. Most users say that alone changed how they reach for their phone in the morning. Add more as you want more.
What's the difference between free and Pro?
Free includes Calm Mode, deep work sessions, hard blocking, time limits, strict mode, and grayscale — everything that changes your day. Pro adds streaks, detailed stats, the iOS app, and notification digest — everything that proves it's working over months.
Does this work on iPhone too?
Yes. The iOS companion app uses Apple's own Screen Time system for blocking — the deepest level Apple allows for any third-party app. Same habits, both phones, Pro plan.
Will it drain my battery or slow my phone?
No. Mono runs a lightweight background check every second to watch for blocked apps. The battery impact is comparable to a step-counting app — you won't notice it. The launcher itself is lighter than most Android home screens.
Start boring
your phone today.
Try the free version for a week. If your mornings don't feel different, uninstall it. We think you'll stay.
No account needed · Uninstall anytime · Free forever