Social media without the part that keeps you there.
7-day free trial. Works alongside one sec if you use it.
Dull vs one sec
one sec and Dull attack the same problem from different ends. one sec reduces how often you open apps by putting a pause before each launch — research shows 57% fewer opens. Dull changes what you find when you do open social media by removing Reels, Shorts, and algorithmic feeds. They are not competing products. Many people run both at the same time.
one sec adds a mandatory breathing pause before any app opens. When you tap Instagram, you see a breathing animation before the app launches. A Max Planck Institute study found this reduces app opens by 57%. one sec does not filter or change content inside apps — it only adds friction before you enter.
https://one-sec.app ↗| Dull | one sec | |
|---|---|---|
| Removes Reels / Shorts | ✓ | ✗ |
| Removes algorithmic feeds | ✓ | ✗ |
| Friction before opening apps | ✓ | ✓ |
| Grayscale mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Daily time limits | ✓ | ✗ |
| Quiet hours | ✓ | ✗ |
| Usage tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Works with any app | ✗ | ✓ |
| Research-backed efficacy data | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free tier | ✗ | ✓ |
| Monthly | $3.99 | — |
| Annual | $14.99 | $14.99 |
| Lifetime | $59.99 | ~$50 |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✗ | ✓ |
one sec integrates with iOS Shortcuts and Screen Time. When you tap any app you have configured, instead of the app opening immediately, you are shown a breathing animation for a few seconds. You inhale, exhale, and then the app opens.
The pause is the intervention. A Max Planck Institute study found this kind of friction reduces app opens by 57%. The mechanism is behavioral: you are breaking the automatic association between picking up your phone and being inside Instagram before you have made any conscious choice. Most people who tap Instagram while anxious or bored do not actually want to be on Instagram. The pause gives the decision back.
After the pause, the full Instagram app opens — Reels, algorithmic "For You" feed, and everything else exactly as it always was.
Dull replaces the native Instagram and YouTube apps on your home screen. When you tap the Dull icon, a home screen shows Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X as options. You tap one. It opens the real mobile site for that platform inside Dull's browser.
Before the page renders, Dull injects CSS and JavaScript that removes Reels from Instagram, the Shorts shelf from YouTube, the algorithmic "For You" feeds, and suggested content. Your subscriptions, DMs, followed accounts, and search still work. The parts designed to keep you there — the endless short-form loop — are gone.
Dull does not add a pause before opening. If you tap Instagram in Dull, it opens immediately. The friction comes from finding that the reward loop is not there when you arrive.
one sec's gap: it stops impulsive opens, but once you are inside the app, there is no protection. You breathed for 3 seconds, decided you actually did want to check Instagram, and now the full algorithm is in front of you. If 40-minute Reels sessions are your main problem rather than the compulsive opening itself, one sec's intervention happens too early.
Dull's gap: it does not stop impulsive opens. If you tap Instagram in Dull out of habit, it opens. Dull is not a gatekeeper. The payoff of the impulsive open is just different (a DM from a friend instead of an autoplay Reel), which removes the compulsion over time but does not prevent the initial reach for the phone.
Several users report running one sec and Dull together. The setup: one sec adds a pause before opening the native social media apps (preventing mindless direct launches). Dull is the filtered alternative you use when you have actually decided to go on social media.
This combination handles both problems: impulsive opens (one sec) and compulsive in-app scrolling (Dull). The annual cost of both is $29.98 — $14.99 each.
Your problem is what happens inside social media — you open Instagram intentionally, but a 5-minute check becomes 40 minutes of Reels. Dull changes what Instagram contains, not whether you can open it.
Your problem is the automatic opening — you reach for your phone without thinking and Instagram is already open. one sec breaks that loop by forcing a pause before any app launches.
7-day free trial. Works alongside one sec if you use it.