Brick App Blocker Guide (2026)

Quick Answer

The Brick app blocker pairs a physical NFC device with a free companion app. You tap your phone to the Brick to start a blocking session and tap it again to end one, so the barrier is where the device is rather than how you feel. Setup takes about five minutes: install the app, grant Screen Time access on iPhone, pair the Brick with a tap, then build modes for the situations you want covered. This guide walks through all of it, including what to do when the device is not in the room.

This page is a setup and troubleshooting guide, written for people who already own a Brick or have decided to buy one. If you are still deciding whether it is worth the money, that assessment lives in the Brick app review instead.

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What You Get and What It Does

Brick, from Brick LLC, is a battery-free magnetic NFC device plus a companion app for iOS and Android. On iPhone, blocking is layered on system-level restrictions consistent with Apple's Screen Time. The hardware is a one-time purchase and the companion app carries no subscription, which is unusual in this category.

The premise is geographic rather than psychological. Software blockers ask you to resist a button. Brick asks you to walk back to wherever you left a small plastic object. If you leave it at home, the block holds for the entire workday whether or not you feel strong that afternoon.

Pricing note: the exact hardware price is not independently verified with a dated source here, so check it on the manufacturer's own site before ordering. What is confirmed is that the app is free and there is no subscription fee.

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Setting Up the Brick App Blocker

1. Install the companion app and grant permissions

Download the Brick app on iOS or Android. On iPhone it will ask for Screen Time access, which is how it enforces blocking through Apple's Family Controls framework. Without this, nothing else works.

2. Pair the device

Hold your phone against the Brick to pair over NFC. One Brick can pair with several phones, and one phone can pair with several Bricks, which matters for households or for keeping a second device at the office.

3. Choose where the Brick physically lives

This is the step people skip, and it is the entire product. A Brick on your desk is a mild inconvenience. A Brick in a kitchen drawer downstairs, or in a car, or at a friend's house, is a real barrier. Decide this before you build any modes.

4. Build your modes

Brick uses custom modes rather than a single on-off switch. Common ones people build:

• Deep Work: social media, news, video, messaging apps that are not work-critical
• Family Time: everything except phone, messages, and camera
• Sleep: everything except alarm and phone
• Study: games, social, video, leaving music and reference apps open
• Social Time: the inverse, blocking work apps and email

Keep the first mode narrower than you think you want. A mode that blocks too much gets abandoned in week one.

5. Start a session

Tap the phone to the Brick. Activation requires opening the app plus roughly a two-second hold, per an independent review, so it is deliberate rather than instant. The session runs until you tap the Brick again.

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Strict Mode, and What It Does Not Do

Brick includes an optional Strict Mode intended to prevent app deletion or setting changes while a session is running. Turn it on if you are the sort of person who would otherwise uninstall the app at 11pm.

Be realistic about its ceiling. App Store reviewer C Parlee reports that Strict Mode can be defeated in one tap by disabling the restriction directly in iOS Screen Time settings. That is not unique to Brick; AppBlock's developer said the same thing in a public reply about their own iOS Strict Mode, calling it an Apple restriction they cannot close.

The practical fix is the same for every blocker on iPhone: set a Screen Time passcode you do not know. Ask a spouse, a roommate, or a friend to enter it. Once someone else holds that passcode, the Settings route stops being an option and Brick's hardware barrier becomes the real one.

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What Happens If You Lose the Brick

This is the first question most people ask, and the answer is reassuring. Each account gets five "Emergency Unbrick" uses. Burn through those and unlocking requires an email or form request, typically processed within about 48 hours.

Two things follow from that. First, losing the device is annoying rather than catastrophic. Second, those five uses are a finite resource, so do not spend them on ordinary impatience. If you are using an Emergency Unbrick more than once a month, the Brick is living too far away for your actual life, and you should move it closer rather than exhaust the safety net.

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Known Issues Worth Knowing Before You Buy

These come from named App Store reviewers and independent reviews, not from guesswork:

• Scheduled unblocking sometimes fails to trigger. Reviewer unique_physique_13 reports needing a phone restart as a workaround.
• The in-app screen time timer randomly resets to 00:00:00, per reviewer Busy Cal Fan.
• The scheduler cannot auto-end a session after a fixed duration, per an independent review. If you want a block that expires on its own after two hours, Brick is the wrong tool and a software scheduler like Jomo or Freedom will serve you better.
• Analytics are limited to daily usage duration, with no habit tracking.
• Android gaps: no home screen widget, and website blocking is not yet supported there according to review coverage.

None of these are reasons to avoid Brick outright. They are reasons to buy it for the physical ritual, which is what it does well, rather than for scheduling or reporting, which it does not.

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Getting the Most Out of It

Pick one distance and keep it. Moving the Brick around defeats the design. The value comes from knowing, without deliberating, that the device is not within reach.

Pair it with a Screen Time passcode you do not hold. This closes the one-tap Settings route a reviewer documented, and it costs nothing.

Do not run a second blocker at the same time. Jomo's own troubleshooting documentation names conflicts with other Screen Time apps as a common cause of blocks failing to engage or release. Pick one enforcement layer and stay with it.

Decide what fills the gap. The first week with a Brick is quieter than people expect. If you have not decided in advance what the reclaimed time is for, the device tends to drift back onto the desk.

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If You Would Rather Not Carry Hardware

Brick's strength is also its constraint: there is an object, and it has to be somewhere. Three alternatives, depending on what you actually want:

Opal, if you want the same kind of hard stop in software. Its Deep Focus mode cannot be cancelled once a timer starts, though an independent review published March 2026, checked 2026-08-15 calls the $99.99 per year Pro price steep and notes the free plan excludes Deep Focus almost entirely. See the Brick vs Opal comparison.

Unpluq, if you like the NFC tap but want a keychain tag rather than a standalone device. Be aware that an independent review calls it "not a hard lock," precisely because the tag normally travels with you. See Brick vs Unpluq.

FaithLock, if the friction you want is a moment rather than an object. It blocks apps through Apple's Family Controls (Screen Time) API with no hardware to buy, carry, or lose, and getting back into a blocked app means reading a Bible verse and answering a question about it. It is iOS only, and it is a self-accountability tool rather than a parental control. If the reason you want a Brick is that you need something outside yourself to hold the line, and you would rather that something be Scripture than a plastic tile, it is worth a look.

Download FaithLock on the App Store

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Brick app blocker work without a subscription? You buy the physical Brick once and the companion app is free with no recurring fee. Blocking is enforced by the app through system-level restrictions on your phone; the Brick itself is the NFC key that starts and ends a session.

Can the Brick app blocker be bypassed? On iPhone, App Store reviewer C Parlee reports Strict Mode can be disabled in one tap through iOS Screen Time settings. This limitation applies to third-party blockers generally, and AppBlock's developer confirmed the same thing about their own app in a public reply. Setting a Screen Time passcode held by someone else closes that route.

What if I lose my Brick or leave it somewhere? You get five Emergency Unbrick uses per account. After those, unlocking goes through an email or form request, typically processed within about 48 hours.

Does Brick work on Android? Yes, there is an Android companion app, with two known gaps: no home screen widget, and website blocking not yet supported on that platform according to review coverage.

Can I set a Brick session to end automatically after an hour? No. An independent review specifically notes the scheduler cannot auto-end a session after a fixed duration. A session ends when you tap the Brick again. If automatic expiry is what you need, look at the best time blocker apps instead.

Is Brick worth it compared to a software blocker? It depends on whether your failure mode is a weak lock or a weak moment. Our full assessment is in the Brick app review, and the Brick vs Freedom comparison covers hardware against cross-device software directly.

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Sources: Brick official site, Brick for Android, Brick on the App Store, reviews, Digital Reviews, Brick Phone Distraction Device Review, Cybernews, Brick Phone Blocker Review, AppBlock on the App Store, developer reply, Jomo help center