A Free Way to DIY a Phone Brick

For the last year or so, I’ve seen a lot of buzz about Brick.

If you’re unfamiliar with Brick, it’s a small plastic device that you can mount on your fridge or somewhere else in your home and when you tap your phone to it, it blocks the apps you’ve chosen to have turned off (usually distracting apps like Instagram or TikTok).

Then in order to unlock those, you have to physically tap your phone against the Brick device.

People love it because – unlike screen time features that you can override in the moment when you decide “actually, yes I do want to spend another three hours doomscrolling” – you have to physically go unlock your phone.

I’ve heard from so many people that the Brick is life-changing for them and feels like it gave them back hours of their day.

As someone who is always working on controlling my screen time, I was definitely interested in trying out a Brick device, but I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of spending $59 on it (many people recommended Bloom as a cheaper alternative that’s $39 instead and basically does exactly the same thing).

And then when I mentioned my interest in the Brick on Instagram, I got a ton of messages from people saying you could do it yourself with a free app and a Make Your Own Yoto card or an old hotel key card or even a barcode from an old cereal box or other packaging!

Well, you know I had to try this and I was absolutely blown away by how easy it is to set up.

I’ve been using it this month and it really is as incredible as everyone says. That physical need to go unlock it makes all the difference!

If you want to buy yourself a Brick or a Bloom device instead, go ahead. But if you want basically all the same functionality for zero or close to zero dollars, this is a terrific alternative.

Here’s how to set it up (and then I’ll answer a bunch of questions I got about this app lock system at the bottom!):

First, download the Foqos app. It’s free and doesn’t collect your data, which I love. Note that this app is only for Apple devices but I’ve heard from many Android users that the Switchly app does the same thing!

Once you have the app downloaded, you’ll set up a profile. Name it and choose which apps you want to block (you can have multiple profiles if you want for different scenarios – for instance, you may want to block certain apps for when you’re going to the gym and different apps when you’re home on your couch).

I personally only have one profile and it’s set to block social media apps (Instagram and TikTok) but you can do whatever you like and you can adjust it as needed once you’ve used it more.

Then you’ll choose what your blocking strategy is. I picked NFC + Manual which means I can turn on the blocking mode from my phone (easy!) but to unblock the social media apps I have to go physically unblock it with an NFC tag device.

An NFC tag device can be a Make Your Own Yoto card (which is what I used because I had them on hand), an AirTag, an old hotel key card, or an inexpensive NFC tag from Amazon.

You can also choose to do a QR code/barcode and I’ve heard from a lot of people that they printed off a QR code or just cut a barcode off an old cereal box or other item that has a barcode.

Scroll down and under “Strict Unlocks” press the “+ Set” button under either the NFC tag or QR/Barcode and now ONLY the barcode or NFC tag you scan in at this point will work to unlock your phone (otherwise you could scan ANY barcode or NFC tag to unlock your device, which is also an option if you’d like it to be).

Once my Make Your Own Yoto card was set up as my NFC tag, I taped it to the wall in my basement laundry room (I wanted it to be inconvenient enough to help me change my habits – having it in my office or bedroom would be WAY too easy to unlock for me).

Now, when you’re ready to block those apps, open the Foqos app, press “Hold to Start” and it will lock those apps until you press the “Stop” button in the app and then physically hold your phone to the barcode or NFC tag.

(You can also set automatic schedules – for instance, my phone automatically goes into the locked mode at 8 a.m. to keep me from spending too much of my morning looking at Instagram instead of starting my workout. I can still go physically unlock it in the basement if I need to, but I don’t have to manually start the locking process every morning).

It literally took me less than 2 minutes to set the whole thing up (typing this all out took WAY longer than actually doing it!) and I’ve loved it.

Here are some of the questions that came in about this free version of the phone Brick!

Can you still listen to streaming audiobooks or music on your phone but block other apps?
Yes! That’s why people love this – you get to choose what you block! For instance, if I’m going for a run, I still want to listen to my audiobook, use my run tracking app, and be able to call if I need to. All of those work because when I put my phone in Brick/Foqos mode, it’s only blocking social media apps (or whatever apps I picked to block).

Can your phone still ring/notify you with Brick activated?
Yes! Like above, unless you’ve specifically blocked your phone or text apps, those will still work as normal. I’m personally not likely to spend 3 hours accidentally sending texts so I’m not worried about blocking my texting app or my phone app.

What if you forget to unlock and leave the house?
You can use one of your emergency unlocks if you need to, but most likely you’re only blocking time-wasting apps, not ones you’ll desperately need while you’re out of the house. For instance, I love locking mine when we go out as a family so that I’m not tempted to look at Instagram while we’re out. I WANT it locked while I’m out of the house with no good way to unlock it until we get back home. I’m very unlikely to waste hours on my phone looking at Google Maps, so I don’t have that blocked when it is is brick mode.

Can I set up different profiles for different use cases?
Yes! You could have an “exercise” profile where you can use your music app, your tracking apps, your workout app, etc but it blocks your email, social media, YouTube or whatever other apps you find yourself checking when you don’t want to be. You could have another profile for “church” that blocks apps you don’t want to be tempted to use while you’re at church but still lets you use your scripture apps or whatever apps you want access to while you’re there.

Can one AirTag be used for multiple devices?
Yes!

Can you do this without a Yoto card?
Absolutely! You can use a hotel key card or an AirTag or an NFC tag or any QR code or barcode!

Can you make it work with just the Yoto app if you don’t have a Yoto player?
No because you’re not using a Yoto player or a Yoto app – you’re using a Yoto card and it’ll work whether or not you have a Yoto player! But again, you don’t need to use a Yoto card. I suggested other alternatives above – I just used a Yoto card because I had one readily available.

What if you lose the card?
I would recommend putting the card somewhere you won’t lose it. This is why I taped mine to the wall rather than just setting a Yoto card on my dresser and hoping it didn’t get moved. Worst case scenario, you have a few emergency unlocks where you can unlock from your phone, but those are limited and not a long-term solution.

How are they managing to keep Foqos free?
This is an open-source app with no costs and you can either make a donation to support it or buy NFC tags through their affiliate link!

Any other questions about this phone Brick hack? I’m happy to answer!

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