I’m a little addicted to my phone. After a few days away, disconnecting and spending time with the family sounds nice – enter Brick, a physical digital wellness device which adds a layer of real-world friction to Screen Time limits that you can’t simply dismiss.

The main factor for Brick is that it uses a physical device. Priced at $95, Brick is available through getbrick.com and once it arrives you simply setup the app and get going. 

The main selling point for Brick is that it’s a physical key to unlocking distractions on your device. 

Most of the Digital Wellbeing tools from Apple or Google can be relatively easily overridden if needed. Brick requires you to get up, go to wherever you’ve stored your Brick and tap your phone to unlock it – and for me, that’s a big difference. 

Design and Setup

The actual ‘Brick’, rather than being an orange rectangular ceramic, is a grey square block made of plastic with Brick emblazoned on the front and a rubberised pad on the rear.

There’s a magnet embedded inside, which of course means you will probably mount this on your fridge – a good choice as it’s a central location so you can easily tap it when you need to and know where it is at all times.

To get started you’ll need the ‘Brick – Ditch Distractions’ app for your device which is available in both the iOS app store and in Google Play. 

Setting up the app is simple, just login with your email address to get underway. 

The set up process will guide you through enabling permissions – there are far more on Android than iOS – and selecting the apps you want to block under a profile. 

You will also set the start and end time for a pre-determined break, as well as which days you want it to enable – or you can just manually apply the profile by tapping the Brick.

One thing I found though later is that you can add in websites – or alternatively use Brick as a White List, choosing only apps you WANT to be able to access.

Using it

To actually Brick your phone, you simply tap on the Brick or wait for the designated times. Once the phone is “Bricked” you can no longer open the designated apps, with the app simply showing a message and telling you to get “Back to living”.

You can open any other app on your phone, except the ones listed – a great way to keep yourself from being distracted by apps you know will distract you – but not those you need to be productive. 

You can open the Brick app – at which point you will be shown the timer for how long you’ve remained ‘Bricked’ and undistracted by your specified apps, and you can also choose to Unbrick it by tapping on the Brick. 

Once you tap your phone on the Brick – your phone is back to you and fully accessible. 

Unbrick Options

If you’re any sort of tinkerer like me, there are of course steps you can take to get around your phone being bricked – but Brick has even thought of that. 

By default, you can uninstall the Brick app, at which point you can have your phone back. However, you CAN choose to remove this option in the settings by enabling ‘Strict Mode’, at which point you are unable to delete the app – clever.

IF you do happen to leave home without your Brick and get stuck without access to Unbrick it when you REALLY need to, then there is the ‘Emergency Unbrick’ option in the settings. 

By default you get Five free Unbricks. IF you use all your Emergency Unbricks – you can have the count reset within two business days by filling out an online form. Not exactly convenient, but a good way to keep you on top of your Emergency Unbricks. 

How does it go?

It’s actually really good. Frustrating is the word I’d use – but in a good way, because that’s what you get when you encounter being bricked. 

Sure you have complete control and can unbrick when you need to by tapping, but you also need to temper that with being rigid enough in your self-control that you don’t.

To get the best results you’ll need to find the NFC antenna for your phone. Brick provides excellent guides for most popular phones, helping to locate the exact position on your phone. Simply put it there and wait a second or so and you’ll get the buzz/notification of a scan.

The actual tap can be a little slower than you’re used to with Tap & Pay, or even just using NFC tags if you’ve gone down that path – but persist and it all just works. 

Final Thoughts

If we’re honest there’s been many an hour we’ve all wasted when we should be doing other things. Brick gets you there. 

It does have more to offer than both the Apple and Android Digital Wellness tools, and it’s down to you as to how much that’s worth. 

At $114 ($96 plus $18 for shipping), this is a decently expensive option to curtail your digital time wasting though. 

There’s still some self control required to use it, but if it gets you back on track – or spending time with the family then it’s worth it. 

You can check out, and order your own Brick over on getbrick.com.