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Habit Hound

Habit Hound for iPhone

Block apps until your habits are done

Habit Hound is an app blocker run by your habit list. Put the apps that eat your day in the Doghouse, and finish today's habits to open them.

See how it works

Free to download. iPhone and iPad, iOS 17 or later. On Android? Join the list.

Habit Hound's Today screen with two of four habits checked off and a status line reading Apps locked, finish habits.

One asks. One says no.

A habit tracker can only ask. An app blocker can only say no. One is easy to ignore by lunch, the other is easy to delete by Friday, and neither one shows up at the moment that actually decides your day.

That moment is the one where willpower is weakest. You unlock your phone with no particular plan, and the feed is already there, so you doomscroll instead of doing the thing you actually meant to do. A reminder set for 8 AM is long gone by 8 PM. Habit Hound is a habit tracker that blocks apps, so the two halves finally point at the same moment: the apps that eat your time become the reward for the habits you want to keep.

How it works

  1. Step 1 of 4: the Today screen with two of four habits checked off, so the apps stay locked until the last two are done.

    01

    Add your daily habits

    A workout, twenty pages, a walk, whatever you keep meaning to do.

  2. Habit Hound's Doghouse screen listing three blocked categories: Games, Social, and Entertainment.

    02

    Put apps in the Doghouse

    Choose the apps that distract you. Pick individual apps, whole categories, or websites.

  3. A blocked app showing Habit Hound's block screen: Blocked by Habit Hound, finish 2 more habits to unlock News, with one 15-minute bypass left for the day, shown in step 3.

    03

    Reach for a locked app

    Habit Hound tells you exactly what's left: "Finish 2 more habits to unlock News."

  4. Step 4 of 4: the Today screen with every habit checked off and the status line changed to Apps unlocked, habits finished.

    04

    Finish, and they open

    Your apps open for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, the lock comes back.

See what's free

What you get

Time Lock runs on a schedule

Premium

Premium adds Time Lock: block apps between set hours with no habit attached, like 9 AM to 5 PM for work or 9 PM to 7 AM for sleep.

Habit Hound's Today screen showing a Wind Down time lock scheduled from 10 PM to 11 PM alongside the day's habits.

Every way out is counted

The free plan gives you one 15-minute bypass a day. Premium lets you allow up to three a day at 15 or 20 minutes each, or remove the bypass entirely with Strict Mode.

Habit Hound's block screen during a scheduled lock, reading Wind Down until 11 PM, with one 15-minute bypass left.

Watch the days add up

A monthly calendar marks every day you cleared your habits. Track Active Days, Perfect Days, bypasses used, and your best streaks, and tap any day to see what you did.

Habit Hound's Progress screen showing an August 2026 calendar of completed days, with 22 Active Days, 20 Perfect Days, 0 bypasses, and a best streak of 17 days.

Starter habits, or your own

Browse a catalog of starter habits across health, focus, learning, and sleep, or write your own. Habits sit under Morning, Midday, Evening, or Anytime, and repeat every day, on weekdays, or on weekends.

The shield counts what's left

Open a blocked app and you get a count, not a lecture. The shield names the app you reached for and the number of habits standing between you and it.

What goes in the Doghouse

Block individual apps, whole categories like Social, Games, and Entertainment, or websites. You decide what goes in, and you can change the list whenever you want.

Morning, Midday, and Evening

Premium splits the day into Morning, Midday, and Evening, each with its own habits. Apps lock at the start of each period and open when that period's habits are done.

Why it works

01

The reminder arrives on time

Willpower is weakest at the exact moment you reach for your phone. A reminder at 8 AM is long gone by 8 PM. Habit Hound puts the reminder on the app itself: it shows up the moment you're tempted and tells you how many habits stand between you and the scroll.

02

Rewards outlast restrictions

A block you resent gets deleted in a week. A lock that opens the moment you've done something worth doing is a deal you keep, because every day you finish your habits, you also finish the lock. You earn your screen time instead of fighting for it.

03

Nothing nags you

No notifications, no streak guilt, no 8 PM ping asking why you haven't meditated. The locked app is the reminder. That is the whole reminder system, and it shows up where the decision actually happens.

Free, or Premium

Habit Hound is free to download and free to keep using. Premium lifts the limits and adds the scheduling and strictness controls.

Free and Premium plans compared, feature by feature
Feature Free Premium
Habits 3 Unlimited
Block apps, categories, and websites Included Included
Block screen that counts the habits left Included Included
Progress calendar, Perfect Days, streaks Included Included
Starter habit catalog Included Included
Repeats Every day, weekdays, or weekends Plus custom repeats on exact days
Bypasses One 15-minute bypass per day Up to 3 per day, 15 or 20 minutes each
Strict Mode, no bypass at all Not included Included
Time Lock, block apps on a fixed schedule Not included Included
Time Periods that lock apps independently Not included Included
Themes, preset colors or a custom color Not included Included

Habit Hound

Free no account needed

Free to download and free to keep using

  • 3 habits
  • One 15-minute bypass a day
  • The Doghouse, the block screen, and the progress calendar

Habit Hound Premium

$4.99 per month

or $24.99 per year

  • 7-day free trial for new subscribers
  • Cancel any time in App Store settings
Download Habit Hound

The 7-day trial starts inside the app, for new subscribers.

Questions

Does Habit Hound work when the app is closed?

Yes. The block is enforced by iOS through Apple's Screen Time framework, not by Habit Hound running in the background. Once it is set, the lock holds whether Habit Hound is open, closed, or swiped out of the app switcher.

Can I just delete the app or turn off Screen Time?

Yes, and that is deliberate. Habit Hound is a commitment device, not a cage: you granted Screen Time access, and you can revoke it in Settings or delete the app whenever you want. Strict Mode, in Premium, is the strongest option available, because it removes the bypass entirely and leaves finishing your habits as the only way through. Nothing on iOS can stop someone determined to uninstall, which is why the lock is built to be worth keeping rather than impossible to escape.

What can I block?

Individual apps, whole categories such as Social, Games, and Entertainment, and websites. You choose them in the Doghouse, and you can change the list whenever you want. Because of how Apple's framework works, your selections show their icons but not their names, even to Habit Hound.

What happens when I finish my habits?

Your apps unlock for the rest of the day with no extra step. The Today screen switches from "Apps locked" to "Apps unlocked", and the day counts toward your Perfect Days on the progress calendar. Tomorrow the lock comes back.

What if I genuinely need a blocked app?

Take a bypass. The shield offers a 15-minute bypass, one per day on the free plan, and Premium lets you allow up to three a day at 15 or 20 minutes each. Bypasses are rationed on purpose, so using one stays a decision rather than a habit of its own. If you want no way out at all, Strict Mode removes the bypass.

Is my data private?

Your habits and the apps you chose to block stay on your device. Habit Hound cannot see what you do inside other apps, and it never reads usage data or browsing history. There are no accounts, no ads, and no tracking. Anonymous analytics events, such as a habit being completed, are listed in the Privacy Policy.

Does it sync across my devices?

Not yet. Habits and blocked app selections live on the device where you created them. iCloud sync is on the list, and until it ships, treat Habit Hound as a single-device app.

Does it work on iPad or Android?

It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later. On iPad it uses the iPhone layout, and there is no Android version, no Mac app, and no web app.

How much does it cost, and how do I cancel?

Habit Hound is free to download, with three habits and one 15-minute bypass a day. Premium is $4.99 per month or $24.99 per year, with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Cancel any time in your App Store subscription settings.

Habit Hound Support

Waiting for Android?

Habit Hound is iPhone and iPad only today. Leave your email and we will tell you if that changes. Nothing else, ever.

Read more

Guides from the studio, useful whether or not you install anything.

The Habit Hound app icon: a white standing dog silhouette on a red background.

Finish the habits. Open the apps.

Habit Hound is free on the App Store, and your first app can go in the Doghouse today.

Free to download. No account. iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later. On Android? Join the list.