If you find yourself spending excessive amounts of time on social media, online shopping, gambling, or gaming to the point where it interferes with your work, self-care, or relationships, you might be experiencing the effects of overreliance on digital devices and technologies, as described by Dr. Anna Lembke, a renowned psychiatrist and author. Dr. Lembke explains how social media addiction and dopamine are interconnected through the brain’s reward system.
Dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward, is released in response to pleasurable or rewarding activities, such as receiving likes on social media or winning a game. However, as you engage in these enjoyable activities repeatedly, your brain becomes less sensitive to dopamine—a phenomenon known as desensitization. This desensitization means you need increasing levels of stimulation to feel the same pleasure over time, potentially leading to compulsive behaviors that can detrimentally impact various aspects of your life.
Despite the challenges, Dr. Lembke offers hope for those caught in this cycle. She suggests retraining the brain to find lasting satisfaction instead of temporary pleasure. This entails creating barriers between oneself and digital vices.
The Freedom App is proposed as a tool to aid this process, helping individuals regain control over their lives by limiting access to addictive websites and apps. By redirecting focus towards activities that foster genuine fulfillment and well-being, individuals can break free from compulsive digital engagement and reclaim their lives.
TL;DR
Freedom App is a user-friendly tool designed to combat digital distractions and reclaim valuable time lost to online indulgences.
Backed by insights from experts like Dr. Anna Lembke, it targets the root causes of excessive digital engagement, offering features like block sessions, website and app blocking, and Locked Mode to foster focus and productivity.
While effective for mild to moderate digital dependency, it may have limitations for severe cases. Despite this, it’s a significant step towards a more balanced digital lifestyle.
Curious? Start your 7-day free trial today and gain control of your life!
What is Freedom?
Freedom App is a simple and user-friendly productivity app that effectively assists you in reclaiming valuable time wasted on digital distractions like browsing unnecessary websites or using non-essential apps. It blocks access to these distractions, allowing you to focus on your key responsibilities and goals.
Constantly checking emails, replying to notifications, scrolling through Facebook or Instagram feeds, or streaming movies on Netflix during work are detrimental habits. Freedom App helps break these patterns by preventing access to such distractions. Available across various devices including Windows and Mac computers, Android and iOS tablets and smartphones, and Chromebooks, it ensures uninterrupted focus wherever you are.
By eliminating digital diversions, Freedom App enables you to invest your time and energy in activities that truly matter, leading to a happier and healthier lifestyle. Whether you’re an individual, a team, or an organization, regaining control over technology with Freedom App enhances productivity and fosters a more fulfilling work-life balance.
How The Freedom App Works
Functioning as a distraction-blocking tool, Freedom App allows users to control access to websites and apps that divert their attention and waste their valuable time, energy, and money.
To get started with Freedom App, visit its official website where you can opt for a free trial or choose a subscription plan. Simply enter your name, email address, and password to create an account. Additionally, install the appropriate Freedom desktop and mobile apps on your devices.
Once you’ve finished the initial setups, it’s time to launch the Freedom App! Don’t forget, the Freedom desktop app boasts a handy menu accessible by clicking on the butterfly icon in the Windows taskbar (lower-right corner) or the Mac menu bar (upper-right corner). From there, you can explore the online dashboard, choose devices, set up your lists of blocked and allowed websites and apps, and conveniently schedule block sessions.
You’ll also find similar tabs and sections in both the Freedom Android and iOS apps. Note that certain permissions must be granted to the Freedom App for it to function properly on your mobile device.
For example, on my Xiaomi Redmi 9-A phone, I activated the “Blocked Applications and Websites” feature, which permits the Freedom app to block websites and apps during my sessions. This was achieved by adjusting the accessibility settings on my phone, as illustrated in the images below.
Freedom App Features
Freedom App isn’t just a user-friendly distraction blocker with a straightforward interface; it’s your key to enhanced focus and productivity. Beyond its simplicity, it offers a wealth of features to explore. Let’s dive into how Freedom App can help you stay focused and achieve more.
- Block or Focus Sessions
- Website, App, and Internet Blocking
- Locked Mode
- Free Browser Extension Solutions
Block Sessions
While many users consider website and application blocking as the greatest feature of the Freedom App, I personally find it to be just one aspect of its capabilities. To me, the most impressive feature is the ability to create block or focus sessions. With Freedom App, users can designate specific time periods during which access to certain websites and apps is restricted.
Freedom App offers users flexibility with two types of sessions: ad-hoc and scheduled sessions. Ad-hoc sessions can be initiated manually at any time, while scheduled sessions are pre-planned, automatically commencing at specified times or on designated days.
Moreover, the recurring sessions feature stands out for its convenience. Users can set up sessions to automatically repeat at specific times on chosen days of the week. This functionality ensures consistent blocking of distractions, making it easier to stay focused and productive.
What makes this feature truly exceptional is its impact on time management. By learning to value your time and prioritize tasks, you can focus on what needs to be done without being distracted by various digital content.
Although Freedom App can block websites and apps, without a clear understanding of how to allocate your time effectively, its usefulness diminishes. The session features, therefore, elevate the app by helping users cultivate good habits, including proper time management skills.
Website, App, and Internet Blocking
People struggling with digital addiction often feel strong urges to consume online content, which can be challenging to resist through willpower alone. The Freedom App’s blocking features offer a solution by helping users manage the endless stream of digital content that intensifies these cravings.
With Freedom App, you can customize blocklists for different sessions across your devices. You’ll be able to decide which domains and apps to block and on which devices.
The app also offers preset filters for popular websites and apps like Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, Spotify, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Slack, Amazon, and New York Times. Furthermore, you can effectively address addictive online activities such as chatting, gambling, e-shopping, or dating by leveraging category filters within the app.
With a single click, you can even block the entire internet. This feature
proves invaluable for scenarios, such as writers seeking solitude in a remote cabin to craft their next masterpiece, students studying offline without distractions, or artists drawing inspiration from serene natural environments.
Locked Mode
Freedom App features a unique mechanism known as Locked Mode, which stops users from bypassing or circumventing the restrictions they’ve set for themselves, particularly during moments of weakened willpower. Locked Mode ensures they stick to their goals and beat procrastination without cheating the system.
When Locked Mode is activated, you won’t be able to perform certain actions or change settings during an active session. For instance, you cannot remove blocked websites or apps, nor can you remove devices from the active session. Logging out of your account or stopping the app is also not possible while a session is running on the Freedom desktop or mobile app.
Free Browser Extension Solutions
I’ve also tried and evaluated the four browser extension apps that significantly enhance the capabilities of Freedom App. These free and lightweight standalone apps have truly amazed me. I wish the developers of Freedom App could integrate some of the features of these extensions into their main app, creating a comprehensive focus tool.
Focus is perfect for students, remote workers, and professionals. It blocks distracting websites and allows users to keep only those they need for work or study. For those who want to manage their time spent on distracting sites, Limit is the ideal choice. This extension enables users to set time limits for specific websites.
The Insight browser extension tracks the websites you visit and provides detailed reports on your browsing habits, including time spent on each site. But among the browser extensions, one that caught my attention is Pause. It tackles aimless online browsing by interrupting website visits with a green screen, prompting users to reflect on their intentions before proceeding.
This feature is particularly noteworthy as it encourages mindfulness in our digital interactions. By prompting us to pause and consider our actions, Pause fosters a greater awareness of our online habits, ultimately leading to a more intentional and mindful use of technology.
Freedom App Pricing
The user-friendly and budget-friendly focus and productivity software is available with lifetime access or through subscription.
With the Freedom Forever plan, you enjoy indefinite access without recurring fees. However, please note that this plan has limitations on sessions, device connections, and features. For unrestricted access to all features, consider subscribing to the Freedom Premium plan at $8.99 per month or $39.99 annually.
In addition to distraction-blocking capabilities, Freedom Premium plans offer you unlimited devices and sessions, advanced scheduling, Locked Mode, session tracking, and soothing background sounds and music. You also gain access to exclusive deals from Freedom Labs’ partner companies, including discounts and free trials for popular apps and platforms like Skillshare, SaneBox, Todoist, Sudowrite, and Croissant.
For organizations, companies, and schools, the Freedom Team plans to provide Premium features for each member at a fixed monthly fee, which eliminates costly pay-per-user models. Please be aware that Freedom Team plans do not support centralized distraction management, granting each member complete control over their online behavior.
Freedom Forever – $99.50 – one-time payment
Freedom Premium Plans
- Monthly Premium Plan – $8.99/month (billed monthly)
- Yearly Premium Plan – $39.99/year (billed annually
Freedom Team Plans
- Small (10 – 100 users) – $99/month (billed monthly)
- Medium (101 – 1000 users) – $299/month (billed monthly)
- Large (1001 – 5000 users) – $999/month (billed monthly)
- Custom – 5000+ users – Contact vendor for a quote
Is Freedom App Worth It?
The team behind Freedom App boasts a massive 3 million user base and offers curated studies and statistics on productivity and digital dependency, positioning the app as a must-have tool for those striving for focused work, increased efficiency, and a happier, healthier life. However, delving deeper into the realm of digital dependency reveals some drawbacks of Freedom App. Does it truly provide an effective barrier between individuals and their digital vices?
It can be argued that Freedom App is only effective for individuals experiencing mild to moderate symptoms and levels of digital dependency. Why? Because such individuals can still exert some degree of control over their screen time and online habits. However, those suffering from severe digital addiction lack that control.
For users in the latter category, Freedom App’s loopholes may be exploited to satisfy cravings. For instance, despite its Locked Mode option, users can still override it by ending or deleting sessions, or choose not to use the feature altogether to evade the associated restrictions.
As a distraction blocker designed for personal and private use, I cannot recommend Freedom App for organizations and teams contending with rogue employees constantly seeking a “dopamine rush” from digital content. An employee monitoring or surveillance tool with centralized admin controls would serve this purpose better than a personal focus and productivity app like Freedom App.
Conclusion
In sum, the Freedom App offers a powerful solution to break free from the relentless grip of instant gratification that pervades our online experiences. By blocking access to distracting websites and apps, it empowers us to focus on what truly matters, fostering productivity and a more meaningful existence.
Yet, it’s crucial to recognize that while the app aids in cultivating better online habits, it’s not a cure-all for severe digital addiction. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof, and in extreme cases of digital dependency, deeper interventions may be necessary
The Freedom App serves as a vital tool for prevention and mitigation, encouraging users to assess their own reliance on digital content and seek additional support where needed. It’s a step towards reclaiming control over our digital lives, but it’s just that – a step. Ultimately, the journey towards balance and fulfillment in the digital age requires ongoing reflection, awareness, and a willingness to explore further avenues of support
