PIM — Please Inconvenience Me
You don't need more willpower. You need more inconvenience.
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Sylvia Vasilik

PIM — Please Inconvenience Me - You don't need more willpower. You need more inconvenience.

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Many apps are designed to be addictive. PIM gives you a fighting chance: open a restricted app and you need to first complete a small task — math, typing, or tapping. Never locked out, just slowed down enough to make it a conscious decision instead of a reflex. PIM respects your time and focus — no streaks, avatars, gamification, or lengthy onboarding. You can be completely set up in 2 minutes. 7-day free trial, then a one-time purchase — no subscriptions and no ads.

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Sylvia Vasilik
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Hey PH — solo dev here. A while back I opened YouTube to grab a recipe, planning to start dinner right away. 45 minutes later I "woke up" from the trance. No dinner started, and I never even got the recipe. That kind of thing kept happening, and of course I'm not the only one. It's not a willpower problem. It's a power imbalance between you and the addictive apps. I tried a bunch of focus/screen time apps and just didn't like them. Complex, lots of modes, and everything was about getting you to subscribe — and I avoid subscriptions wherever I can. PIM (Please Inconvenience Me) puts the friction back. It doesn't block apps, but when you open a restricted app, you need to complete a task first. These are simple tasks like typing, basic arithmetic, or tapping dots on the screen (what I like to call "the world's most boring video game"). It's not about earning your screen time — it's just enough effort to break the doomscrolling reflex. You're never locked out. You just can't get in — or continue past your session time — without some effort. Make it as easy or hard as you like. There's no "skip for now" button, and you can lock PIM's settings behind a password to avoid impulsive changes. I tried to strike a balance: flexible and simple enough that people won't uninstall it, strict enough to seriously dent the doomscrolling. 7-day free trial, then a one-time purchase. No subscriptions, no ads, no tracking, no accounts. A free F-Droid release is planned. Right now what I really need is feedback: does the friction idea work? Is it simple enough? I'll be here all day answering questions.