SoloUno helps people take control over body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) such as hair pulling (trichotillomania), skin picking (dermatillomania), and nail biting. Inspired by Habit Reversal Training, CBT, and ACT, it works as a gamified self-help tool. You progress by achieving small daily wins: habit-free challenges and streaks, quick habit logging, trigger analysis, and urge-acceptance sessions. No shame - just steady progress.
SoloUno
Hey all!
My name is Omer and Im a solopreneur - Im dealing with hair-pulling (trichotillomania) for many years now and that what inspired me to build SoloUno
I used to smoke cigarettes and had successfuly rehabed using a rehab app so I thought it would be easy doing the same with my hair pulling, right?
Apperntly not.
I found out that hair pulling, like nail biting and skin picking are a part of a group defined by the DSM-5 as Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs)
This group of habits are defined by peoples difficulty to completly stop them "cold turkey" and many people just tend to live with them
One thing became very clear to me: for many people with BFRBs, simply deciding to “just stop” isn’t enough. And when an app is built entirely around the goal of never doing the behavior again, every slip can feel like failure.
So I decided to flip the equation with SoloUno.
Instead of focusing only on one huge, all-or-nothing goal, SoloUno focuses on small daily wins - becoming more aware of the habit, resisting urges when possible, reducing the behavior over time, and building confidence along the way.
And I wanted to make the process fun and engaging enough that people would actually want to keep practicing.
I started reading research, tried therapy myself, and learned about evidence-based approaches used for BFRBs, including Habit Reversal Training (HRT), CBT, and ACT. I wanted to take principles inspired by these approaches and turn them into something people could practice in their everyday lives.
And that became SoloUno ✨
I’d love to hear what you think! and especially from anyone who has dealt with a BFRB themselves
@omer_bialer Congrats on launching SoloUno! I appreciate tools that bring real change to overlooked areas.
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@murali_gour1 Thank you! I appreciate it
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Congrats on the launch Omer and team!
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Thanks so much, Ben! Really appreciate it - and thanks again for hunting SoloUno and helping make today happen 🙏
flipping from "never do it again" to small daily wins is the right call, most habit apps let one slip nuke the streak and that's exactly when people quit. what counts as a win day to day, awareness logging or something more concrete?
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@sabber_ahamed Completely agree!
And for the daily wins, it really depends on your goals and how much energy you have to put into the process. For some people, it’s simply completing one habit-free challenge per day. For others, it’s also tracking the habit when it happens, and some people do the urge sessions when the urge hits hard.
It’s definitely not one-size-fits-all, to be honest.
@omer_bialer makes sense, letting the user pick their own definition of a win probably keeps way more people past week one than forcing a single metric on everybody
the all-or-nothing streak trap is such a common failure mode in habit apps, good call flipping it. how do the urge-acceptance sessions work in the moment, guided right when the urge hits or more of a log-it-after reflection?
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@sabber_ahamed The urge acceptance sessions work in the moment itself, not in hindsight. You’re guided to turn your attention inward to the physical sensation of the urge in your body, and simply focus on it and stay curious about it for a minute or two
@omer_bialer that in-the-moment redirect is the harder build honestly, way easier to just log after the fact than to catch someone mid-urge and hold their attention there
@omer_bialer I wish there was something like this a few years ago, I was a nail biter for most of my life, but a few years ago I made an effort to stop, it was tough, and took a while but I managed it. Best of luck with the launch.
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@codeandsea Thank you, and well done! It’s really not an easy habit to break..
Was there anything specific that helped you stop?
@omer_bialer Thanks, yes it was my wife.
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@codeandsea Better than an app :) Glad it worked!
@omer_bialer Well that's quite a silent feedback, having an in app features that coupled someone who might be your "Accountability Partner".
I had the pleasure of using SoloUno from its first versions. It helped me get over a habit of many (30+) years. I actually don't need it anymore as the habit is gone.
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@yaniv_yaakubovich
Thank you, Yaniv! I’m actually really happy to hear you don’t need the app anymore 😄
And thank you for all the feedback you gave me along the way - it really helped shape SoloUno.
Love the App, using it from day one, I wish it was available many years ago.
SoloUno is friendly and easy to use but the most valuable feature for me is the fact that I do not feel defeated or failure when I do pull my hair. I just continue my journey
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@shiri_ofer Thanks so much, Shiri! You really are one of SoloUno’s earliest users, so this means a lot. I’m super happy the app is helping you, and your feedback along the way has been incredibly valuable in shaping and improving it. Thank you!!