Actions
An Action blocks without you. Three parts: what starts it, what it blocks, how it blocks.
What an Action is
The trigger
What starts and stops it. 16 to choose from.
The block list
Usually a Group, or apps and sites picked inside the Action.
The block mode
Cut internet, stop the app opening, or both. Left alone it uses your global default.
The block message
Optional. The line shown when this rule is the one stopping you.
Creating one
- From a preset30 ready-made Actions across seven shelves. Tapping one opens the editor already filled in. Switch it on as-is, or change anything. Full list in what is predefined.
- From scratchAn empty editor. Your own trigger, your own block list.
The Actions tab also suggests rules built from your own last week of screen time, under From your screen time. Ordinary Actions, just pre-filled with the apps that actually took your time.
Saving asks only for the permissions that Action needs. A charging rule never mentions alarms. See Permissions.
All 16 triggers
| Trigger | Starts | What it does | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | On a schedule | Pick the days and a start and end time. | Alarms |
| Monthly dates | Set days each month | Days of the month instead of days of the week. Built for payday. | Alarms |
| Wake-up | Right after you wake | Blocks for your first N minutes awake. Measures sleep, not the clock, so night shifts work too. | Alarms |
| Pomodoro | Focus and break loops | Blocked for the focus stretch, free on the break, repeating. | Alarms |
| App usage | After too long in an app | Blocks once an app has been used for your limit, then holds it for 30, 45, 60 or 120 minutes, or the rest of the day. A per-app mode asks how long you want each app when you open it. | Usage access |
| Screen time | Cap your screen time | Covers the whole phone once the screen has been on too long. No allow list, on purpose. | Usage access |
| Open limit | Too many opens a day | Past your limit, the app stays shut for the rest of the day. | Usage access |
| Meetings | During calendar events | Blocks during timed events on your phone's calendar. All-day events are ignored. | Calendar |
| Charging | While plugged in | Or the inverse: blocks while on battery. | None |
| Battery | On a battery level | At or below a percentage you pick, or at or above it. | None |
| Screen | While the screen is on | Or the inverse, to cut background data while the phone is idle. | None |
| Bluetooth | A device nearby | Blocks near devices you list, or away from all of them. Usually the car. | Nearby devices |
| Wi-Fi | On a network | Blocks on named networks, or off all of them. Campus and office Wi-Fi. | Location |
| Location | At a place | A point and a radius, inside it or outside it. Drop the pin on a map. | Location |
| Movement | While you are moving | Walking, running, cycling or driving. | Physical activity |
| Off topic | Stay on your study topic | The study guardian. Give it your topic and the apps you are still allowed. It reads your screen and pulls you back when you drift. | Accessibility, your AI key |
Off topic is the only Action that uses AI, and it uses your key, not ours. Add a free OpenRouter key in Settings, AI settings. It is stored encrypted on your device. Without one, the Action falls back to plain keyword matching. Free credits run out fast under constant monitoring, often in 15 to 30 minutes, so all-day use wants a little credit on the account.
Running with the app closed
Actions are enforced by a background service, so they keep working with Appcognito closed and come back after a reboot. Two permissions make that reliable:
- Alarms and reminders. Eight triggers are clock-driven. Without exact alarms, Android drifts by around ten minutes in Doze, so blocks start or lift visibly late.
- Battery optimisation exemption. Some manufacturers kill background work aggressively. This stops them killing yours.
Pausing and stopping
Each card shows its state: blocking now, waiting, or paused with a countdown.
- Pause for 30 minutes, an hour, two hours, tonight or tomorrow. It turns itself back on, and the pause survives a restart. This is the intended escape hatch.
- Stop switches it off until you switch it back on.
- Favourite sorts it to the front of its shelf.
- Select starts, pauses or stops several at once.
Pausing, stopping or editing an Action while it is protecting you breaks your commitment for the day. Letting one finish does not.
When one will not budge
| Hold | You can still | To release |
|---|---|---|
| Strict mode | Make it stricter. Add, never remove. | Leave Strict mode. Takes 12 or 24 hours. |
| A running challenge | Make it stricter. | End the challenge. Recorded as a relapse. |
| A parental lock | Nothing, without the other person. | Their 6 digit code releases it. Their master password removes it. |
A Group used by a held Action inherits the hold, so you cannot loosen a block by editing the list behind it instead of the rule in front of it.
Free plan limits
All 16 triggers and all 30 presets are free. The limit is how many run at once: one on free, unlimited on Pro. You can build as many as you like either way.
When a Pro trial ends, one Action keeps running, and the one a live challenge depends on wins.