Brick alternative for Android

Q: Does Brick work on Android?

Yes. Brick ships apps for both iPhone and Android, and its FAQ covers Android setup directly. It was iPhone-first, so some older articles describe it as iOS only.

Q: Is there a Brick alternative that does not need hardware?

Yes. Software session apps achieve a similar effect by making distracting apps unavailable for a set period. You lose the physical commitment device, which is the part of Brick people rate most highly, but you also lose the cost and the need to carry something.

Q: Is a physical focus device worth it?

It depends on whether your problem is intent or access. If you genuinely want to stop and keep undoing your own limits, moving the off switch off the phone helps a lot. If you mostly open apps out of reflex, a free app that removes them from view usually solves it without the purchase.

Comparison · ~6 min read · Checked September 2026

Brick works on Android — it ships apps for both platforms, and its own FAQ walks through Android setup. So the question is not availability. It is whether the thing that makes Brick good, a physical object you have to walk back to, is worth buying hardware for, or whether software gets you close enough.

The short answer

Brick's real product is separation: the off switch lives on a different object from the phone. If you repeatedly undo your own limits, that separation is worth paying for. If you mostly open apps out of reflex rather than intent, a free app that removes them from view solves the same problem without the purchase.

What Brick actually does

You choose which apps to block in the Brick app and define modes. You tap your phone against the small physical Brick to start a session, and the chosen apps become unavailable. To get them back, you tap the phone against the Brick again — which means being physically near it.

There is an emergency escape for genuine situations, deliberately limited in number so it cannot become the routine. The company cites over 55,000 five-star reviews and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Why the hardware is the point

This is the part worth understanding before deciding you want an alternative, because it is a real insight and not a gimmick.

Every software-only limit has the same structural weakness: the off switch is on the device you are trying to use less. The phone holds both the restriction and the means to remove it. At the moment you want to break the rule, the tool for breaking it is already in your hand.

Brick's answer is to move that switch onto a separate object and then let you leave the object behind. Deliberately leave the Brick at home and the session cannot be ended until you get home. That is a commitment device in the proper economic sense, and it is genuinely stronger than anything a pure app can do.

What the hardware costs you

Also real, and usually glossed over:

Money. It is a physical product with a physical price, versus free apps that cover much of the same ground.
An object to manage. One more thing to place, remember, and not lose. The FAQ has an entry for losing it, which tells you it happens.
Accidental lockouts. The strength is also the failure mode. Leave it behind unintentionally and you are locked out until you return, which is fine until it is not.
Setup friction. Tapping to start is small but real friction, and small friction is what stops people using tools consistently.
It solves intent, not reflex. If your problem is unconsciously opening Instagram forty times a day, the binding constraint is not that you can undo limits. It is that the icon is there and your thumb knows where it lives.

The software alternatives on Android

Grouped by which part of Brick they approximate:

If you want	Option	How close it gets
Strict, hard-to-undo sessions	AppBlock strict mode and similar paid tiers	Close on strictness, but the switch is still on the phone
The apps simply not being there	FocusComet	Removes apps from view for the session rather than gating them
A pause before the reflex	one sec, ScreenZen	Different goal — interrupts habit, does not enforce a boundary
Usage data and gentle limits	Digital Wellbeing	Free and built in, weakest enforcement

None of these reproduce the leave-it-at-home trick. That is the honest gap, and no app can close it, because an app cannot be somewhere else.

What software can do is remove the trigger rather than guard the gate. If the app is not on your home screen and not in your app list for the next ninety minutes, you do not reach for it, and the off switch being technically nearby matters much less than it sounds like it should — because you were never at the gate in the first place.

Who should just buy the Brick

Genuinely:

You have tried software limits and you consistently override them on purpose.
Your problem is deliberate use, not absent-minded use.
You like physical objects as commitment devices and you will actually carry it.
You use both an iPhone and an Android phone and want one system across both.

And who should try software first: everyone whose honest answer to "why did I open this app" is "I don't know, my thumb did it".

Frequently asked questions

Does Brick work on Android?

Yes. Brick ships apps for both iPhone and Android and its FAQ covers Android setup directly. It was iPhone-first, so some older articles still describe it as iOS only.

Is there a Brick alternative that does not need hardware?

Yes — software session apps make distracting apps unavailable for a set period. You lose the physical commitment device, which is the part people rate most, but you also lose the cost and the object to carry.

What makes Brick different from a normal app blocker?

With most blockers the off switch is on the same phone you are trying to use less. Brick moves it onto a separate object, so unblocking means physically returning to it.

Is a physical focus device worth it?

It depends whether your problem is intent or access. If you keep deliberately undoing your own limits, moving the switch off the phone helps. If you open apps out of reflex, a free app that removes them from view usually solves it.