one sec delays distracting apps instead of blocking them — a breathing pause and a “do you really want to open this?” every time — backed by academic studies on its effect. Paused is a different shape of app, so this is a comparison rather than a pitch — the table starts with what one sec does better.
| one sec | Paused | |
|---|---|---|
| Known for | one sec delays distracting apps instead of blocking them — a breathing pause and a “do you really want to open this?” every time — backed by academic studies on its effect. | Block Schedules that switch your chosen apps off at set times and back on afterwards, one-tap Focus sessions for right now, and a streak that counts the days you kept the block. |
| Genuinely better at | Long-term habit change without a wall. one sec keeps the apps available and reduces how often you open them; the research it cites is on exactly that effect. | Paused is the wall: when a Block Schedule is on, the app does not open at all, and a Focus session takes it away right now. |
| Day to day it feels like | The apps still open, but not instantly: a pause, a breath, a question or a reason first. It lowers the number of impulse opens rather than switching anything off. | A small, boring wall. You pick the apps, pick the hours, and they stop opening — no coins, no plants, no hardware, no reasons to type. A calm Paused screen where the app used to be. |
…a hard block makes you rebel and a gentle interruption works for you. Those are different people, and one sec is for the second.
We would rather you kept an app that fits than switched and quietly turned it off after a fortnight. A blocker you have disabled is not a blocker.
Said up front, because this is the part comparison pages usually leave out.
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