# Livetime

> Livetime (LivetimeOs on Google Play) is an ad-free home screen for Android that replaces the phone's own to help reduce screen time, focus and be more productive. Available on Android only: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.livetimeos.launcher

Livetime isn't one more blocking app: it is the phone's home screen, the first thing you see and the only door to your apps. You open an app by typing its name; compulsive apps (email) impose a wait that grows with every opening; addictive apps (Instagram, TikTok) ask how many minutes you want to spend before you go in, with a soft, flexible or rigid limit; Instagram and YouTube open in a lighter view, without Reels, Shorts or suggestions; the Focus, Sport and Sleep modes keep only the apps for the moment, at Easy, Moderate or Hard difficulty; only time spent on distracting apps is counted. There is also a check-in at installation, website blocking, a second brain for jotting down ideas, a Pomodoro timer, tasks and habits.

Livetime was created by Emile Clement, a French student, after two years of testing the other solutions (blockers, grayscale, deleting social media, minimalist phones). Over 100 downloads on Google Play as of October 2026; a study of how every user's screen time changes is under way. This version of the site is in English; the app and the site exist in 25 languages (list at the end of this file). Livetime doesn't work on iPhone, doesn't delete any app, and the accessibility permission is only used for website blocking (optional): it only reads the address shown in the browser.

Site: https://livetimeos.com/en/

## Pages

- [Reviews](https://livetimeos.com/en/reviews/): Reviews from Livetime's first users, high school students and students in medicine, prépa and engineering school, with screenshots as proof.
- [Blog](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/): Guides to remove Reels, hide Shorts, go grayscale and cut your screen time, plus our reviews of Opal and the Balance Phone.
- [Comparison](https://livetimeos.com/en/comparison/): Feature phones, dumbphones, Balance Phone, Opal, one sec, Brick, Digital Wellbeing: the screen-time solutions, and where Livetime fits.
- [Studies](https://livetimeos.com/en/studies/): 18 studies on our phones, summarized in plain English: attention, sleep, loneliness, well-being, and what works. Every figure links to its source.
- [Frequently asked questions](https://livetimeos.com/en/faq/): Livetime on iPhone, Reels and Shorts, when your time is up, the accessibility permission: every answer about the Livetime home screen.
- [Features](https://livetimeos.com/en/features/): Apps opened by typing their name, time decided before Instagram, Instagram without Reels, YouTube without Shorts, Focus and Sleep modes: all of Livetime.
- [Manifesto](https://livetimeos.com/en/manifesto/): Our phones capture our attention, and willpower isn't enough. Why Livetime exists, what it wants to change, and its story.

## Blog

- [How to remove Reels on Instagram: every solution](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/how-to-remove-reels-on-instagram/): Instagram has no button to remove Reels. Every solution in 2026 on Android, iPhone and computer, and the ones to avoid.
- [Turn off Instagram Reels on Android](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/turn-off-instagram-reels-android/): Three ways to stop seeing Reels on Android: a lighter view with Livetime, Firefox and an extension, and the right settings.
- [Instagram without Reels on iPhone: SocialFocus and the other solutions](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/instagram-without-reels-iphone/): On iPhone, the Safari extension SocialFocus hides Instagram's Reels, feed and Explore page: how to install it step by step, its limits, the alternatives.
- [Turn Instagram black and white (and only Instagram)](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/instagram-black-and-white/): Switch Instagram to black and white without turning your whole phone grey: on iPhone with Shortcuts, on Android with Livetime or Bedtime mode.
- [Customize Instagram: hide the feed, Explore and suggestions](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/customize-instagram/): Following feed, snoozing suggestions, quiet mode, time limits: what you can adjust in Instagram, and what takes a tool to remove.
- [How to remove Shorts on YouTube: every solution](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/how-to-remove-youtube-shorts/): YouTube won't let you remove Shorts. What works in 2026: the scrolling limit, UnTrap, Unhook, and Livetime on Android.
- [Hide the Shorts button on YouTube](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/hide-youtube-shorts-button/): The Shorts button sits in the middle of YouTube's bar, and the settings can't remove it. How to hide it anyway on Android, iPhone and computer.
- [YouTube without recommendations: watch only what you came for](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/youtube-without-recommendations/): An empty home page, no more suggested videos or autoplay: use YouTube as a tool, on computer, iPhone and Android.
- [How to reduce your screen time: 10 methods that really work](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/how-to-reduce-screen-time/): 10 research-backed methods to reduce your screen time: grayscale, notifications, a pause before opening, and how to stick with them.
- [Switch your phone to black and white: the Android and iPhone guide](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/grayscale-phone/): How to switch your phone to black and white on Android (Pixel, Samsung, Xiaomi) and iPhone, why it works, and how to keep it on.
- [Screen time: why willpower isn't enough](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/why-willpower-is-not-enough/): Can't manage to use your phone less? It's not a lack of willpower. The fridge metaphor, and what the studies say.
- [Android's Digital Wellbeing: how to use it well, and why it isn't enough](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/android-digital-wellbeing/): App timers, Focus mode, Bedtime mode: how to make good use of Android's Digital Wellbeing, and why it isn't enough.
- [Opal review: is the blocking app worth the price?](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/opal-review/): Opal blocks apps on iPhone, Android and Mac. How it works, price ($99.99 a year), strengths, limits and who it's for.
- [Balance Phone review: the smartphone without social media](https://livetimeos.com/en/blog/balance-phone-review/): The Balance Phone, a Samsung with no social media or games: models, prices from €299 to €749, buyer feedback, limits, and who it's for.

## Studies cited

- A phone lying nearby is enough to distract you. (Ward, Duke, Gneezy and Bos, Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2017): https://doi.org/10.1086/691462
- Its mere presence lowers performance. (Thornton, Faires, Robbins and Rollins, Social Psychology, 2014): https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000216
- A notification distracts you, even if you don't look at it. (Stothart, Mitchum and Yehnert, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 2015): https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000100
- Turning off notifications reduces inattention. (Kushlev, Proulx and Dunn, CHI 2016): https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858359
- Our attention on screens has been shrinking for twenty years. (Gloria Mark, University of California, Irvine, Attention Span, 2023): https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/how-sharpen-your-attention-and-meet-your-goals-2024
- Four hours of screens a day in France. (Baromètre du numérique 2025 (Digital Barometer), Arcep and Crédoc): https://www.arcep.fr/uploads/tx_gspublication/barometre-du-numerique_edition_2025_RAPPORT_mars2025.pdf
- One internet user in three has already tried to cut down on screens. (Insee Focus no. 329, Valentin Guilloton, 2024): https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8199393
- We misjudge our own screen time. (Parry, Davidson, Sewall et al., Nature Human Behaviour, 2021): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01117-5
- Less social media, less loneliness. (Hunt, Marx, Lipson and Young, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2018): https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751
- Without Facebook, you see your loved ones more. (Allcott, Braghieri, Eichmeyer and Gentzkow, American Economic Review, 2020): https://www.nber.org/papers/w25514
- A week without Facebook, more satisfaction. (Tromholt, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2016): https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0259
- Evening screens delay sleep. (Chang, Aeschbach, Duffy and Czeisler, PNAS, 2015): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25535358/
- Screens and sleep: a link in nine studies out of ten. (Hale and Guan, Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2015): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2014.07.007
- A phone on the table cools the conversation. (Przybylski and Weinstein, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2013): https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407512453827
- 15 to 24-year-olds see their friends less and less. (U.S. Surgeon General, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, 2023): https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
- One hour less a day is enough. (Brailovskaia et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 2023): https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000430
- A pause before opening an app works. (Grüning, Riedel and Lorenz-Spreen, PNAS, 2023): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9974409
- Grayscale lowers screen time. (Holte and Ferraro, The Social Science Journal, 2020): https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2020.1737461

## Going further

- [The whole site as text](https://livetimeos.com/en/llms-full.txt)
- [Download Livetime on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.livetimeos.launcher&hl=en)

## The site in other languages

- [Bahasa Indonesia](https://livetimeos.com/id/llms.txt)
- [Deutsch](https://livetimeos.com/de/llms.txt)
- [Español](https://livetimeos.com/es/llms.txt)
- [Filipino](https://livetimeos.com/fil/llms.txt)
- [Français](https://livetimeos.com/llms.txt)
- [Italiano](https://livetimeos.com/it/llms.txt)
- [Kiswahili](https://livetimeos.com/sw/llms.txt)
- [Nederlands](https://livetimeos.com/nl/llms.txt)
- [Polski](https://livetimeos.com/pl/llms.txt)
- [Português (Brasil)](https://livetimeos.com/pt-br/llms.txt)
- [Tiếng Việt](https://livetimeos.com/vi/llms.txt)
- [Türkçe](https://livetimeos.com/tr/llms.txt)
- [Русский](https://livetimeos.com/ru/llms.txt)
- [Українська](https://livetimeos.com/uk/llms.txt)
- [العربية](https://livetimeos.com/ar/llms.txt)
- [اردو](https://livetimeos.com/ur/llms.txt)
- [فارسی](https://livetimeos.com/fa/llms.txt)
- [हिन्दी](https://livetimeos.com/hi/llms.txt)