one sec is built on a simple observation: much of our scrolling starts on autopilot. You are not deciding to open the app; your thumb is. So it puts a short pause in front of the app, a moment to breathe and ask whether you actually want this. Stillfeed starts from a different observation: the trouble is not opening the app, it is the endless feed waiting inside it. So it opens the app in its own browser with Reels, Shorts and For You removed. Both are gentler than a hard block. This page compares them, and says where one sec is clearly the better choice.
In short: one sec works on the moment before you open an app, and it works on any app you point it at. Stillfeed works on what you see after you open one of eight social platforms. If your habit is reflexive opening across many apps, one sec fits. If your habit is falling into Reels, Shorts or For You, Stillfeed fits.
Two ideas about friction
Most people who try to scroll less discover that willpower is a poor tool. Willpower asks you to make the right choice hundreds of times a day, usually when you are tired or bored. Better tools change the situation so the right choice is easier, and there are two natural places to do that. You can add friction at the door, so opening a distracting app takes a moment of thought. Or you can change what is inside, so there is less to get lost in once you are there.
one sec is a door tool. Stillfeed is a room tool. They are not rivals so much as answers to different parts of the same habit, and the right one depends on where yours goes wrong.
What one sec does
According to its App Store listing, one sec adds a short pause before distracting apps so you can choose what deserves your attention. It describes this as delaying access rather than blocking the app completely, and presents that as a psychological difference: you can still get in, you just have to get past a moment first. The listing says it uses Shortcuts automation to show a deep-breath animation whenever you open an app you have configured.
It lists a few more tools around that idea. A feature it calls Re-Intervention is described as a brake on endless scrolling: after a set time, such as five minutes, you are kicked out of the app and have to go through the pause again to get more time. It also offers a Safari extension so the same pause can apply to websites, and it says you can set it up with any app you like, naming social media, games, video streaming, dating and trading apps as common uses.
What Stillfeed does
Stillfeed is a browser for iPhone that opens Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook inside itself, with Reels, Shorts and For You removed. Direct messages, profiles and regular posts keep working. Hiding Reels and Shorts is free, and there is no account to create.
It does not add a pause, and it does not work on arbitrary apps. It covers those eight platforms, and it does one job on them: it takes out the part designed never to end. After you open Instagram through Stillfeed, you can still reply to a friend and look at a profile. The next Reel is just not there to be pulled into.
Side by side
| one sec | Stillfeed | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | A short pause before an app opens | An in-app browser that removes Reels, Shorts and For You |
| Where it acts | The moment you open an app | The content inside the platform |
| Which apps | Any app you configure | Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn |
| Stops endless scrolling once you are in | Via a timed re-intervention that ends the session | By removing the endless feed itself |
| Websites | Safari extension, per its listing | The eight platforms, opened inside Stillfeed |
| Messages, profiles, regular posts | Unaffected after the pause | Keep working |
| Hiding Reels and Shorts | Not what it does | Yes, free |
When one sec is the better fit
one sec is the better choice when your problem is the reflex. If you notice that you open apps without deciding to, a pause is a precise answer: it interrupts the autopilot at exactly the moment it fires. It is also far broader than Stillfeed. Games, dating apps, news, trading, video streaming and any other app you can name are all fair game, and Stillfeed does nothing for any of them.
It also helps with a failure mode a feed filter cannot touch: scrolling that is not in a feed at all. If you lose time in a group chat, a game or a news app, there is no Reel to remove. A pause before opening, plus a timed push out, deals with whatever the app contains.
When Stillfeed is the better fit
Stillfeed is the better choice when the app itself is fine and one part of it is not. Many people truly use Instagram for messages and YouTube for the channels they subscribe to, and a pause does not change what is waiting after it. Someone who reflexively opens Instagram, gets past the pause, and lands on Reels has been slowed down but not helped. With the Reels gone, getting past the door leads somewhere harmless.
It also asks for no repeated decision. A pause works by asking you a question every time you open the app; some people find that a useful ritual and some find it a nuisance that they learn to tap through. Removing the feed is a one-time change that does not depend on how you feel when the question appears. For a closer look at YouTube specifically, see our guide to turning off YouTube Shorts.
Using both
The two combine neatly, because they sit at different points in the same moment. A pause can catch the reflex before the app opens, and a feed with the endless parts removed means that whatever gets past the pause lands somewhere calmer. If you have to choose one to try first, ask yourself where you lose time. If it is a dozen different apps, start with something that works on any of them. If it is mostly Reels, Shorts and For You on the big platforms, starting with Stillfeed is free and takes a minute.
For the wider picture, our comparison of app blockers for iPhone sets out how the main approaches differ. If you are comparing options, see Opal alternatives too, or Stillfeed vs ScreenZen for delays, goals and limits.
More comparisons
See all of them side by side in the best social media blocker apps for iPhone, or browse every Stillfeed comparison. One on one: Stillfeed vs Opal, Stillfeed vs Brick, Stillfeed vs ScreenZen.
Common questions
Is Stillfeed an alternative to one sec?
For the narrow job of scrolling less on social media, partly. They use different methods: one sec adds a pause before an app opens, and Stillfeed removes Reels, Shorts and For You from the platforms it opens. They work well together.
Does Stillfeed add a delay before opening an app?
No. Stillfeed does not add a pause. It changes what you see inside the platforms it opens.
Does Stillfeed work on any app?
No. It covers Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Can I still message people on Instagram in Stillfeed?
Yes. Direct messages, profiles and regular posts keep working. Only the endless parts are removed.
Do I need an account to hide Reels and Shorts?
No. Hiding Reels and Shorts is free and does not need a Stillfeed account.
Weighing other options? Compare Stillfeed vs Opal, Stillfeed vs Brick and Stillfeed vs ScreenZen, or see the best app blockers for iPhone and every comparison in one place.
Download Stillfeed from the App Store and open the platform you scroll most.
