halto

Halto: Pause Before You Scroll

A breath before the scroll

Halto puts a few calm seconds between you and the apps that eat your day. Breathe with the orb, notice the pull, then choose. Often you’ll find you didn’t need to open it after all, and when you do, that’s okay too.

See how it works Our privacy promise

Coming soon for iPhone and Android

An example pause. One breath, one kind question, and the choice stays yours.
How it works

A pause where the habit starts

Choose the apps you open without thinking. When you open one, Halto steps in first with a short breath and one gentle question.

  1. Choose your apps

    Pick the few that pull you in: social, video, shopping, news. Each one gets its own breath, from 3 to 10 seconds.

  2. Turn on the pause

    A one-time setup on your phone. Halto walks you through every step with pictures, in English or Hindi.

  3. Breathe, then choose

    Tap Not now and Halto quietly celebrates a mindful close. Still want it? Open it, no guilt.

On iPhone

A personal automation in Apple’s Shortcuts app runs Halto’s Pause before opening action whenever a guarded app opens. It takes about a minute per app.

  • Works without any special permission. Needs iOS 16.4 or later.
  • After you choose to open an app, it opens freely for a few minutes (you pick 2 to 30), so the pause never loops.

Screen Time shields

Optional. Where available, Halto can also use Apple’s Screen Time to place a calm shield over chosen apps and categories during focus and at bedtime.

  • You pick apps in Apple’s own picker.
  • Apple keeps Screen Time data on your iPhone. We can never see which apps you use.

On Android

Halto notices when a guarded app comes to the front and shows the breathing pause right on top of it.

  • Usage access tells Halto which app is in front, only while your screen is on.
  • Display over other apps lets the pause appear over the app.
Features

Gentle by default, firmer when you ask

Everything is built around one small moment of air. The rest helps you keep it.

  • The pause

    A breathing orb fills the pause: breathe in as it glows, breathe out as it settles. Then one question, with how many times you’ve opened the app today. Add an intention if you like: a word for why you’re opening it.

    • Reply to someone
    • Look something up
    • Post something
    • Just bored
    • Something else

    “Not now” is celebrated with a soft bloom of light. The way through is always there.

  • Your guarded apps

    Guard the apps that pull you in most. Each gets its own breath, from 3 to 10 seconds, its own daily limit and its own intention prompt.

  • Limits that grow gently

    After your third open of the day, each pause grows by 2 seconds, up to 20. A soft daily limit doubles the breath; a hard limit asks you to hold to open.

  • Focus 25 · 50 · 90

    Start a focus session and your guarded apps wait until you’re done. On iPhone, a Live Activity shows the countdown on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with an End button.

  • Wind-down and phone-free mornings

    Set a bedtime and the pause grows stronger at night, or waits until morning. Keep the first 15, 30 or 60 minutes after you wake up for yourself.

  • Gentle insights

    Mindful closes, opens and an estimate of the time you got back. Calm and focus streaks, a weekly report and achievements cheer you on and never shame you.

  • Widgets wherever you look

    Today’s mindful closes and your streak on the Home Screen and Lock Screen, a Focus widget that starts a session in one tap, StandBy, and a Control Center control on iOS 18. Android gets Today, Focus and Streak home screen widgets.

A sky for every hour

The pause follows your day

The pause wears the sky of the moment. At night it stays dark, so a late check never lights up the room.

  • Dawn5 to 10 am
  • Day10 am to 5 pm
  • Dusk5 to 9 pm
  • Night9 pm to 5 am
Kind, never preachy

No red alerts. No lectures.

Numbers are facts, never grades. Halto celebrates every “not now” and lets you go when you really need to.

  • Not now. Nice.After a mindful close
  • That’s 6 mindful closes today.Your day, counted kindly
  • Still want it? That’s okay.When you choose to open
Our privacy promise

Everything stays on your phone.

No account. No tracking. No ads.

  • Your pauses, intentions, focus sessions and settings are stored only on your phone.
  • Halto has no servers and makes no network requests. No analytics, ad or tracking SDKs, and the Android app doesn’t ask for Internet access.
  • Screen Time data never leaves your iPhone. By Apple’s design, we can never see which apps you use or for how long.
  • On Android, usage access is used only to notice when one of your guarded apps opens.

Read the full privacy policy

App Store and Google Play: coming soon

Free at launch, with no ads. For iPhone (the pause needs iOS 16.4 or later) and Android phones (Android 8 or later), in English and Hindi.

  • Coming soonApp Store
  • Coming soonGoogle Play
FAQ

Good questions

Is Halto free?

Yes. Halto is free to download, every feature is included at launch, and there are no ads.

Does Halto block my apps?

It pauses them. After the breath you can always choose to open the app. During a focus session, at bedtime in block mode, or past a hard daily limit, the way through simply takes a little longer: end the session, wait out a longer breath, or hold to open. It’s always your call.

Why does iPhone need a Shortcuts automation?

iPhone doesn’t let one app watch which other apps you open. Apple’s Shortcuts app can run Halto’s Pause before opening action when an app opens, and that is how the pause appears. You set it up once per app. The support page shows every step, and how to hide the small “Running your automation” banner.

Can Halto see what I do in other apps?

No. On iPhone, Halto only learns that an app you chose was opened, because your automation tells it. On Android, usage access shows which app is in front, and Halto only acts on the apps you guard. It records nothing about other apps, and nothing leaves your phone.

Will it drain my battery?

No. On Android, Halto checks which app is in front only while your screen is on, with small, efficient checks. On iPhone, Halto runs only when your automation starts it.

What is “time saved”?

An estimate. Each “Not now” counts the minutes you’d typically spend after opening that app. Halto starts with a sensible default per kind of app, and you can change it for each app. It is always labelled as an estimate.

Which languages does Halto speak?

English and Hindi (हिन्दी). Halto follows your phone’s language, and you can switch in Halto › Settings › Language.

Setup help for iPhone and Android is on the support page.