Set it once
Monday's discipline protects Friday's exhausted self. Pick the days and times, and Helm starts blocking on its own. When the schedule ends, your apps come back. Tap your Helm if you want to end one early.
Take control of your screen time.
Touch brass. Your phone, your terms. Helm locks the apps you pick, and they stay locked until you tap it again. Everything else keeps working.
How many Helms(3 or more: 20% off)
Free gift: the Focus Stack, five playbooks for deep work, ADHD, parents, couples and burnout.
30-day returnsFree US shippingNo subscription
“After I purchased Helm it has really helped me with focusing on tasks and increasing my deep work.”
Works with
Download formacOS
Helping teams stay focused at
Built like our grandfathers' tools. For our generation's addiction.
Solid brass, made to sit out where you can see it.
- Built to keep.Four ounces of brass, milled from a single billet and polished by hand. It develops its own patina over time.
- Nothing to charge.No battery, no Bluetooth, nothing to update. Tap it and it works.
- Sticks where you need it.A magnet inside holds it to the fridge or any steel surface.
- Share with your partner.Each of you gets a private profile on the same Helm.
Solid brassMatte silicone faceN52 magnetNFC, no battery54 × 12 mm4 oz
Where it lives.
Distance is the strategy. Helm lives where it makes you move, and that 20-foot walk is your moat against midnight scrolling. On the way over, ask yourself: do you actually need your phone, or do you just want it?
On the fridge.
On your desk.
By your bed.
Leave it at home.
Face down still counts.
520 people took a memory test with their phone silenced. Only where the phone sat changed.
- Face down on the desk30.6
- In a pocket or bag31.2
- In another room33.911% higher
Average working memory score
Resisting your phone takes attention. In a Helm session your apps are locked, so there's nothing to resist.
Ward, Duke, Gneezy and Bos, "Brain Drain", Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2017. Experiment 1, operation span scores from figure 1.
How it works
Apps are designed to addict. Helm is designed to protect. Three steps to start, then tools for the hardest parts of the day.
-
1Pick what gets blocked
Make a mode for each part of your day. Deep Work can block social apps and news. Family Time can allow only the few apps you need.
-
2Start a session
Hold Start Session for two seconds, or turn on Start with a Helm tap in Settings. The apps you picked go dark.
-
3Tap your Helm to end it
Your apps stay locked until you hold your iPhone near the top of your Helm, the schedule ends, or you reach the unlock goal you set.
Decide before the urge shows up.
- Apps locked
- 15-min break
- Locked again
Breaks, decided up front.
Pick how many breaks you get when you start. Each lasts 15 minutes. When they're gone, they're gone.
2 breaks left for this session
- On the couch
- Get up
- Tap your Helm
Remote start, physical stop.
To end early, get up and tap your Helm. Giving up takes more effort than following through.
New
An alarm only your Helm turns off.
Keep your Helm across the room. The only way to stop the alarm is to walk over and tap it.
Turn on Lock all my apps and nothing opens until you tap your Helm. Calls still work. Turn on Keep blocking and your apps stay locked after the tap, so you get up instead of scrolling.
- It rings
- You get up
- You tap your Helm
On iPhone (iOS 26 or later) and Android.
Walk it off.
Tie your apps to your steps. Social apps can stay locked each day until you've walked 10,000 steps. Open Instagram before then and Helm tells you how far you have left to go.
A step goal can also end a focus session early, and so can exercise minutes or time spent focused. Helm reads the count from Apple Health. It never changes your Health data.
iPhone only, through Apple Health.
Earn your screen time.
Give an app a daily budget by time or by opens. When you hit a limit, Helm asks you to breathe and wait before it lets you back in. The wait is 5 seconds on Easy, 15 on Medium and 30 on Hard. Hardcore stays locked until the limit resets.
Time and open limits on iPhone and Android.
More ways Helm holds the line
See what changed
Your focus time sits next to your Screen Time for the same day, so you can see where the hours went.
Hand someone else the keys
Guardian Mode asks for a PIN or Face ID before anyone edits a mode or ends a session early, and it can email a guardian when that happens. One Helm also works for a whole household, with a private profile for each person.
Who it's for.
Structure that lives outside your head.
Remembering to start, resisting the tap, getting out of bed on time. Each of these asks you to hold a plan in your head while something easier is right there. Helm keeps the plan on your desk instead.
Helm is a focus tool. It isn't a medical device or a treatment for ADHD.
- An alarm that gets you up.It only stops when you tap your Helm, so put it across the room.
- Schedules start on their own.Set your mornings once. Helm starts blocking on time, whether you remembered or not.
- You can see it.The Helm on your desk is the reminder, so you don't have to remember to focus.
- A pause before every unlock.A breathing pause plus a wait you choose, from 5 seconds to locked until reset. It gives the urge time to pass.
- Movement gets you out.Reach a step goal and the mode ends.
- A way out when you need one.One emergency lifeline a month ends a session without your Helm. Calls always work.
Your kids notice where your eyes go.
Lock the apps for the hours after school, so your phone stops competing with them.
- Set Family Dinner once and it locks every night.
- Calls still get through.
- Everyone gets a private profile on the same Helm.
Get your evenings back.
Same couch, same night. With the apps locked, the phones stay on the table.
- Share one Helm. Each of you gets a private profile.
- Set an evening schedule once and it starts on its own.
- Breaks are decided up front, so nobody negotiates at 10 pm.
Study first, scroll later.
Put study hours on a schedule and keep social apps shut until the work is done.
- Study Hall starts at the same time every day.
- Tie social apps to a step goal or a daily time budget.
- Breaks are decided up front, not one tap at a time.
Protect the hours that matter.
Mission Mode on your Mac keeps only the tools for the job open, and your phone stays locked beside it.
- Write the mission. Helm won't start a Mission without it.
- Pick what ending early costs, from Easy to Hardcore.
- Works in every major browser, with no extension.
Phone down at night, up in the morning.
Nightstand phone, kitchen Helm = actual sleep. A bedtime schedule locks your apps on time, and the alarm only stops when you get up and tap your Helm.
- Bedtime schedules start on their own.
- Keep your Helm across the room from your bed.
- Turn on Keep blocking and your apps stay locked after the alarm.
Your Mac, too.
Helm for Mac keeps distracting sites and apps shut while you work, and makes ending early cost something. Block Mode shuts out a list. Mission Mode leaves open only the tools you name.
- SchedulesSessions start on their own, with breaks built in.
- DifficultyFour levels, from Easy to Hardcore. Ending early makes you wait, longer each time.
- Every major browserSafari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Opera and Firefox, with no extension.
- Works offlineBlocking keeps working without a connection.
See Helm for Mac
14-day free trial. macOS 14 or later.
How Helm compares
Most focus apps live inside the problem. Helm exists outside it.
| Helm | Brick | Opal | iPhone Screen Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical key | YesBrass | YesPlastic | No | No |
| Mac app | YesSold separately | No | Yes | YesBuilt in |
| App limits by time or opens | Yes | No | Yes | YesTime only |
| Apple Health integration | YesSteps and exercise | No | No | No |
| Alarm only the device turns off | YesiPhone and Android | No | No | No |
| End a session with a step goal | YesiPhone | No | No | No |
| Wait before unlocking | Yes5 seconds to locked | No | Hard Mode | Ignore button |
| Breaks during a session | Yes | No | No | No |
| Subscription for the phone app | None | None | Pro is $99.99 a year | Free |
| Price | $99 | $59 | Free, $99.99 a year, or $399 lifetime | Free |
| Android | YesWithout Health features | Yes | Yes | No |
Competitor details from their websites, October 2026.
What people say.
5.0 from 12 reviews
Distraction has been something I’ve been dealing with for years with my iPhone
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, text messages… and the list goes on. After I purchased Helm it has really helped me with focusing on tasks and increasing my deep work. One feature I really like is that if you try to open one of the apps that is restricted during your focus time it won’t allow you to open it. And that’s what I needed. I’ve also noticed that the less time I spend on social media and mindlessly searching YouTube or the Internet the happier I am. The more time I’m able to focus on work the less stressed I feel because I’m able to complete everything without feeling rushed. If I end up watching a bunch of YouTube videos or being on Facebook or Instagram then what happens is the next thing I know time has passed and I’m like ‘Crap, I need to get my work done.’ And that increases my stress. So a massive thank you to Helm for helping me increase my deep work and my happiness. The Helm device is really cool looking and the unboxing experience is epic. Plus, I get the app for free for life. No extra monthly payments for it which is nice.
SeanVerified buyer
For anyone with focus issues, this is a God Send.
Reviewing BestSelf Helm Focus Device – Premium NFC-Powered Phone Distraction Blocker Physical App Blocker Tool for Deep Work, Our grandson has a hard time staying focused. He wants to improve but is challenged in doing so. He has been utilizing focus mode on his iPhone and finds it helpful, but it’s not enough. I saw tis and thought it would be worth a shot for him, since he has mentioned wanting better focus and ability to not be distracted. This is like focus mode on an iPhone, only you can customize it better and it is much harder to get around. I should note, he is a teenager. This is a device for teenagers and adults, not children. It was easy for him to set up the way he wanted it and he was able to set a schedule, so he doesn’t need to go in and customize it every day, although, if he is doing a big project and doesn’t want to get sucked in to videos or distractions, he can set it as a one off focus for that time only. It also tracks his focus and gives him real time stats. He loves it and he’s had several friends inquire about the helm also! It is well worth the money for him and his self-confidence has shot up since he’s been able to focus on what he wants to focus on, rather than doom scrolling all day. It is a little pricey but other than that, I think it’s a great device. I am not removing any stars for the price because I believe for someone who has a true focus issues, like our grandson, the price is worth it for them.
Summer
This tool works
This tool works. Something about having to fish around to find the helm to end a session or take a break connects the physical with mental blocks. The real test will come in January, when I plan to head back to school and learn a thing or two about AI.
Gene P.
Questions
Why not use a cheap NFC sticker and a free app?
You can, and some free apps work with any tag. Helm's app only accepts your Helm, so a spare sticker can't end a session early. You also get the alarm, the Apple Health unlock, app limits and Guardian Mode in one app with no subscription.
What if I lose my Helm?
Get a new Helm and pair it to your account in the app. Until it arrives, an emergency lifeline or an alternative unlock goal can end a session.
Does it need charging?
No. There's no battery inside, so there's nothing to charge.
Do I need a subscription?
Not for the phone app, on iPhone or Android. The device is the key. Helm for Mac starts with a 14-day free trial.
Which iPhones work?
Any iPhone that runs iOS 17 or later. The alarm needs iOS 26. iPads don't have the NFC reader Helm needs.
Can I end a session early?
Yes. Tap your Helm, reach an alternative unlock goal, or use one of your monthly emergency lifelines. With Guardian Mode on, ending early needs a PIN or Face ID. Calls always work.
Does Helm work on Android?
Yes, with fewer features. The Android app has focus sessions, app limits and the alarm. Step goals are iPhone only, because they read your steps from Apple Health.
Can my family share one Helm?
Yes. Each person gets a private profile on the same Helm.
Pick your Helm.
One purchase. Zero subscriptions. Lifetime of focus.
How many Helms(3 or more: 20% off)
Free gift: the Focus Stack, five playbooks for deep work, ADHD, parents, couples and burnout.
30-day returnsFree US shipping