A Phone Habit With an Off Switch

Does blocking mobile internet improve sustained attention?

Blocking mobile internet for two weeks improved sustained attention in a randomized trial, making easier exits a serious product goal.

PNAS Nexus published the study in 2025. The final unique sample included 467 iPhone users in the United States and Canada.

One group blocked mobile internet during the first two weeks. The other group waited, then blocked it during the next two weeks. Calls and texts still worked. Internet access on other devices also remained available.

Across both groups, 58.5% improved on an objective sustained-attention task after the block. Overall, 90.7% improved on at least one measured outcome. Those outcomes were sustained attention, subjective well-being, and a combined mental-health index.

The result deserves caution. Only 25.5% of participants met the study's compliance rule. The sample included only iPhone users. The trial blocked all mobile internet, not only social media. It cannot identify which apps or habits mattered most.

Why it matters

Constant internet access can feel like a fixed feature of a phone. This experiment treated it as a setting that could change.

The study does not show that everyone should block mobile internet. It does make one design question harder to ignore. How easy is it to finish what you opened an app to do?

Readers can try a smaller experiment. Move one distracting app off your phone for a week. Or choose one offline hour each evening. Keep the tools you need for direct contact. Then notice whether checking becomes more deliberate.

A smaller change may not reproduce the study's results. The useful question is simpler. Which connections deserve instant access, and which can wait?

What Unscroll does differently

Unscroll is built for casual updates from real friends and family. Posts appear in chronological order. There is no algorithm pulling the next topic into view.

There are no ads, no explore page, and no public scoreboard. Unscroll has no reason to stretch a quick check-in into a long session. A friend-only feed makes a stopping point easier to find.

Those choices do not treat or prevent any condition. They keep the promise smaller. See what your people shared. Post an ordinary moment. Then leave room for the rest of your day.

A casual social app for real friends

Unscroll is live on iPhone. Post casually, keep up with your people, and skip ads, algorithms, and endless scroll.