StayMinimal

Your iPhone, without the pull.

StayMinimal is a simple app blocker and focus timer for iPhone. It pauses the apps that steal your time, plays calm sounds while you work, study or sleep, and turns your Home Screen into a short list of what you actually need.

Coming soon to the App Store

For iPhone with iOS 26. Free for 7 days, no card needed.

An iPhone Home Screen with two StayMinimal widgets: 1 hour 25 minutes of focus today with a 6 day streak, and the time above a plain list of apps such as Phone, Messages, Camera and Maps.

How it works

Three taps to a calmer phone.

No willpower tricks, no complicated setup. StayMinimal uses Apple's own Screen Time, the same system behind parental controls, so the pause is real.

1

Pick what distracts you

Choose apps like Instagram, YouTube or games, or whole groups such as Social. Websites too.

2

Tap a mode

Focus, Study, Work or Sleep. A timer starts and your chosen sound begins to play.

3

Those apps take a break

Open one and you'll see a calm pause screen instead. When the timer ends, everything is back.

Focus sessions

One tap to start. Distractions wait.

Each mode remembers its own length, sound and app list. Tap it and go.

  • Focus, Study and Work with their own timers
  • Strict mode, if you want no way to quit early
  • Countdown on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island
  • Start from a widget, Control Center or Siri
StayMinimal's Home screen with four modes: Focus, Study, Work and Sleep.

The pause screen

A gentle nudge, not a guilt trip.

When you reach for a paused app, you get a quiet screen with a short thought and the time left, and one button back to what matters.

A calm pause screen with a quote by Marcus Aurelius and the words: Study, 37 minutes left. Stay focused.

Minimal Mode

Turn your iPhone into a simple phone.

Minimal Mode is a dumb phone mode for your iPhone. One switch pauses everything except your essentials, with no timer, until you turn it off. Pair it with the Minimal widget for a Home Screen that is just a clock and a list.

  • Keep only what you need: calls, messages, maps, music
  • A text-only app list instead of colourful icons
  • A step-by-step guide to set it up
The Minimal widget on a plain black Home Screen: the date and time above a list of apps.

Calm sounds

Sound that helps you settle in.

Rain, ocean, wind, café, library, lo-fi beats, piano and soft noise. Mix up to four and set each one's volume. Sounds keep playing with the screen locked.

The Sounds screen with mixes such as Lo-fi Study and Piano Rain, and sounds like Rain, Forest and Calm Piano.

Sleep

Put the phone down at night.

Set a bedtime and distracting apps pause until morning, every night. Sleep sounds fade out on their own, and Night Mode keeps the screen dim and warm.

The Sleep screen with sleep sounds, a fade-out timer, Night Mode and a bedtime schedule.

Your progress

See the time you get back.

Track focus time each day, keep a streak going, and compare your daily screen time before and after you started. A small digital detox, every day.

The You screen showing 1 hour 7 minutes of focus today, streaks, and a chart of focus per day.

Private by design

Your phone habits stay on your phone.

No account

Nothing to sign up for. Open the app and start.

No tracking

No ads, no analytics, no data collected. Not even an email address.

Apple keeps your app list

Screen Time hides which apps you pick, even from us. Everything stays on your iPhone.

Questions

Good to know

Does it really stop me opening apps?

Yes. StayMinimal uses Apple's Screen Time, so a paused app shows a pause screen instead of opening. You can end a session early if you need to, unless you turned on strict mode.

Can I still get calls and messages?

Yes. Phone and Settings are never paused by iOS, and you choose which other apps stay available, such as Messages, Maps or WhatsApp.

Do you see which apps I use?

No. Apple shows you the app list privately and only gives StayMinimal anonymous tokens for the apps you pick. We collect no data at all.

Which iPhones does it work on?

Any iPhone that runs iOS 26.

How do I cancel?

Open Settings on your iPhone, tap your name, then Subscriptions, and choose StayMinimal. Cancel any time; you keep access until the end of the period you paid for.

When can I download it?

Soon. StayMinimal is getting ready for the App Store, and the download button will appear right here.

Less phone. More life.

StayMinimal is coming soon to the App Store.

Coming soon