Precursor: Hourly Screen Time
App limits per hour, not daily
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Deep Focus: pick your apps and lock them down for up to 8 hours, with one emergency break. New 2 and 3 hour reset windows too, both Precursor+. Now in 14 more languages.
Most screen time solutions give you one daily limit. Often we spend the whole limit by late morning, leaving us locked out of our apps for the rest of the day and feeling stranded; all it takes is one vulnerable moment and we hit that tempting "Ignore Limit For Today" button. That one impulsive moment costs you not only your time, but also the motivation to keep working on whatever it is you meant to do.
PRECURSOR BREAKS THE CYCLE
With Precursor you can finally set an hourly app limit. For example, you allot yourself five minutes of social media scrolling per hour, and you can trust that Precursor will reset that limit at the top of the next hour. Every hour, all day, automatically.
You get the brainrot break you needed, but the scroll ends right before it turns into a mindless habit. Your brain doesn't panic because you know you'll get more time to scroll in just a short hour. So you never have to feel guilty for ignoring a limit ever again.
No streaks. No guilt. No shame. Just a sustainable screen time solution your day can lean on.
HOW IT WORKS
- Pick the apps (or group of apps) that you'd like to limit and give them an hourly allowance: 5, 10, or 15 minutes (Precursor+ extends limits up to 30).
- Pick the specific days you want your limits to run (for example, on weekdays you can set stricter limits and on weekends you can set more lenient limits).
- When the allowance is spent, those apps get blocked.
- At the top of the next hour, your limit resets.
- You set your limits once and that screen time rhythm repeats every hour, all day, automatically; so you never have to think about them again.
- Precursor also allows you to stop your limits, for whatever reason, but we add some friction to help you in those impulsive moments:
1) Before stopping your limits Precursor will prompt you to write a short reflection on why you need to in this moment.
2) You can add a passcode to lock in your limit (consider allowing a trusted person in your life to set it for you if you know you'll likely bypass it).
3) Unlike other screen time solutions that give you an "ignore limit" prompt right there in the blocked app screen, Precursor requires that you intentionally open the Precursor app to stop your limits.
Restrictions and punishments don't work. They never have.
Precursor is built on one principle:
Real change comes from one's own ability to be honest and accountable.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
Precursor is built on Apple's Screen Time technology. Your app choices are opaque tokens: we never see which apps you pick, and neither can anyone else. Your usage history stays on your phone, and Insights are computed on-device. There are no accounts and no ads. Optional, anonymous usage analytics are off unless you turn them on, and they still never include which apps you choose.
HONEST BY DEFAULT
Precursor is free to use, with an optional Precursor+ upgrade for more groups, other reset windows, longer limits, scheduled active hours, and Deep Focus sessions. Available as a one-time Lifetime purchase if you prefer to own your productivity tools rather than subscribe. Monthly and Yearly both start with one month free. No subscription is required to keep the core, and the terms are spelled out plainly before anything renews.
Please note: Deleting Precursor removes every limit.
Precursor is an independently developed app by a one-person studio, Precursor Labs.
Precursor+ Monthly and Yearly are auto-renewable subscriptions. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the current period ends, and you can manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
Privacy Policy: https://precursorlabs.studio/privacy.html
Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Apple's Terms and Policies: http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services
Deep Focus sessions (Precursor+)
- Pick the groups you want locked down, pick a length from 30 minutes to 8 hours, and hold the button to start. Those apps stay blocked for the whole session. No stopping and no editing until it ends.
- One 5 minute emergency break per session, for the moments you truly need it.
- Groups you leave out of the session keep their normal hourly limits.
Reset every 2 or 3 hours (Precursor+)
- Your limits can now reset every 2 or 3 hours instead of every hour. Minutes you do not spend carry across the hours inside the window, so the limit means the same thing whichever length you pick.
- The hourly reset stays free, and it is still the default.
Shortcuts and Siri
- Start your limits, or check where they stand, from the Shortcuts app or by asking Siri.
- Your limits cannot be turned off from Shortcuts while your apps are blocked.
Precursor now speaks 14 more languages
- Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Also in this update: the block holds through heavy use instead of giving up after eight retries, the block screen no longer flashes at the top of the hour when your limits restart, a clearer reset window picker, simpler group cards, and fixes to Shortcuts and reset times on the longer windows.
The developer, Precursor Labs, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Precursor Labs LLC
- Size
- 17.9 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.6 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.6 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.6 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.6 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.3 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
English and 14 more
- English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Lifetime $0.00
- Monthly $4.99
- Yearly $49.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Precursor Labs LLC

