I built Precursor, so read this knowing that. It matters here more than in most comparisons, because one sec is genuinely excellent at what it does, and what it does is a different job.
one sec intervenes at the moment you open an app. Tap Instagram and, before the feed loads, you get a breathing exercise: a deep breath, 4-7-8 breathing, sometimes a mirror or a typing task. The point is to catch the unconscious open, the tap your thumb made before you decided anything. There is real evidence behind it: a peer-reviewed study published in PNAS (Grüning, Riedel and Lorenz-Spreen, 2023), and one sec reports 57% fewer app openings on average.
Precursor does nothing at the door. It meters what happens inside. Each app or group of apps gets an hourly allowance, say 5 minutes of Instagram per hour. Spend the minutes and the app is blocked behind a shield that shows exactly when your time returns ("resets at 2:00", never a countdown). At the top of the hour, it resets.
What one sec does better
- The intervention moment. The pause before an impulsive open is one sec's craft, refined over years and validated in a published study. Precursor has no pre-open pause at all.
- Price. one sec's essentials are free for one app, and Pro is one of the cheapest upgrades in the category (listed at 3.99 euro a month, 14.99 euro a year, or 99.99 euro lifetime; prices vary by region).
- Variety. Breathing styles, mirrors, physical actions, healthy-alternative prompts. If one intervention wears off, there are others.
- Android today. one sec runs on iOS and Android now. Precursor runs on iPhone and iPad, with an Android version in testing.
Where the pause runs out
The pattern users describe, and the one I recognize from my own attempts: the pause works brilliantly on the opens you did not mean to make, and does nothing about the session you decided to have. Breathe through the pause, open the app, and nothing limits what happens next. On a hard night you can wait out every intervention. A pause asks a question. It cannot enforce the answer.
That is the case Precursor is built for. The allowance is a real budget. Once the 5 minutes are spent, the shield holds until the hour turns, and the kind part of the design is that it always turns: your time comes back at the top of every hour, so the limit never becomes a punishment you rage-quit. One design note only the developer would tell you: for now, Precursor cannot offer allowances under about 5 minutes, because iOS measures usage too coarsely below that and the limit would feel broken rather than firm.
Side by side
| Precursor | one sec | |
|---|---|---|
| Moment of action | After your minutes are spent | Before the app opens |
| Mechanic | Hourly allowance, resets at the top of every hour | Breathing pause and other interventions |
| After the intervention | App is blocked until the hour turns | Unlimited use |
| Free tier | Core mechanic free | One app with a breathing pause |
| Paid price | $4.99/mo, $49.99/yr, $99.99 lifetime | 3.99 EUR/mo, 14.99 EUR/yr, 99.99 EUR lifetime (varies by region) |
| Evidence | New app, launching soon | Peer-reviewed PNAS study |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad, iOS 17+; Android coming soon | iOS and Android |
Prices checked on each developer's site, July 5, 2026.
The honest bottom line
If your problem is the unconscious open, the fifty taps a day you never chose, get one sec. It is cheap, kind, and proven at exactly that.
If your problem is that the open was never the issue, that once you are in you stay in, you need a budget, and Precursor is the only app built around one that resets hourly. Its own caveats, stated plainly: background video and audio count toward the allowance (Apple's accounting, no opt-out exists), and deleting the app removes every limit.
FAQ
Does one sec actually reduce screen time?
The published PNAS study found it meaningfully reduced app openings, and one sec cites 57% fewer opens on average. For impulsive opens, the evidence is real. It does not limit how long you stay once you continue past the pause.
What is the difference between one sec and Precursor?
one sec adds a pause before a distracting app opens. Precursor gives the app an hourly allowance and blocks it once the minutes are spent, resetting at the top of every hour. One works at the door, the other inside the room.
Can I use one sec and Precursor together?
In principle they complement each other, since they act at different moments. I have been a long-time user of one sec and using them side-by-side could really be useful in not only breaking compulsive app opening habits but then following up with minimizing the in-app doomscroll spiral. That said, after enough months I went numb to the pause. I would open the app before I actually wanted it, like pre-heating an oven, because my pause got progressively longer; sometimes I set the phone down for two or three minutes while it ran and did something else. The pause trains patience for the pause. An hourly allowance removes the ritual: the time is either there or it is not, and it comes back at the top of the hour.
Is one sec free?
The essentials are free for one app. Pro unlocks unlimited apps and more intervention types, and is inexpensive (regional pricing applies).
Which is better for doomscrolling?
Ask where your habit lives. If it is reflexive opens, one sec. If it is long sessions you fall into knowingly, an hourly allowance is the firmer tool.
Get Precursor
Precursor is in beta. Join at precursorlabs.studio; beta testers keep Precursor+ for life. Precursor is free for iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later) and is launching soon, with an Android version on the way.
The core mechanic costs nothing. Precursor+ adds up to 8 app groups, 30-minute reset windows, and time limits up to 30 minutes per hour ($4.99 a month, $49.99 a year, or $99.99 once). No account, ever. iOS hands me anonymous tokens, so I cannot see which apps you choose to limit.