Halto: Pause Before You Scroll — A breath before the scroll

In short

Halto puts a calm breath between you and the apps that eat your day: guarded apps, gentle limits, focus sessions and a quieter phone at night. No account, no tracking, no ads.

Category: Wellbeing
Runs on: iOS and Android
Needs: iOS 16.4+
Status: Coming soon to the stores
Website: halto.wdlab.app
Made by: Workaholic Developers

What Halto does.

A breathing pause and one gentle question before a guarded app opens
Each app gets its own breath (3 to 10 seconds), daily limit and intention prompt
Pauses that grow gently with each open, and soft or hard daily limits
Focus sessions of 25, 50 or 90 minutes, with a Live Activity on iPhone
Wind-down at bedtime and phone-free mornings
Kind insights, streaks and widgets, in English or Hindi

Who Halto is for

For anyone who opens social, video, shopping or news apps on autopilot and loses hours to them. Halto adds a short breathing pause first, so opening the app becomes a choice rather than a reflex.

How Halto works

01
Choose the few apps that pull you in and set how long each one's breath lasts.
02
Do the one-time setup: a Shortcuts automation on iPhone, or two permissions on Android.
03
When a guarded app opens, breathe with the orb, then tap Not now or open it.

Questions about Halto

What is Halto?

Halto puts a calm breath between you and the apps that eat your day: guarded apps, gentle limits, focus sessions and a quieter phone at night. No account, no tracking, no ads.

Does Halto block my apps?

No, it pauses them, and after the breath you can always open the app. During focus, at bedtime or past a hard daily limit, getting through just takes longer, for example by holding to open.

Why is a Shortcuts automation needed on iPhone?

On iPhone, an app cannot see when you open other apps. Instead, an automation you create in Apple's Shortcuts app triggers the pause; it is a one-off step for each app and takes about a minute.

Does Halto know what I do inside other apps?

No. It only finds out that an app you picked was opened, and keeps no record of anything else. There are no Halto servers and the app never goes online.

Will Halto drain my battery?

On Android it only looks at the front app while your screen is switched on. On iPhone it only wakes up when your Shortcuts automation calls it.

When can I get Halto?

Halto is coming soon to the App Store and Google Play. Its website, halto.wdlab.app, will link to the stores the day it is live.

Which phones does Halto run on?

iOS and Android (iOS 16.4+).

Who makes Halto?

Halto is made by Workaholic Developers, an international software company with teams in Canada and India, which also builds ClassTrack, Mailaholic and the Noodle games.