Frequently asked questions

Reelless blocks Reels, Shorts and other short-video feeds inside social apps, while the rest of each app keeps working. It comes as an Android app for your phone and a Chrome extension for your computer. You can still message friends, search YouTube and post photos — you just don’t get pulled into the endless scroll.

Not yet. The Android app and the Chrome extension are both in development. Join early access and we’ll email you when each one is ready to install.

Yes — through the Reelless Chrome extension. It hides Shorts, Reels and recommendation feeds on sites like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram in Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS.

Because most of us need them — for friends, family groups, work, school and learning. Deleting the app throws away the useful parts along with the feed. Reelless removes only the part designed to keep you scrolling.

No. Reelless is not an ad blocker and does not hide or block ads inside other apps. It only deals with short-video screens and feeds.

Yes. With “One and done”, you can watch the specific reel or short someone shared with you. When you swipe to the next one, Reelless closes the player.

None about your screen or the pages you visit. Recognition happens on your phone or inside your browser; no content is collected, stored or sent. Your stats are stored locally. There are no ads and no analytics SDKs.

It’s the only Android feature that lets an app recognize when a short-video screen opens inside another app and press back or cover it. Reelless uses it only for that. The full explanation is on our Accessibility Service disclosure page.

Only the supported sites you enable, such as YouTube or Facebook. It hides short-video sections inside your browser, doesn’t collect your browsing history, doesn’t read other sites, and doesn’t load remote code.

Reelless doesn’t read, store or send your messages. It only looks for the structure of short-video screens in the apps you choose to protect.

No. Reelless works without an account. If we add optional features like an accountability partner later, they’ll be opt-in.

YouTube (Shorts), Facebook (Reels, including Facebook Lite), Instagram (Reels and Explore), TikTok, Snapchat (Spotlight), and in beta X, Reddit, LinkedIn and Pinterest. On Android it also works in mobile browsers like Chrome, Samsung Internet, Firefox, Brave, Edge and Opera. On computers, the Chrome extension covers YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Reddit and LinkedIn.

It’s supported, but we’re still tuning detection across app versions and layouts. It may occasionally miss a screen. Feedback from early users helps us improve it fastest.

Apps change their layouts often. Reelless downloads small, signed rule updates so it can adapt without a full app update. Rule updates contain detection rules only — no data about you goes the other way.

Yes. Reelless recognizes screen structure rather than words, so it works in any app language, including right-to-left languages like Arabic and Urdu.

There will be a free plan with basic blocking on two apps and 7 days of stats. Pro unlocks every feature and every app. Prices will be announced at launch.

Yes, Pro is planned as monthly, yearly, or a one-time lifetime purchase. On Android, all of these go through Google Play.

In the Google Play Store, under Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions. You keep Pro until the end of the billing period.

Reelless is designed to be light. It only wakes up when a protected app changes screens, and does a quick on-device check. It doesn’t run a VPN or scan your screen continuously.

Android 8.0 (Oreo) and newer.

Some phone makers stop background services to save battery. Setting Reelless’s battery usage to “Unrestricted” usually fixes it. Our How it works page has tips for Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Huawei and others.

No. Reelless doesn’t route or inspect your internet traffic. On Android it works through the Accessibility Service on your device; in Chrome, the extension works only inside the supported pages you enable.

Yes — unless you’ve turned on Strict mode, which deliberately adds a waiting period or PIN so you can’t switch it off on impulse.

Yes! Reeless for iPhone is powered natively by Apple’s Screen Time API (FamilyControls & ManagedSettings) and a dedicated Safari Content Blocker. It blocks doomscrolling reels and shorts, prompts mindful breathing breaks, and runs 100% on-device with zero battery drain.

Reeless utilizes Apple’s official Screen Time frameworks alongside a native Safari Content Blocker. It restricts addictive short-video web feeds and app sessions securely on your iPhone without ever accessing or reading your private personal messages or photos.