Frequently Asked Questions

I've been living without a browser on my phone for years. It helps me to avoid impulse browsing (say, while waiting at the supermarket checkout), it drastically reduces my screen time, and generally feels great: I'm using my phone far less. And if I use it, I use it for creating things (say, for writing and taking photos). As for news, I only consume news via RSS feeds, which are not algorithmically 'curated' and also have an end to reach – no infinite scroll for me. Plus, they don't repeat.

You actually can't delete Safari on the iPhone, as iOS requires at least one browser to be installed on the system. You can, however, and that's what I did on my phone, disable Safari in your parental control settings. Re-enabling it is quite cumbersome, and it got the job done quite well over the years for me. It adds some friction.

But then life comes along!

In my hometown, there's a parking lot that you can only pay by scanning a QR code. Re-enabling Safari is possible, but this is friction in the wrong place. The same is true for following a link that a friend sent in a message. Quickly looking something up on the web? Let me just go to Settings, Screentime, Allowed Apps, enter my PIN code, ... oh and let's hope I won't forget to disable Safari after I finished looking up what I wanted to look up. I even installed the Wikipedia app for this. So after all, I have to admit:

Sometimes, you need a browser. They are a pretty decent invention! The problem is impulsive browsing.

So I built Leash. It's barely enough of a browser to not interfere with living a life, but useless enough (and rich enough in friction!) to prevent me from impulse browsing. There are, after all, usually better things to do.

The 'leash' is a metaphor borrowed from surfing (with water, waves, and so on): it's the safety tether fixed to the surf board that you attach to your foot.

In a time of doom scrolling and infinite distraction, it's easy to not only surf the web, but drown in a dopamine-rich flood of content. Leash is a browser to keep safe in these waters.

Hell, no! Leash is designed for quick, purposeful visits. It's not about building a library of distractions. If you want to keep coming back to one website, Leash is not for you.

For minimal, mindful browsing, yes. It's been approved by Apple to get the "default browser" entitlement.

After installing Leash, you can uninstall Safari on iOS (there is a requirement to have at least one browser installed on your system).

Yes, it can! Android recognizes Leash as a browser, and once you installed it, you can disable Chrome. Websites will open in Leash.

But if you're on Android, my recommendation would be: If you want to go low-dopamine, also disable (that's possible in your profile settings) the discovery feed in the Google app.

You could! I put a lot of time, testing and effort into this, and I hope that $1,99 isn't breaking the bank for anyone.

Some people surely can, but I know I need additional friction.

You know, it's like being on a diet and removing all sweets from your flat. It helps a lot to decide in advance.

Workarounds! Yes, you can. That extra step makes you face your own habits, though. This could be a first step, after all?

Yes! Leash fully supports Apple Passwords and AutoFill, so your saved credentials work just like in any other browser. And no, I can't see your passwords. Pinky-swear and technically impossible!

The Leash app is a minimal in-app browser built on the system web engine (WKWebView on iPhone, Android WebView/Chromium on Android). When you use Password AutoFill, credentials are provided by your device’s password manager directly into the webpage form. Leash does not read your saved passwords from Apple Passwords, Google Password Manager, or other Autofill providers. It also never phones home.

The Leash app does not run analytics tracking, does not operate a backend, and does not sell user data (remember, I want to reduce the stream of information that comes into my life!). Data you enter on websites in the app goes to those websites, and nowhere else.

That depends on your feedback! Need any other attention/habit loopholes fixed? Let me know, please! (fabian@hemmert.eu)