Press kit

Leash is a mindful browser built to reduce impulse browsing on mobile. On this page, you'll find press material and downloadable assets.

If you need anything else for editorial coverage, contact Fabian Hemmert at fabian@hemmert.eu.

Item	Description
Summary	Leash is "a browser that does less": no address bar, no bookmarks, not even color. It is designed as a replacement default browser: links from friends, QR scans, and search can still be opened when needed – but itself has no "entry point" for mindlessly browsing the web itself.
Why a minimal browser?	Leash was created from Fabian's personal necessity: uninstalling distracting apps was not enough to escape the dopamine-rich depths of doomscrolling, because the browser still made impulse browsing too easy. But disabling the browser, on the other hand, made other things more complicated: buying a ticket via a QR code, checking a link sent from a friend became impossible. The idea behind Leash is to keep enough friction for living one's life without getting lost mindlessly browsing, while still maintaining the ability to open practical web sites (like QR codes or shared links).
Developer	Leash is built by Fabian Hemmert. Fabian is a designer and researcher, and a professor of interface design at the University of Wuppertal. Much of his research focuses on how we interact with technology, and how this interaction affects us in turn. He gave seven TEDx talks, one of them was edited into a TED talk. Here are some of them: The Shape-Shifting Future of the Mobile Phone Learn, Grow and Thrive: The Transformative Powers of Play Artificial Intelligence – A Car for the Mind? Website

Item

Description

Summary

Leash is "a browser that does less": no address bar, no bookmarks, not even color.

It is designed as a replacement default browser: links from friends, QR scans, and search can still be opened when needed – but itself has no "entry point" for mindlessly browsing the web itself.

Why a minimal browser?

Leash was created from Fabian's personal necessity: uninstalling distracting apps was not enough to escape the dopamine-rich depths of doomscrolling, because the browser still made impulse browsing too easy. But disabling the browser, on the other hand, made other things more complicated: buying a ticket via a QR code, checking a link sent from a friend became impossible.

The idea behind Leash is to keep enough friction for living one's life without getting lost mindlessly browsing, while still maintaining the ability to open practical web sites (like QR codes or shared links).

Developer

Leash is built by Fabian Hemmert. Fabian is a designer and researcher, and a professor of interface design at the University of Wuppertal.

Much of his research focuses on how we interact with technology, and how this interaction affects us in turn.

He gave seven TEDx talks, one of them was edited into a TED talk.

Here are some of them:

The Shape-Shifting Future of the Mobile Phone
Learn, Grow and Thrive: The Transformative Powers of Play
Artificial Intelligence – A Car for the Mind?

Website