Somewhat ProductiveFicus

Open source

Ficus Desktop

The same idea as Ficus, moved to your computer. Ficus Desktop blocks social media at the operating system level, so it can't be undone by just switching browsers. It's a companion to the mobile app, not a requirement, install it on its own if that's all you need.

Available for all three

Windows

Redirects domains through the Windows hosts file, with both a GUI and a command-line script.

macOS

Same idea via /etc/hosts, with an AppleScript-based GUI and a command-line script.

Linux

Same idea again via /etc/hosts, with a zenity-based GUI and a command-line script.

How it works

Every platform does the same thing at its core: redirect a list of social media domains to nowhere, at the OS level, so the block applies across every browser on the machine at once instead of one app at a time. Toggling it on or off needs admin or sudo rights, since editing the hosts file requires them. That's intentional friction, not a bug, though it also means anyone else with admin access on the machine can toggle it off just as easily as you can toggle it on.

Being honest about limits

A browser with Secure DNS (DNS-over-HTTPS) turned on can bypass the hosts file entirely, since it resolves domains itself instead of asking the OS. If a blocked site still loads, that setting is usually why, each platform's setup guide walks through turning it off. Apps that hardcode IP addresses instead of domain names won't be affected either, though that's rare in practice. And it only blocks the machine it's running on, not your phone or anything else on the network.

Free and open source

MIT licensed. Read the code, change it, or check exactly what it does before you trust it with admin access, all of it is public on GitHub.

github.com/nathanrauf/ficus-desktop →