--- title: "Curfew — the app for going to sleep" description: "Curfew locks your screen at night and gives it back in the morning. Try now for free." canonical: "https://usecurfew.app/" --- # You're going to bed too late. Curfew is an app that locks your screen at night. The screen goes dark, you go to bed, and in the morning you get it back. [Download for macOS](/download/Curfew.dmg) [Download for iPhone](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6799156281) Try for free. No credit card required. ## It's not just you. 53% of adults go to bed later than they want to. It's called bedtime procrastination. · [Frontiers in Psychology](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4062817/) ## With Curfew vs. without With Curfew 12:24 AM Asleep Midnight Without Curfew 4:00 AM Four hours past your own bedtime With Curfew the screen stops just after midnight. Without it, the screen is still on at 4 AM, four hours past midnight. > ## I used to go to bed at 4am. > > I couldn't stop working, and when I stopped working I scrolled. > > So I set up my devices that they make me step away. > > It has worked for me. It will work for you. Chris, creator of Curfew ## How it works Set your curfew. Pick any hour from 10 PM to 2 AM. Then your screen goes dark. 12:04 L.Shift R.Cmd C U R This is your screen at midnight. Hold five random keys for thirty seconds to snooze. Snooze for 5 minutes. Then Curfew locks again. Unlocks by the morning. ## Better *sleep*, better *everything*. - +55% more energy athletes who slept more · [Stanford](https://doi.org/10.5665/SLEEP.1132) - −38% risk of depression a regular sleep schedule · [Psychological Medicine](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291725101281) - −48% risk of early death same bedtime every night · [UK Biobank](https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad253) ## Curfew is built for sleep. Feature Curfew Cold Turkey Freedom Focus SelfControl Purpose Going to bed Focus Focus Focus Blocking websites Locks the whole screen Yes Yes No No No Simple setup Yes No No No No Offline snooze Yes No No No No Runs automatically Yes Yes Yes Yes No Price $19 $45 $99.50 $49 Free ## Buy Curfew $19 Pay once. Own forever. - Lifetime license - Use on two Macs - Blocks every night - Custom bedtime - Emergency snooze - Can't be quit or killed - Automatic updates - No account [Buy Curfew](/buy) 60-day money-back guarantee. [Download free trial](/download/Curfew.dmg) — no credit card required ## Full privacy. Curfew does not track your activity. ## Frequently asked questions What is Curfew and why should I use it? Curfew is available on iPhone and Mac. Both apps have one job: getting you to actually go to bed. On iPhone, Curfew blocks distracting apps at a bedtime you choose and gives them back at 6am. On Mac, it blacks out your whole screen and gives it back at 6am. Focus timers, app blockers and website blockers still leave you a screen to look at. Curfew for Mac takes the whole screen away. It will not quit, it comes back if you kill it, and the only way through is holding five random keys for thirty seconds. That adds enough friction to make going to bed easier than getting around it. If you have tried Cold Turkey, Freedom, Focus or SelfControl and still ended up awake at 3am, Curfew for Mac is built for that exact problem. The iPhone and Mac apps are separate products. Curfew for Mac is $19 once, with three free nights and a 60-day money-back guarantee. Can I get around it? It's designed so you can't turn it off after it starts blocking. This is how it gets you to leave your devices and go to sleep. After blocking starts you can't quit the app, it comes back if you kill the process, and it's generally very hard to get around. The point is that you go to bed. What if I quit it? It comes back. It refuses to quit during curfew hours, and if you force-kill it, it restarts. In the morning it leaves on its own. What exactly does it block? Curfew puts an overlay on your entire screen, and on all screens. It doesn't block specific apps or websites, but rather the entire display on every monitor and every Space at once. Otherwise you can — and will — browse your downloads folder, open Photos, install a new browser you don't have blocked, or generally do anything to keep the dopamine of the beautiful retina screen flowing. Trust me on this one. What hours can I pick? Any hour from 10pm to 2am. The block ends at 6am every morning automatically, and it comes back the next night. What if I need my Mac in an emergency? Hold five random keys for thirty seconds and you get five minutes of screen. You can do it again as often as you need, but every snooze after the first takes a full minute of holding. It works offline, with no password and nobody to email. What if I'm in the middle of something when my curfew hits? That's what Snooze is for. You can snooze Curfew for five minutes to wrap up your task. If that's not enough time you can snooze it again, but it takes longer to snooze each time after the first. This is on purpose: you always have "one last thing to finish", and before you know it it's 3am. You can finish it tomorrow. What if it breaks and locks me out forever? We have worked very hard to make sure that does not happen. After 6am the app always closes itself and unlocks your screen. If by any chance that did not happen, restarting your Mac should clear it. As a last resort, booting into Safe Mode disables Curfew fully and you can remove it. Can I uninstall it? Yes. There is an uninstall button inside the app that cleans up everything and removes it fully. Can I try it before buying? Yes. You can try Curfew for three nights of the full app, no credit card required. What happens when the trial ends? Curfew keeps working in free mode. Instead of a full lockout — the thing that actually makes you go to sleep — it appears for ten seconds to remind you it is time for bed, then goes away and lets you continue. Is it a subscription? No. The Mac app is a one-time purchase and you own it forever. The license never expires and there is no renewal. How many Macs can I use my license on? You can activate up to two Macs with one license. If you need more, contact us and we'll help you sort it out. Do you offer refunds? Yes. If you are unhappy with your purchase, we offer a 60-day money-back guarantee. Email contact@sentium.one within 60 days and you get your money back. No questions, though we'd be happy to learn about your experience and how we can make it better. I got a new Mac, how do I move my license? You receive your license key by email when you buy. You can activate the app on the new Mac with that key. If there are any issues, feel free to contact us. What if I lose my license key? Email us at contact@sentium.one and we look it up. On a Mac that was already activated you do not need your license again, as it activates itself automatically. What permissions does it need? Curfew on Mac needs Accessibility permission so it can make sure you can't close or otherwise circumvent the screen lock. It's also how you can reliably snooze by holding five keys for thirty seconds. If Accessibility is not granted, it sends you a notification saying it cannot lock, instead of locking. Do I need an account? You do not need an account to use Curfew. Do I need an internet connection? The app works fully offline except for two moments: to start your trial, and to activate your license. Does it slow my Mac down? No. There is nothing running during the day. When the time comes, Curfew is launched by Apple's native launch mechanism for apps. It also does not use any battery when your computer is asleep or the lid is closed. What data leaves my Mac? The app does not send any data about you or your Mac at all, except for two things: an anonymized version of your Mac's identifier, so we can activate your license, and your email address when you sign up for the trial. How do I get support? Email contact@sentium.one, we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Does it cover my phone? Yes. Curfew for iPhone is available on the [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6799156281) . For now, the iPhone and Mac apps are separate products, so buying one does not include the other. We plan to let Mac customers unlock the iPhone app in a future update. It will all still be here in the morning. [Sleep tonight](/download/Curfew.dmg) [Download for iPhone](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6799156281)