Pray Focus locks social apps until users pray

Pray Focus, a Christian prayer app from Berlin-based Pyroslabs, is now available on iOS and Android. The app blocks selected distracting apps until users complete a prayer, aiming to help Christians build a daily prayer habit and cut time spent scrolling.

Why it matters: - Pray Focus tries to solve a familiar problem for Christians: the same phone that can support prayer also pulls attention into social media. - The app combines prayer support and app blocking in one product, so users can protect prayer time without switching tools. - The free blocker and prayer library lower the barrier for people who want a daily habit without paying upfront.

What happened: - Pray Focus is now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play for iOS and Android users. - The app blocks chosen distracting apps until the user opens Pray Focus and completes a prayer. - The release targets people who want to spend less time scrolling and more time in prayer.

The details: - Users choose which apps to lock and set a daily time for the block to begin. - Streaks, milestones and a daily Bible verse on the home screen are built to reinforce consistency. - Pray Focus includes a library of curated public-domain prayers from Scripture and Church tradition across 51 topics and 5 categories. - The prayer library spans Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox traditions. - Open Prayer Mode lets users pray their own prayers. - Reflection tools include mood tracking and a private journal. - The app keeps reflection data on the device and does not save it on servers. - Pray Focus works offline and requires no account. - Premium features include AI Bible Chat, personalized AI prayers, prayer insights and private cloud backup tied to the user's own account. - The app blocker plus the full prayer and verse library remain free. - New users can start a free trial.

Between the lines: - The product is designed around a specific behavior change loop: distraction triggers prayer rather than endless scrolling. - By staying offline-first and account-free, Pray Focus is positioned as a privacy-focused alternative to many subscription apps. - Founder Marijan Divkovic said he built the app after seeing friends get pulled back into social media when they tried to pray. - Divkovic said existing apps either focused on distraction control or prayer, but not both. - Pray Focus is bootstrapped and run by a solo founder, which means users contact a person rather than a support queue. - The app is used by people in more than 30 countries across Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox traditions.

What's next: - Pray Focus will continue offering its free blocker, prayer library and daily Bible verse while expanding access through premium features. - The company is likely to lean on its privacy-first and offline-first approach as a differentiator as it grows.

The bottom line: - Pray Focus is betting that prayer can become a habit when distraction itself becomes the prompt.