What is Autoblock and how to use it to set time limits on websites?

What is Autoblock?

Autoblock allows you to set a countdown limits for websites instead of hard blocking them. When you visit a site with an active Autoblock rule, Otto will grant you access for a limited time before automatically blocking it.

How to enable Autoblock?

Autoblock works for both focus blocks and scheduled blocks

1. Open the blocklist

2. Click on the edit button of rule you want to enable autoblock for or create a new rule if not already present.

3. Click on the Enable autoblock button.

What happens when the autoblock counter reaches zero?

The functionality depends on the type of blocking you enabled autoblock for. But once it's active the functionality switches to how regular blocking works. (you won't see the progress bar)

For focus sessions: If a site is blocked via autoblock, you cannot disable it for the duration of the focus session. You'll either have to end the session right away or wait for the session to end.

For scheduled blocks: If a site is blocked via autoblock, you'll have to wait for the scheduled block period to end.

For example, say you have set up a rule to block reddit between 9 am to 5 pm, with autoblock enabled for this rule.

And once autoblock has been activated (the blue progress bar reaching 0), you cannot disable it. You'll have to wait until 5 pm to access reddit again.

Frequently asked questions

1. How long can I set the time limit to be?

You can set a time limit between 1 minute and 90 minutes per website.

2. Does Autoblock work without a timer and Can I schedule Autoblock to activate at certain times?

Yes, you can enable autoblock for both focus block and scheduled blocks. All rules have an "enable autoblock" option

3. Can I set different time limits for different websites?

Yes, you can set different time limits for different websites. However, the free version allows only one Autoblock rule—upgrade to Pro to add more.