Focus Presets and the Friction Lock: Calm, Study, Bedtime, Kids and Adult Self-Control

A dozen settings are too many to adjust when you are tired and trying to concentrate. Presets bundle the focus features into five sensible combinations so you can choose the one that fits the moment. Each preset is only a starting point: you can change any setting afterwards, and your child's profile can have a different preset from yours.

Calm is the everyday default. Greyscale fades in as a 45 minute daily budget is used, media is blurred until you tap, feeds stop after 30 posts, likes and badges are hidden, motion is reduced, and a five second pause appears on the first visit to a site each hour. Nothing is blocked outright. It suits most adults and older teenagers as a first step.

Study is stricter and short-sighted on purpose. Monitored sites are fully grey, images re-blur after you scroll away, feeds stop after 10 posts, the pause lasts eight seconds on every visit, the daily budget is 20 minutes per site, and a break reminder appears every 25 minutes. It is meant for homework sessions and exam periods, and a parent or adult can switch to it for a few weeks and back again.

Bedtime is the lightest preset in the daytime and does one thing at night: between 9pm and 7am the monitored sites turn fully grey, and likes, badges and motion are reduced. If you want a harder stop, set Bedtime to Block in the Focus tab. See our post on bedtime windows for how to choose the hour.

Kids is built for a child's profile. Greyscale fades with a 45 minute daily budget, images re-blur after scrolling, feeds stop after 15 posts, the pause appears on the first visit each hour, a break reminder appears every 30 minutes, and from 8:30pm to 7am monitored sites are blocked with a card. Changing any limit needs the parent PIN, and when time runs out the child can ask a parent for more. It sits alongside the age pack and risk ranking rather than replacing them. Adult self-control is for people who know their weak spots: a 60 minute budget with a gradual grey fade, a 20 post feed cap, a break reminder every 30 minutes and greyscale from 10pm to 7am, with the lock set to type a phrase and wait.

The friction lock deserves a note because it is what makes a preset stick. Without it, a setting can be switched off in two clicks at the exact moment you least want to. The Changing limits setting has two modes. In PIN mode, anyone who changes a limit has to enter the parent PIN if one is set, which suits a child's profile. In delay mode, an adult who manages their own settings has to type a phrase and wait twenty seconds first. It is deliberately inconvenient rather than impossible, because the goal is to give you time to change your mind, not to trap you.

A caution: friction is not security. A determined user can uninstall an extension or use another browser, so the lock supports a family agreement rather than replacing one. And if you find yourself trying to disable a preset repeatedly, take that as information about how strong the pull is, and consider a conversation with a doctor or counsellor if it is affecting sleep, work or relationships. To pick a preset, start with Calm for a week, move to Study or Bedtime when you need them, and use Adult Self-Control only when you have chosen to.