Websites, blocked everywhere
The block covers every browser. Pick a preset like Social Media or Video, or type any domain. Harbour Control rewrites the hosts file and adds firewall rules at the IP level, so switching browsers won't get you through.
Most blockers have a “just five more minutes” button. Harbour Control doesn't have one.
Willpower gives out at 3 PM on a Tuesday. Harbour Control does the deciding for you ahead of time, while you still care about the deadline.
Choose what to block and for how long, confirm with your admin password, and the lock moves out of the app and into macOS. Close the window, force-quit, restart the Mac. The block holds until the timer runs out, then cleans up after itself.
Features
Small app, firm limits.
A native SwiftUI app that does one job. It doesn't need an Electron runtime, a menu-bar upsell or a cloud dashboard.
Apps, too
Choose Telegram, Slack, Steam or anything else in Applications. If a blocked app is launched, it's closed within about a second, until the timer runs out.
No way out early
A root daemon enforces the block, not the app window. It survives quitting, logging out and rebooting, and resumes exactly where it left off.
A lighthouse in your menu bar
The lamp lights up while a block runs, with the time left right beside it. Click it to see what's blocked and how long until the harbour opens.
Add-only during a session
You can add another site or app in the middle of a session, and it's enforced right away. Nothing can be removed until the session ends.
Private by design
No accounts, no telemetry, no servers of ours. Your settings stay on your Mac. You can read the source to check.
How it works
Three steps.
Three steps.
Then no exits.
Pick your distractions
Type a domain, choose a preset, or add apps from your Applications folder.
Set the timer
Anywhere from one minute to 24 hours. Use a quick preset or set exact hours and minutes.
Confirm and start
Enter your admin password once. After that the block runs until the timer ends, and nothing in the app can stop it early.
Start a block
Pick what to block. Harbour Control keeps it locked until the timer ends.
DOMAINS
twitter.comAdd☰ Presets
x.com
youtube.com
reddit.com
instagram.com
APPS
Telegram
Steam
DURATION
15m30m1h2h4h8h24h
Start block
Requires admin password to start. Cannot be cancelled.
Under the hood
Open source, so you can check.
Harbour Control changes system settings, so you should be able to see exactly what it does. It's a small Swift codebase, MIT licensed, built on ideas from SelfControl.
/etc/hostsName-level blocking
Blocked domains and their www variants are pointed nowhere, inside clearly marked lines that get removed when the block ends.
pf firewallIP-level rules
Resolved addresses are blocked in a dedicated packet-filter anchor and refreshed every five minutes. Shared hosting like Cloudflare or Vercel is skipped, so one blocked site never takes its neighbours down. Other firewall rules on your Mac are left alone.
launchd daemonEnforcement that outlives the app
A small privileged helper holds the timer, restores the block after a reboot, and removes every change it made when time runs out.
Developer IDSigned & notarized
Each release is signed with Developer ID, notarized by Apple and published with SHA-256 checksums. It opens like any other Mac app, with no Gatekeeper workarounds.
What it won't do: Harbour Control is a focus tool, not a security boundary. An administrator who is determined to get around it can, and VPNs, proxies or custom encrypted DNS can reduce website coverage. It's built to stop the reflexive tab-switch, not a determined sysadmin.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is it really free?
Yes. Harbour Control is free and MIT licensed. There's no trial, no Pro tier and no account. It's a side project that gets updated now and then.
Can I stop a block early?
No. That's the whole idea. Quitting, restarting or deleting the app won't end a session, and the block comes back after a reboot. If something is genuinely broken, an administrator can remove it from Terminal. The recovery guide has the exact steps. It takes deliberate effort, and it's meant for malfunctions, not for a weak moment.
Why does it need my admin password?
Blocking every browser means editing /etc/hosts, adding firewall rules and installing a small background helper, and all of these need administrator rights. The password goes to macOS's own authorization prompt. Harbour Control never sees or stores it.
Will blocked apps lose my unsaved work?
Blocked apps are closed about once a second while a session runs, so save your work in them before you start. System recovery tools are never blocked.
Which Macs does it support?
macOS 13 Ventura or later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel. The download is a single universal app.
How do I update or uninstall?
Choose Harbour Control → Check for Updates… to open the latest release, then replace the app when no block is running. To uninstall, wait until the current block ends and move the app to the Trash.
Your next deep-work hour
starts here.
Free download. No sign-up. About a minute to install.