Digital Detox v2.5.0

New: breathing guide

Above the timer, a circle now grows and shrinks between two fixed rings, at the pace of Buteyko's reduced breathing: 2 seconds in, 3 seconds out, a 4-second pause. It moves at a steady speed between the rings, so you can see in advance how long each breath will last. Just follow it, breathing gently through your nose.

More time before the screen goes dark

• The screen now turns black after 3 minutes without input instead of 1, leaving time to follow the breathing guide
• During the last minute a +5 minutes button appears, to keep the screen on for longer

Fixed

• On some PCs, for example a freshly installed Windows, the app didn't start because it needed the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime. Everything it needs is now included

Download

• Installer: download DigitalDetox-v2.5.0-setup-x64.exe and run it
• Portable: download DigitalDetox-v2.5.0-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed

Since the files aren't code-signed, Windows SmartScreen may warn you the first time: click More info → Run anyway.

Digital Detox v2.4.0

New: installer

Digital Detox now comes with an installer, next to the portable zip:

• Adds Digital Detox to the Start menu, and to the desktop if you like
• Starts the app when it's done
• Appears in Settings → Apps → Installed apps, so it can be removed like any other app. Uninstalling also turns off Start with Windows
• Installs just for you, in your user folder: no administrator rights needed
• In English or Italian, following the language of Windows

Installing a new version over an old one closes the running app first and keeps Start with Windows as it was.

Download

• Installer: download DigitalDetox-v2.4.0-setup-x64.exe and run it
• Portable: download DigitalDetox-v2.4.0-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed

Since the files aren't code-signed, Windows SmartScreen may warn you the first time: click More info → Run anyway.

Digital Detox v2.3.0

Start with Windows

Right-click the tray icon and tick Start with Windows: the app then starts at sign-in, quietly in the system tray, without opening its window. Untick it to turn it off. It also shows up in Windows' Settings → Apps → Startup.

A tighter lock

• No taskbar during a detox: it's hidden on every monitor and comes back when the detox ends. On the latest Windows 11 builds the Windows key could bring up the taskbar and the Start menu over the lock screen
• Start menu closed right away if it opens anyway
• Alt+Tab no longer flashes the window switcher for an instant
• The taskbar of secondary monitors no longer stays visible over their overlay

Other changes

• Diagnostic messages are saved to %LOCALAPPDATA%\DigitalDetox\digital-detox.log, handy when reporting a problem

Download

Download DigitalDetox-v2.3.0-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed.

Digital Detox v2.2.0

Lives in the system tray

Digital Detox now stays next to the system tray instead of in the taskbar:

• Closing or minimizing the window keeps the app running in the system tray
• Left-click the icon to open the window
• Right-click it to open the window, start a detox right away (5 to 60 minutes) or quit
• A detox started from the menu goes back to the system tray when it ends
• Starting the app again brings back the window of the copy that's already running

Tip: if the icon is hidden under the ^ arrow, drag it next to the clock to always keep it in view.

Download

Download DigitalDetox-v2.2.0-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed.

Digital Detox v2.1.1

Fixes

• The main window is now fully redrawn when you bring it back after minimizing it. Before, parts of it could stay empty and show what was behind.

Download

Download DigitalDetox-v2.1.1-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed.

Digital Detox v2.1.0

The screen switches off gradually

The lock screen now helps you actually step away instead of staring at the countdown:

• As soon as the detox starts the screen dims, and on laptops the brightness drops to the minimum
• After a minute without input the screen turns black. On desktop PCs the monitor is then switched off a couple of minutes later
• Move the mouse or press a key to see the timer again for a few seconds
• New Turn off screen button to go dark right away
• At the end the screen wakes up, the brightness goes back to what it was, and you see "Detox Complete!"
• The PC no longer goes to sleep during a detox, so the countdown never pauses

Redesigned main window

The window where you pick the duration now has the same look as the lock screen: a large thin number you can type into, round presets, and a preview of when the detox will end.

Download

Download DigitalDetox-v2.1.0-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed.

Digital Detox v2.0.0

Rewritten in Rust

Digital Detox 2.0 is a complete rewrite in Rust with Slint. It looks and works just like version 1, but:

• Much smaller: 5.8 MB download instead of 63 MB
• Much lighter: about 5 MB of memory instead of over 90 MB
• No administrator rights needed: no more UAC prompt at start-up

Improvements

• Scrolling in the main window moves in clean steps
• The lock screen timer keeps a fixed width, so it never shifts sideways as the digits change

Download

Download DigitalDetox-v2.0.0-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed.

The previous C# version is still available as v1.0.1.

Digital Detox v1.0.1

Fixes

• The unlock time on the lock screen now follows your system’s time format (e.g. 19:19:33 in Europe, 7:19:33 PM in the US). Previously, on systems without an AM/PM designator, evening times were shown as morning times.

Download

Download DigitalDetox-v1.0.1-win-x64.zip, unzip it and run DigitalDetox.exe. No installation needed.

Digital Detox v1.0.0

README: use the real repository URL

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>