FAQ
Reading app blocker: questions and answers
How FirstPage locks your apps until you’ve read, what it costs, and what it does with your data. Anything missing? Write to [email protected].
The basics
What is a reading app blocker?
- An app that keeps distracting apps locked until you’ve read. Most app blockers end a block when a timer runs out. A reading app blocker ends it when you reach a reading goal, so the time you take back from your phone goes into a book. FirstPage (sometimes written First Page) is a reading app blocker for Android. We compare it with the others in the best reading app blockers.
How does FirstPage work?
- Choose the apps to lock, set a daily goal in pages, minutes or both, and read in FirstPage. When you hit the goal, the apps unlock on their own. The next day they lock again. If you open a locked app before you’ve read, FirstPage shows how many pages are left and a button back to your book.
How is it different from Opal, one sec or Digital Wellbeing?
- Those tools limit apps with timers, schedules or a pause before an app opens. FirstPage unlocks apps when you finish your reading for the day. If you want to block apps during work hours, a timer-based blocker suits you better. If you want to read more, FirstPage is built for that. There’s a longer comparison in our Opal guide.
Which apps can I lock?
- Any app on your phone, such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X or Reddit. The free plan locks up to 2 apps. Pro has no limit.
What counts as reading?
- Pages and minutes you read in FirstPage, in your own EPUB and PDF files or the free classics in the app. Sparks, the short reads in the app, count too. Listening to a book doesn’t count toward the goal, and paper books can’t be counted yet.
What if I need an app before I've read?
- Tap “Give me more time” on the lock screen to open your apps for 10 minutes, up to 3 times a day. Each use costs 10 XP. You can also pause the lock for the rest of the day: apps stay open until midnight, and a day you pause without reaching your goal costs 100 XP.
Can I have a morning goal and an evening goal?
- Yes. Reading windows split the day into separate goals, each with an optional reminder. With more than one window, your apps lock again at the start of each window until you’ve read for that one. The free plan has one window; Pro allows several.
Books and reading
Which books can I read?
- Your own EPUB and PDF files, and free public-domain classics from Project Gutenberg that you can download inside the app. The free plan keeps one book in your library at a time.
Can FirstPage read books aloud?
- Yes. Listen mode reads your books in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese with voices that run on your phone. Download a voice once and it works offline. Listening doesn’t count toward your reading goal.
Which languages does the app support?
- The app is fully in English and Arabic. You can read books in any language, and translate a word or a passage while you read.
Price
Is FirstPage free?
- There’s a free plan with 2 locked apps, 1 book and 1 reading window. FirstPage Pro removes those limits and adds chapter summary cards, spoiler-free character reminders, streak passes, sync and the brain’s top level. In the US, Pro is $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year; prices vary by country. New subscribers to the yearly plan get a 3-day free trial; the monthly plan has no trial.
How do I cancel?
- Subscriptions are handled by Google Play. Open the Play Store, tap your profile picture, then Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions, and cancel FirstPage there. Deleting the app doesn’t cancel the subscription.
Your phone and your data
Is FirstPage on iPhone?
- Not yet. FirstPage is on Android through Google Play. iPhone is next; you can join the waitlist.
Which permissions does FirstPage need, and why?
- Usage access, so it knows when a locked app comes to the front. Display over other apps, so it can show the lock screen on top. An exception from battery optimization, so Android doesn’t stop the lock in the background. Notifications are optional and used for reminders. FirstPage doesn’t use Android’s Accessibility service.
Can FirstPage see what I do inside other apps?
- No. Usage access tells FirstPage which app is open and for how long, which is how the lock and the screen time stats work. It doesn’t show what you look at or type inside those apps.
Where is my reading data stored?
- On your phone. Your library, progress, highlights and quotes stay there unless you use sync, a Pro feature, and nothing uploads until you tap “Sync now”. Chapter summaries are made on our server, so the app asks before the first one. The privacy policy has the details.
Can I get around the lock?
- Yes, if you try: you can turn off its permissions or uninstall it. FirstPage is a commitment you make with yourself, not a parental control. It works by making the book the easier choice, not by making the phone impossible to use.
How do I delete my account?
- From the app’s account settings, or from the delete account page. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel a Google Play subscription; cancel that in the Play Store.