The whole night, everyone actually there.
Agree on the hours, and every phone in the room blocks every app until everyone heads home.
My friend is always on her phone when we hang out. What can I do?
Suggest a set time everyone agrees to, like the next three hours, and put every phone under the same block for it. With CoPact, up to 20 people each join on their own iPhone, and every app but their Always Allowed ones stays shut. Nobody sees anyone’s apps, and under Strict, ending early takes more than half of you.
How to make a hangout phone free
- 1 Send one link Make a crew and share its link, its code or its QR code. Up to 20 people in all, you included.
- 2 Start it when you sit down Three hours from 8 PM. Anyone in the crew can start it unless its owner turns that off, and everyone else gets one notification.
- 3 Off until 11 PM Every phone that joins blocks every app but its Always Allowed ones. Whoever turns up late joins while it runs.
Why asking nicely stops working
Asking one person to put their phone away makes you the one keeping score, and it lasts until the next buzz. Putting yours down alone is worse: you sit there while everyone else scrolls.
It holds when everybody is off at once. Nobody is the odd one out, and nobody has to ask twice.
Students would pay to switch TikTok off for everyone, but would want to be paid to quit it alone.
Bursztyn et al., American Economic Review, 2025
What works on the night
Agree on the hours before anyone gets comfortable, and keep them short enough that everyone says yes. Three hours covers most evenings.
Then let the block hold the line. Each person keeps their own Always Allowed apps, so Maps or Messages can stay open for whoever needs them, and nobody sees which apps anyone else blocked.
Checked against CoPact 3.0, October 2026.
More nights with your mates
Questions.
Can I block apps on my friend’s phone?
Not without them. Each person joins the block on their own iPhone, and nobody can lock a phone that has not joined.
Does the person I invite have to pay?
Yes. Each person needs their own trial or subscription: 7 days free for someone new to CoPact, then $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
Does it work if someone has an Android phone?
No. CoPact runs on iPhone, with iOS 26.5 or later, so everyone who joins needs an iPhone.
Can someone join after it starts?
Yes. Anyone in the crew can join while it runs, and their phone blocks until the same end as everyone else’s.
Can my crew see which apps I use?
No. Members see your name, your initial and what you do in crew pacts, never your apps.
Can one person end it for everyone?
Under Strict, no: it ends on its timer, or when more than half of the people still in it vote to end it. A Flexible crew pact can be ended by whoever started it.
Send it to the people you’d do it with.
Better kept together.
