Field notes · focus

Block the sites that derail you.
The native way.

People keep asking me to make Hush stop them opening x.com mid-session. I’m not going to — and macOS already does it better. Here’s the honest reason, and three built-in ways to lock yourself out.

Posted June 4, 2026 · ~ 5 min read

A few times now the same request has landed in my inbox: “Love the focus session. Can it also block distracting websites? Closing the tab is fine, but I just open a new one and type the address from muscle memory.” Fair. Closing a tab is a speed bump; muscle memory drives right over it.

So I looked at building it properly. Then I decided not to. This is the post I point people to instead, because the answer is more useful than “no.”

A.Why Hush won’t build a website blocker

Hush has one job: it quietly closes apps you’re not using. It removes things. A website blocker does the opposite — it stands in front of you and says no. That’s a different kind of software, and a crowded one. I’d rather do the small thing well than bolt on a worse version of an app that already exists.

The practical side says the same thing. Truly preventing a page from loading (not just closing a tab after the fact) needs a Safari content-blocker extension: a second bundle inside the app, a JavaScript code path next to the Swift one, an enable-it-by-hand step in Safari settings, and — because it’s Safari only — nothing for Chrome users. That is a lot of new surface for a menu-bar utility that fits in your status bar and asks for nothing.

The most honest feature is sometimes the one you don’t ship. macOS already blocks sites system-wide. I don’t need to reinvent it, weaker, inside Hush.

B.The built-in way #1: Screen Time “Never Allow”

For a hard block on specific sites, Screen Time already does exactly what the extension would have, and it works across every browser:

• Open System Settings → Screen Time.
• Go to Content & Privacy and turn on Content Restrictions.
• Open Web Content and set it to Limit Adult Websites.
• Under Never Allow, add the sites that derail you — x.com, reddit.com, whatever yours are.

Safari now refuses them, and because Screen Time filters at the system level, Chrome and other browsers are covered too. That’s the part a Safari-only extension could never match. (Menu paths shift a little between macOS versions, but the route is stable.)

C.The built-in way #2: Downtime on a schedule

If your distraction problem is time-shaped — the 2 p.m. slump, the after-dinner doomscroll — use Screen Time → Downtime. Set a window, and during it only the apps and sites you allow stay reachable. It’s the same idea as a focus session, scheduled by the clock instead of started by hand.

D.The built-in way #3: a Safari Focus filter

This is the elegant one, and it ties straight into how Hush already works. Safari supports Focus filters backed by Tab Groups:

• In Safari, make a Work Tab Group with only the tabs you want during deep work.
• Open System Settings → Focus and pick (or create) a Focus like Work.
• Add a Focus filter → Safari and point it at your Work Tab Group.

Now when that Focus turns on, Safari swaps to the distraction-free group. It’s not a brick wall, but it removes the temptation instead of daring you to resist it — which, honestly, works better for most people than a blocked-page error.

E.How this pairs with Hush

Here’s the nice part. Hush can mirror your macOS Focus: when you flip on Work, Hush starts a focus session and clears the idle apps cluttering your Mac. Pair that with any of the three tricks above and a single switch does everything:

• Your macOS Focus turns on.
• Screen Time (or your Safari filter) handles the distracting sites.
• Hush handles the distracting apps — the background ones get out of the way, RAM comes back.

One Focus, a quiet browser, a quiet Mac. No extension to enable, no extra app running, nothing watching your traffic. That’s much more my speed than a blocklist living inside a menu-bar app.

F.One more thing: I’m launching on Product Hunt

Hush goes up on Product Hunt on June 11, 2026 (12:01 a.m. PDT). If posts like this have been useful, an upvote or a comment that morning genuinely helps a quiet, one-person project find the other people who want a calmer Mac.

You can follow along and back it here: Hush on Product Hunt →. No mailing list, no reminder spam — just a date and a link.

FAQ

Will Hush ever block websites?
No. It closes idle apps. Site blocking belongs to Screen Time, which does it system-wide and better than a Safari-only add-on ever could.

How do I block one specific site?
System Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy → Content Restrictions → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites, then add the site under Never Allow.

Does Focus mode block sites on its own?
Not really; it filters notifications. Pair it with Screen Time, or a Safari Focus filter that switches Tab Groups. Hush mirrors the Focus so everything starts together.

Does this cover Chrome?
The Screen Time methods do (they’re system-wide). The Safari Tab Group trick is Safari-only.