A Browser for Deep Work

YouTube is always one tab away

Remote work made the problem obvious. The same browser you use to write a report is one keystroke from YouTube, two from TikTok, three from a Reddit hole that eats an hour. Every “just one quick break” loses the morning’s thread.

The existing answers are bad: Forest and Cold Turkey are willpower aids that you yourself can switch off. Corporate web-filter appliances surveil everything an employee does and bill IT departments for the privilege. There’s a third option that’s simpler and more honest — a browser you choose to use when you need to concentrate, and quit when you don’t.

Block at the network, not in your willpower

Hedgehog ships with a built-in transparent proxy. YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, ad networks — all matched against curated block-lists and stopped before they leave your device. When you’re using Hedgehog those sites simply don’t load. No willpower required, no screen-time popup arguing with you.

When you genuinely need YouTube for work — a tutorial, a meeting recording — switch to your regular browser for that one thing. The friction of switching browsers is the feature: it gives you a half-second to remember you’re meant to be working.

Built on the same MITM stack that powers Hedgehog for kids, Lunar Browser (ad-free), and Jade Browser (privacy). Mature, audited, multi-million-install code — not a willpower app.

What you get

• YouTube + TikTok blocked — no autoplay tab waiting in the background
• Social feeds blocked — Reddit / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok / Facebook
• Ad networks blocked — faster pages, less visual noise, fewer trackers
• No account, no telemetry — we don’t collect data about what you browse, full stop
• No subscription — ever

A concentration tool, not a surveillance one

If you run a small team, Hedgehog gives you a recommendation you can make in good conscience: “use this browser for focused work; use whatever you like for everything else”. There’s no admin console, no employee-activity dashboard, no per-seat licence fee. It’s a free download that quietly does its job.

That’s deliberate. Surveillance tools breed resentment and gaming behaviour; an opt-in concentration tool builds trust and reduces guilt. You’re telling your team “we believe you want to focus, here’s a tool that helps you” rather than “we don’t trust you, here’s a tracker”.

Standardising on a focused browser for one role — customer support, accounting, technical writing — is often the highest-leverage change a small team can make. Costs nothing, ships on day one.