Privacy Policy
Last updated: 16 July 2026
The short version. Feed Break does not collect, store, sell, or share any personal data. There are no accounts, no analytics, no ads, and no trackers. The app downloads one small, public configuration file so its blocking stays accurate — see “Network access” below — but never uploads anything automatically. The only way information ever leaves your device is if you choose to send an optional bug-report email yourself.
What the app does
Feed Break blocks short-form video feeds — YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels — by returning you to your regular feed when one of them opens.
Accessibility Service
Feed Break uses Android's Accessibility Service API. This is the only way an Android app can tell which screen is currently open in another app and navigate away from it.
What it accesses. While the service is enabled, Android supplies Feed Break with the contents of the current window for YouTube and Instagram only — the app is registered to receive events from those two apps and no others (android:packageNames in the service configuration).
What it does with that. It checks whether the on-screen elements match the known identifiers of the Shorts or Reels players. If they do, it issues a “back” navigation to leave that feed. That is the entire use.
What it does NOT do. It does not read, record, log, store, or transmit the contents of your screen. It does not capture text, keystrokes, passwords, messages, or media. It does not track which videos you watch, or build any history or profile. Screen content is examined in memory, in the moment, and is never written anywhere.
Network access
Feed Break downloads a small, public configuration file over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, at most once a day, so the on-screen identifiers it looks for inside YouTube and Instagram can be corrected if those apps change, without waiting for an app update. This download:
- is a plain read of a static file — no account, no request body, no search or query parameters, no cookies, and no device or app identifiers of any kind are sent;
- cannot be tied to you or your device by the server, since nothing identifying is ever transmitted;
- can only ever adjust which identifiers the app looks for inside YouTube and Instagram — the file cannot add new apps, permissions, or behavior;
- is not required — if it fails, or you're offline, the app's built-in rules keep working exactly as before.
Feed Break never uploads your settings, your screen contents, or anything else automatically. This download is the only network activity in the app.
Data storage
The only data Feed Break saves is your own settings — whether blocking is on, and which feeds you've enabled. These are stored on your device using Android's standard preference storage and are never transmitted. Uninstalling the app deletes them.
Data sharing
No data is shared or uploaded automatically. The one exception is entirely in your control: the optional “Report a problem” email described below, which only sends if you personally review and send it.
Optional bug reports (“Report a problem”)
Feed Break includes an in-app “Test blocking” check, and — only if that check shows blocking isn't working — an optional “Report a problem” button. Tapping it opens your own email app with a pre-filled draft addressed to the developer, containing: the app's version, your Android version, your device manufacturer and model, the name of the app the test was run against, and the technical on-screen identifiers present on screen during the test (for example reel_recycler). It deliberately never includes on-screen text, video titles, captions, or any other content from your screen — only structural identifiers, used solely to diagnose why blocking failed. Nothing is sent unless you review the draft and press send yourself; Feed Break has no server of its own and cannot send this, or anything else, automatically or in the background.
Permissions
- Accessibility access — you turn Feed Break on yourself in Android's Accessibility settings, and you can turn it off there at any time, which stops the service completely. (Internally the app declares BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE on its service so that only the Android system is allowed to connect to it.)
- Internet access — used only for the once-a-day configuration download described under “Network access” above. It cannot be used to read anything on your device, and there is no code path in the app that uploads data automatically.
- Notifications — used only to show the same short “Nope. No doomscrolling.” confirmation each time Feed Break backs you out of Shorts or Reels. That message is static, built into the app, and never contains anything about you, your device, or what you were watching. You're asked to allow this once, after you turn on blocking, and can decline or revoke it at any time in Android's notification settings — blocking itself keeps working exactly the same either way.
Feed Break requests no storage, camera, microphone, contacts, or location permissions. The only other entry in its manifest is an app-private permission Android's own libraries add to keep an internal broadcast receiver from being exported; it grants no access to anything on your device.
Children
Feed Break collects no data from anyone, including children.
Trademarks
YouTube and YouTube Shorts are trademarks of Google LLC. Instagram and Instagram Reels are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. Feed Break is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google or Meta. Their names and logos are used only to identify which features the app blocks.
Changes
Any changes to this policy will be published at this URL, with the date above updated.
Contact
Questions: feedbreak@srikeerthan.com