Latch

A simple macOS focus blocker that stays local.

Latch blocks distracting sites with timed sessions, local blocklists, menu bar support, and a Chromium extension for a cleaner blocked-page experience.

Download for macOS View on GitHub
macOS-only Local-first No accounts Chromium extension support

What it does

Latch focuses on a tight macOS-only workflow: start a session, block the sites you care about, and optionally load a Chromium extension for friendlier blocked pages.

Timed and always-on sessions

Use quick focus timers or keep blocking active until you deliberately turn it off.

Local blocklists

Your domains and preferences stay on-device. No accounts, no sync, no cloud backend.

Native macOS workflow

Menu bar support, crash recovery, and a one-time privileged helper install.

Desktop pages

Latch focus session page
Focus session setup
Latch block list page
Block list management
Latch setup page
Settings and extension setup

Download and load the extension

Desktop app

  1. Open the latest GitHub release.
  2. Download the macOS DMG.
  3. Run xattr -cr /Applications/Latch.app
  4. Install and launch Latch.
  5. Approve the one-time helper install when prompted.

Chromium extension

  1. Download Latch-chrome-extension.zip from the same release.
  2. Unzip it.
  3. Open chrome://extensions.
  4. Enable Developer mode.
  5. Click Load unpacked and choose the extracted chrome folder.