The Android app expanded from closed testing to selected beta testers, with better mobile blocking, setup prompts, countdown notifications, and Android-specific guidance.

The iOS app reached internal testing, starting the same careful mobile rollout path before wider beta access.

Linux support expanded across more Wayland desktops, including COSMIC, Sway, and Hyprland, with clearer setup messages and better window handling.

Focus sessions and block lists can now sync more reliably across devices, making multi-device setups less annoying.

Focus sessions can now be configured around what to allow or what to block, depending on how you prefer to set boundaries.

Account deletion got a clearer scheduled deletion flow and better account history handling.

Fixed a macOS issue where Steam apps could be missing from DigitalZen's installed-apps list.

Improved block screen handling, layout, and page compatibility so blocked pages stay blocked more consistently.

Improved connection heartbeat, startup behavior, and recovery between the browser extension and desktop app.

Improved fullscreen/window handling on macOS edge cases.

Improved launch-on-startup protection so Windows startup behavior better matches the user's intent.

Improved regional pricing and discount display behavior.

The Android app moved from internal testing to closed testing, bringing early mobile blocking and protection features to a small test group.

Protection settings now adapt better by platform, with clearer controls for the protections available on each device.

Windows uninstall protection got stronger, with clearer prompts and additional safeguards against removing DigitalZen too easily during protected periods.

Device-specific controls were refined into clearer per-client controls, with better visibility for the current device and inactive clients.

DigitalZen can now apply stronger blocking actions to browsers when needed, with confirmation so the app does not get too brave without asking.

Checkout and pricing displays were improved, including clearer tax-inclusive pricing and payment status handling.

Improved protection around browser-extension messages so DigitalZen only accepts trusted communication.

Improved browser window tracking, extension install status, and block grace countdown display.

Improved active-guard messages, lock actions, and lock icon behavior.

Fixed Linux edge cases around app icons, startup behavior, browser closure handling, and rare crash-loop scenarios.

Added Pomodoro and stopwatch-style focus modes, with configurable phases, break behavior, chime sounds, and clearer focus-session controls.

The Android app reached internal testing, with early blocking behavior, mobile setup warnings, and better handling for devices that aggressively stop background apps.

Website blocking got smarter around keyword/title matching, manual entry, and advanced blocking options.

Anti-tamper settings are clearer and easier to manage.

Improved uninstall protection, heartbeat/recovery behavior, shutdown handling, and protection against accidental deletion.

Improved login token handling, account registration, sign-in polling, and first-run detection.

Improved payment confirmation, offer expiration handling, dark-mode display, and overflow issues in payment screens.

Improved rotating allowance behavior, penalty timing, and countdown handling.

Improved URL handling, manual-entry behavior, file URL blocking, and compatibility with sensitive pages such as payment flows.

You can now choose what happens when a blocked site opens: show a cover page while keeping the site underneath, or redirect the tab away completely.

DigitalZen is better at recognizing browser windows, profiles, and less obvious browser setups, helping blocking stay accurate across real-world browser chaos.

When your browser is blocked, you now see a dedicated message explaining what is happening instead of a page quietly failing in the corner.

Added support for regional pricing, community discount flows, and clearer coupon/offer displays.

On Linux, the installed-apps overlay now shows clearer warnings when focus mode or block mode is active.

Improved the connection between the desktop app and browser extension, especially during installation, reconnects, and longer setup waits.

Improved protection behavior during startup, logout, and recovery so app protection is harder to accidentally bypass.

Improved Linux setup behavior, temporary file handling, and AppImage reliability.

Improved browser/window matching so DigitalZen can better tell which browser is actually being used.

Improved reset behavior when local data cannot be read cleanly.

DigitalZen now supports KDE Plasma on Wayland experimentally, with improved window tracking and clearer setup warnings.

GNOME Wayland support improved with better extension handling, setup checks, and window-management reliability.

DigitalZen now detects suspicious system clock changes that could be used to skip locks, and shows a warning instead of quietly trusting the clock. Time travel remains discouraged.

When a schedule is blocking you, the lock screen now shows when the next unlock window starts, so you know exactly when the break is coming.

Saved focus sessions and premium focus options are clearer, with better session defaults and feature labels.

Added groundwork/UI for managing DigitalZen behavior per device, useful when one computer should behave differently from another.

Improved AppImage placement, desktop entries, autostart behavior, dependency checks, supported display-manager messages, and setup guidance.

Improved browser detection and icon handling, especially on Linux and for less obvious browser variants.

Improved Windows, macOS, GNOME Wayland, and KDE Wayland window handling, with safer close/minimize behavior and better app detection.

Improved startup behavior, countdown-window memory use, and background performance so the app stays lighter while running.

Improved deletion sync, trusted-time handling, and user-session management on Linux.

Linux window handling continued to improve, especially around KDE Plasma, icons, session checks, and countdown-window behavior. The Wayland road got more pavement.

Lock and schedule-unlock screens now use stronger time checks, clearer loading states, and more consistent lock-length selection.

DigitalZen can now handle app links through its own protocol, making it easier for links to open the desktop app in the right place.

Team Focus got clearer start/join cards, better session-end handling, and sharper wording around accountability.

Student-request handling and email flows were improved so student offers can be handled more smoothly.

Fixed issues that could prevent free or basic users from using blocking correctly.

Fixed cases where selecting apps or websites during a focus session did not work correctly.

Improved Windows window handling and recognition of apps from the Microsoft Store.

Improved detection of pages trying to interfere with the blocking screen.

Improved KDE debug info, icon retrieval, GNOME-extension skip logic on non-GNOME desktops, and Wayland window positioning.

You can now create an account and log in using your Apple ID, with clearer Safari guidance when the desktop app is needed.

Team Focus now supports named rooms, invite links, recent teams, shared goals, duration selection, session summaries, participant status, and host controls. It is still focus, but now with witnesses.

If you start an unlock countdown by mistake, you can now cancel it directly from the lock screen.

GNOME Wayland setup is clearer, with better extension installation handling and more helpful setup messages.

Extension and incognito prompts now update more intelligently and can close automatically once DigitalZen detects everything is ready.

DigitalZen got better at identifying browsers and browser windows, including cases where browser identity is less obvious.

Blocking screens are harder for pages to interfere with, and DigitalZen can recover if the block view is tampered with.

Improved extension install logic, browser status tracking, WebSocket handling, and desktop-app connection behavior.

Fixed a case where locking after a sticky pause did not behave correctly.

Fixed a case where closing a browser could cause it to reopen unexpectedly.

Improved Apple login handling, safer email lookup, OTP rate limiting, and clearer server/rate-limit messages.

Early collaborative focus sessions arrived: create a shared room, prepare your focus plan, share goals, and see a session summary. Still beta, but now officially useful instead of just suspiciously ambitious.

Blocked tabs are caught more quickly, reducing the chance of seeing a distracting page before the block screen appears.

When a block starts, DigitalZen now pauses playing audio/video and exits picture-in-picture so the blocked site cannot keep whispering from the background.

When DigitalZen is minimized, the app switches to a lighter view/state to reduce CPU and memory use while it keeps protecting your focus.

Browser add-on status is easier to inspect, with better desktop-app connection handling and clearer extension install behavior.

Added a local connection test page with desktop app, add-on, browser, and build-version details for troubleshooting.

Improved Windows installer and updater readiness checks, timeouts, and error handling.

Improved AppImage integration, desktop entries, startup behavior, NixOS messaging, and uninstall prompts.

Improved WebKit browser detection and unsupported-browser handling.

Yearly subscriptions now show auto-renewal status more clearly.

Improved first-run backup restore, app startup logging, quit/update handling, and process cleanup.

Trial users now have a clear safety escape hatch, making it easier to test DigitalZen seriously without feeling trapped. Focus tools should feel strong, not scary.

Website rules were rebuilt around a more structured website model, improving domain handling, wildcard display, keyword validation, website icons, and future flexibility without making you think about any of that plumbing.

DigitalZen can now match blocking rules against keywords in URLs and page titles, giving website blocking more ways to catch distracting pages.

Website selection now includes clearer domain-blocking instructions, better validation, and more helpful messages when adding advanced website rules.

Friend lock verification was improved, paste is blocked in lock codes, and config deletion is harder to abuse. Nice try, future-you.

Reset-data and client-data cleanup were improved, with machine ID handling and backup/restore support for safer recovery.

Added a refresh button for browser status in settings.

Improved email login steps, case-insensitive email handling, and clearer login notifications.

Improved iframe and shadow DOM handling for blocked pages.

Improved NixOS and environment setup messages.

Improved encryption/decryption coverage and encrypted log message handling.

App blocking can now use different actions, including minimizing or closing blocked apps, giving you more control over how strict DigitalZen should be when focus mode steps in.

Countdown warnings are easier to manage, with better positioning, hide/pause behavior, and a first-time close message so the little warning window behaves less like a surprise guest.

Website blocking now handles structured URL data, exact domain matching, subdomains, and allowlist checks more reliably.

Added student coupon support and better coupon handling, making it easier to apply special offers when they are available.

Added new top-bar/banner infrastructure for timely in-app messages and user prompts.

Fixed a case where one allowlisted URL could stop later blocking rules from being checked correctly.

Improved Windows installer download, signing, HTTPS handling, and error messages.

Improved AppImage relaunch behavior and crash recovery handling.

Improved blocked-app closing/minimizing on Linux, including Wayland and X11 behavior.

Improved focus-session cache invalidation so updated sessions refresh more reliably.

DigitalZen can now show a countdown window before an upcoming app block, with a setting for how much warning you want before focus mode brings down the curtain.

Website rules can now include allowlist patterns, so you can block broad categories while keeping specific pages or URLs available.

Browser detection expanded across Chromium, Gecko, and WebKit-based browsers, with stronger support for recognizing browsers by what they actually are instead of trusting names like a very optimistic receptionist.

Added dark-mode logo support and cleaner system theme behavior so the app fits better with your desktop.

Setup and installation prompts were improved, including clearer Linux, AppImage, and NixOS guidance.

Fixed an issue where app blocking could stop unexpectedly during app event cleanup.

Improved extension status updates, incognito status handling, and LibreWolf extension detection.

Improved app/window detection, unsupported window-manager checks, and display-manager support checks.

Improved macOS browser/app detection and handling of apps with empty window titles.

Added safer process lookup behavior and timeouts for Windows app and browser detection.

Added protection around uninstalling DigitalZen, with clearer settings, confirmation, and safer cleanup when uninstalling is allowed.

Added LibreWolf support and improved handling for unknown or less common browsers, with clearer browser icons and status messages.

DigitalZen can now do a better job recognizing browser-like apps even when they are not on the official supported-browser list. Very useful for the "wait, is this Chromium wearing a hat?" category.

Incognito setup now checks access during desktop-app connection and shows clearer browser-specific help.

Web users now see a clearer path to download the desktop app when they need the full DigitalZen experience.

Improved app identity matching across X11 and Wayland, including case normalization, Chrome Apps handling, and migration from older app IDs.

Improved X11 focus detection for Wine and other desktops, especially when windows move between desktops.

Improved Windows process detection so DigitalZen can better recognize browsers and filter unrelated Chromium/Electron apps.

Browser connection state, unsupported-browser status, and browser-name handling are now more reliable.

Improved app shutdown behavior and cleanup paths around uninstalling or quitting the app.

DigitalZen added curated website list support, making it easier to build useful block lists without adding every site one by one.

Added a dedicated manager for focus sessions, making saved sessions easier to review and manage.

Time ranges are easier to edit, with clearer overlap warnings and better handling for ranges that cross midnight.

Onboarding, focus sessions, empty states, and goal messaging were refreshed to be clearer and more helpful.

Lock options and lock screens were improved, including clearer lock text and friend-lock email support.

Added clearer guidance and status handling for browser extension incognito access.

Improved extension connection status, reconnect behavior, socket cleanup, and missing-extension detection.

Support reports now handle logs and device details more reliably, including large log files and richer error details.

Improved user cache refresh, authentication checks, and session handling to reduce stale account states.

Linux setup now gives clearer guidance for display managers, AppImage behavior, dependencies, and GNOME extension setup.

Improved manual update state, startup window handling, focus behavior, and URL launching edge cases.

Website selection got better validation, clearer tab handling, and support for adding website lists, making larger block lists easier to manage.

DigitalZen now warns before repeated pause actions go too far, adding a small guardrail for those "just five more minutes" moments.

App updates are now safer and clearer, with better progress messages, stronger restart handling, and protection against update checks stepping on each other.

Browser extension setup and communication are more reliable, especially when the browser is busy, slow, or being a little dramatic.

Improved macOS app icon behavior and reduced unnecessary startup prompts.

Improved Wayland response handling and Linux app/window command behavior.

Fixed Windows post-install issues where worker files could fail to load correctly.

Improved extension initialization checks, page-load waiting, and iframe/blocking tests to reduce setup races.

Improved updater behavior when offline, app startup readiness, and update restart messaging.

Improved website selector validation and cleanup around website-search structure.

Extension setup now gives better feedback about incognito access and browser connection status, so setup problems are easier to understand.

Contact support can now include OS debug information and recent log data, helping support understand device-specific issues faster.

App blocking and notification handling were improved, especially around running-app detection and background checks.

Payment notifications and paywall prices now show cleaner price details, including better coupon handling and consistent two-decimal formatting.

Improved X11 window detection and Wine app title handling, which should make Linux app detection more accurate.

Improved macOS app detection so it recovers more cleanly from errors and uses memory more reliably.

Fixed iframe positioning and redraw issues that could make blocked-site screens render incorrectly.

Improved startup flow, browser/addon alive checks, service worker initialization, and session handling between browser and desktop app.

Fixed focus-session loading so the last session settings are kept correctly, and improved browser checks used by focus/background logic.

Focus sessions now support goals, easier editing, and clearer controls while you focus.

Added more ways to choose pause times, cooldowns, and schedule-lock timing.

Selecting websites is clearer, faster, and easier when working with subdomains or larger website lists.

Added coupon support, clearer payment screens, better subscription status display, and smoother payment confirmation emails.

Added a safer account deletion and recovery flow.

Introduced the DigitalZen affiliate program, giving partners a way to share DigitalZen and track their earnings.

Users can now send richer diagnostics from settings so support can understand issues faster.

Browser extension setup and desktop app connection are more reliable, especially during first launch and browser install flows.

Linux setup is clearer and more reliable, with better Wayland guidance and app detection.

App selection and Windows app detection are faster and smoother.

Fixed issues with lock timing, schedule locks, cooldown messages, and lock modal behavior.

Fixed cases where the wrong website could be selected or website detection returned empty results.

Improved sign-up and email verification reliability, including clearer handling of invalid email domains.

Refreshed the login, sign-up, and browser extension setup flow with clearer visuals and simpler setup steps.

Users can now upgrade before the trial ends, with clearer paywall text and improved payment emails.

Added email verification, OTP email validation, and user detail editing so account information is easier to manage.

Added stronger encryption helpers for safer handling of sensitive account and session data.

Upgraded core app frameworks, including Electron-related infrastructure, to keep DigitalZen more secure and maintainable.

Contact support now opens the live chat directly when available, making help easier to reach.

Fixed cases where duplicate browser connections or an uninstalled browser could make DigitalZen show the wrong connection state.

Improved Electron loading and continued moving app and extension communication into a more reliable client-side flow.

Removed older onboarding and share-wall behavior that could interrupt the user experience.

Improved registration handling, welcome and payment emails, magic links, and tracking for new-user setup.

Added in-app support chat so users can get help without leaving DigitalZen.

Mobile visitors now get a clearer message when DigitalZen needs the desktop app experience.

Added a code redemption page for granting subscription access through purchase or promo codes.

Added a dedicated loading and fallback screen so the app feels clearer while it starts or recovers.

Lock codes no longer use easy-to-confuse characters like `1` and `l`.

Fixed missing Linux bar icons, Windows 11 app icons, and browser-block setup when one browser is not installed.

Improved reset-data handling and logging so account cleanup is more reliable.

Improved support chat user context, content security policy handling, and internal request handling.

DigitalZen moved from brave beta land into the stable release channel. New users now start on the stable channel, which sounds mature because it is. Mostly.

Linux installation got much better, including dependency checks, uninstall support, Red Hat fixes, Arch setup work, Unity desktop handling, and early Wayland support. The penguin received attention.

Improved desktop-to-extension communication, safer message parsing, clearer missing-app messages, and better handling when the extension or desktop app is not available yet.

Added paywall, Stripe integration, subscription models, premium checks, and early referral/share-wall infrastructure.

Blocking screens became clearer and more responsive, with better lock behavior, timeout display, and smoother updates while a block is running.

Contact support can now include useful app and device details, so getting help should involve less detective work and fewer "what exactly happened?" loops.

Fixed cases where users could get logged out unexpectedly or lose session state when the network was flaky.

Improved update flows, first-run setup, service worker cache handling, and browser-extension connection timing.

Fixed macOS focus behavior when blocking, Windows URL launching, and several Linux setup edge cases.

Improved responsiveness around blocker and lock screens and cleaned up background behavior that could make the app feel stuck.

DigitalZen started as a rough little idea in April 2023 and spent the next year becoming an actual product: name, logo, website, app, browser extensions, installers, onboarding, focus tools, blocking screens, and enough "wait, why does this work on my machine?" moments to qualify as a lifestyle.

Windows taught us the ancient art of signing things correctly. macOS taught us the same lesson, but with more paperwork and a sterner facial expression. Linux brought its own charming variety show: X11, Wayland, desktop environments, app detection, permissions, and the occasional reminder that "Linux support" is not one problem, it is a family reunion.

We learned the joy of submitting browser extensions to stores, being rejected, reading the rejection, disagreeing with the rejection, fixing something anyway, submitting again, and eventually making peace with the fact that every browser has its own personality and at least one tiny trapdoor.

By April 2024, DigitalZen was ready for real users to try it. Not perfect, not polished to a mirror shine, but alive, useful, and stubborn enough to block distractions across websites, apps, browsers, and operating systems. A public beta, in the noble tradition of "it works, please be kind, we are still tightening the bolts."

DigitalZen was still finding its shape: app blocking, browser extensions, installers, onboarding, Windows support, Linux experiments, and enough rough edges to keep everyone humble. It was not polished yet, but it was alive, stubborn, and already trying to help people stop arguing with the internet.