Brick Night Is a $129 Bedside Puck That Locks Your Chosen Apps When Your Phone Enters the Bedroom

The Chicago startup behind the $59 Brick app blocker has a second device. Brick Night uses Bluetooth to sense your phone inside a zone of up to 25 by 25 feet and blocks the apps you pick during the hours you set.

CHICAGO - Brick, the startup known for a small puck that locks distracting apps on your phone, has released a second device, and this one is built for the bedroom. Brick Night costs $129 and went on sale Oct. 22 exclusively at getbrick.com, the company said in its announcement. Brick calls it its first major new product since the original Brick.

Brick Night comes in a single Midnight Blue finish. Image: Brick

The original Brick, which sells for $59, asks you to tap your phone against it to lock and unlock your apps. Brick Night takes the tapping out, The Verge reported. You pick the apps and websites to block in the Brick app, set a time window and place the device where you sleep. When your phone enters that space during those hours, the selected apps are blocked automatically. Leave the space, or reach the end of the window, and they unlock, according to Brick’s product page.

Brick Night is designed to sit on a nightstand, dresser or desk near the bed. Image: Brick

The device does not need Wi-Fi. It talks to the phone over Bluetooth and uses signal strength to estimate how close the phone is, Brick says in its support documentation, which adds that Brick Night does not track the user’s location. The blocked space can be up to roughly 25 by 25 feet and can be set up in a studio apartment. Brick recommends keeping the device flat and away from water and metal objects, and it suggests avoiding walls inside the zone for more consistent results.

Users set the hours and the space they want protected in the Brick app. Image: Brick

The hardware is simple. Brick Night measures 73 by 73 by 45 millimeters, is made of ABS and TPU plastic, and runs on two CR2477 coin cell batteries that come in the box, so it never needs charging. Several people can share one unit, each with their own apps, time windows and modes, and Brick says the blocking can also be set to run around the clock.

“We’ve learned that changing our relationship with technology isn’t about having more discipline, it’s about changing the environment around us, leaving us able to focus on what matters,” Brick co-founder TJ Driver said in the announcement.

Brick Night, left, is considerably larger than the original Brick. Image: Brick

There are trade-offs. The Verge noted that Brick Night is much bigger than the original and more than twice the price, and because it has no NFC, it cannot do tap-based blocking. That means it works alongside the original Brick rather than replacing it. Brick is pitching the two as a pair and sells them in a bundle at a 10 percent discount.

Brick was founded in 2023 by TJ Driver and Zach Nasgowitz, both graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and says its products are used in more than 180 countries. In the United States, qualified customers can pay for Brick Night with pre-tax health savings or flexible spending account funds through Truemed, the company’s site says.