Swipe Blocking in YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok
Dam It! blocks one gesture: the vertical swipe that loads the next video in YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok and TikTok Lite. When you swipe up inside one of those feeds, the swipe never reaches the app. The video you're watching keeps playing, nothing crashes, and the next video simply doesn't arrive.
Why the swipe, and not the app
Most blockers lock a whole app or put a timer on it. That also takes away the useful parts: messages, a tutorial you saved, a video a friend sent. The part that actually costs the evening is narrower: a feed that hands you the next video before you've decided you want it. Removing that one gesture leaves every deliberate choice intact and takes away the automatic one.
What happens when you swipe
- You're in the Shorts, Reels or TikTok feed and swipe up.
- The gesture is intercepted before Android delivers it to the app.
- The current video keeps playing. Nothing looks broken; the feed just stops moving.
See it on your own phone: Dam It! has a 7-day free trial and takes about a minute to set up.
What it leaves alone
Everything outside the short-form feed: regular YouTube, search, subscriptions, comments, Instagram DMs, stories and posts, and videos you open on purpose from a link, a notification or a thumbnail.
Questions people ask
Does Dam It! block the whole YouTube app?
No. It only intercepts the swipe inside the Shorts feed. The rest of YouTube works as before.
Which apps are supported?
YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok and TikTok Lite. More apps are on the roadmap.
Can I still watch the video I'm on?
Yes. It keeps playing to the end. Only the swipe to the next one is stopped.