I struggled with porn addiction for 13 years (from 15 to 28) and built a free blocker for myself. Here is what actually worked

Томас Щёголев — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 18:16:22 +0000

I’m 28, I still haven’t found a life partner, and for the last 13 years—starting at age 15—I was trapped in a heavy porn addiction. Today I am on Day 21 of being completely clean, thanks to a free Android tool called KarosGuard that I built for myself after realizing willpower alone cannot beat internet algorithms.

I want to share my honest story, why standard blockers failed me, how my app works across 28 languages, and my transparent numbers (which are pretty humble right now).

How It Started and Why Willpower Failed

Everything started at 15 with a naive teenager's question on a Q&A site. By 18, after three years, I realized I was hooked. Combined with a gaming addiction (Dota), porn drained all the life out of me: I stopped attending classes, graduated at the very bottom of my school, and turned into a complete "dead inside" recluse. My aunts and uncles remembered me as a warm, lively kid, while I locked myself in my room, getting angry whenever anyone called or visited.

Interestingly, I tried other vices in life: I drank socially without ever getting hooked, and when I tried poker and sports betting once and lost money, I quit on the spot and never looked back. Porn was different because it is free and always two taps away.

At 19, I managed to quit on pure willpower for six months. I proudly texted a friend: "Can you believe I haven't watched it for half a year?" He joked back: "Go take a look for just one second to test yourself."
I looked for "one second"—and relapsed for the next 9 years.

What I Learned About Relapse

Relapse doesn't happen because of high libido; it happens out of boredom and the lie of "just one second." One video turns into up to 10 times a day, wiping out entire days or weeks.

Over the years, normal videos stop working—people start watching at 2x–5x speed or searching for extreme genres they wouldn't even want in real life. And after every binge comes a 48-hour emotional crash where you don't want anyone to see or talk to you. Once, while traveling and staying in a hostel, I saw a man in his late 50s on the bottom bunk doing it right there, and acting aggressively toward women during the day. I checked out immediately, realizing that could be my future if I didn't break the cycle.

The problem lives on the phone, two taps away. I needed to make that path longer—just enough of a pause to come to my senses when an impulse hits.

What I Built (KarosGuard)

KarosGuard creates a hard barrier between a sudden urge and the screen:

Multi-browser & Strict Whitelist protection: It checks URLs and page text directly on the device, plus includes a curated safe whitelist of thousands of verified porn-free websites so triggers are cut off at the root.

Independent Layer 2 (Private DNS): Step-by-step setup for system-level Private DNS filtering.

Short-form video blocker: Blocks TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and other endless feeds where visual triggers usually start, plus sets daily app limits.

Accountability Partner (8-digit code): Optionally notifies a trusted person if protection is disabled.

Clean streak calendar: Tracks your days without shame or guilt.

Localized into 28 Languages: Full support and curated safe regional websites for English, Russian, Arabic, Armenian, Belarusian, Bengali, Vietnamese, Georgian, Indonesian, Spanish, Italian, Kazakh, Chinese, Korean, Kyrgyz, Malay, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Serbian, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Hindi, and Japanese.

It is 100% free, no ads, no account required, and all filtering happens locally on your phone (browsing history is never sent anywhere).

What it doesn't do yet: On Android, it doesn't scan images—only domains, lists, and text. Sometimes it blocks a safe page by mistake; since I don't collect user URLs, there is a "Report false block" button on the block screen.

The Honest Numbers & My 80-Day Challenge

KarosGuard launched on Google Play 75 days ago. Right now it has around 100 installs and a $0 marketing budget.

What I learned the hard way about Google Play: in most languages, a brand-new app doesn't show up at all for generic searches like "porn blocker"—only established apps with hundreds of thousands of downloads rank there. It’s a catch-22: no installs means no visibility, and no visibility means no installs.

So I’m setting a public challenge: 50,000 downloads before New Year’s Eve (80 days left, which means 625 installs a day vs. my current 1–2 a day). It probably sounds impossible, but I’ll share my real numbers and my personal streak along the way.

How You Can Help

If you are fighting this battle too, install it, test it in your language, and tell me what’s broken (especially false positives) or what feature you need. If you don't need it, share it with someone who does.