DEV Community: Thales Brederodes

How to Block Twitter (X) Feed on Safari on macOS

Thales Brederodes — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 14:53:11 +0000

If you’re looking for a way to block Twitter (X) on Safari and stop doomscrolling on macOS, you’ll quickly notice that Safari doesn’t offer any built-in way to hide or limit the feed.

Once you open X, the algorithm takes over — and minutes (or hours) disappear.

Why Blocking Twitter Feeds Is So Hard

Most solutions rely on willpower:

“Just don’t scroll”
“Be more disciplined”
“Use focus mode”

But the problem isn’t discipline — it’s design.

Social feeds are built to keep you scrolling indefinitely, especially on platforms like X (formerly Twitter).

Do Website Blockers Actually Work?

Traditional website blockers are too extreme:

They block the entire site
They break workflows
They force you to unblock everything just to check messages or notifications

In practice, people disable them after a few days.

Blocking everything is rarely sustainable.

A Better Approach: Hide the Feed, Not the Platform

Instead of blocking X entirely, a better solution is to remove the feed itself.

That way, you can:

Check notifications
Read messages
Post when needed

Without getting trapped in the endless timeline.

A Safari Feed Blocker for X (Twitter) on macOS

LockBird is a Safari extension for macOS that hides the feed on X to stop doomscrolling directly in your browser.

Once enabled:

The timeline disappears
The visual loop is broken
You naturally close the tab sooner

No system-wide blockers.

No VPNs.

No tracking.

How to Stop Doomscrolling on X in Safari

The most effective way to stop doomscrolling isn’t resisting temptation — it’s removing the trigger.

By hiding the feed entirely, LockBird adds just enough friction to make scrolling impossible, while still letting you use X intentionally.

Is There a Safari Extension to Block Twitter Feeds?

Yes. LockBird is a Safari extension for macOS that hides the algorithmic feed on X (Twitter), helping you stay focused without blocking the entire site.

Everything runs locally in Safari, and no data is collected or shared.

If you’ve been searching for a way to block Twitter feeds on Safari and stop doomscrolling on macOS, this is one of the simplest approaches available.

How to Limit Open Tabs on Safari on macOS

Thales Brederodes — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 14:45:47 +0000

If you’re looking for a way to limit open tabs in Safari on macOS, you’ll quickly notice that Safari doesn’t offer a built-in tab limit.

You can open unlimited tabs, which often leads to tab overload, loss of focus, and cluttered workflows.

Why Safari Doesn’t Let You Limit Open Tabs

Safari is designed to be flexible, but that flexibility comes at a cost. By default, there’s no restriction on how many tabs you can open, which makes it easy to postpone decisions and keep everything “just in case.”

Over time, this creates cognitive overload rather than helping productivity.

Do Safari Tab Groups Solve Tab Overload?

Tab Groups help organize tabs, but they don’t actually prevent overload. You can still open unlimited tabs inside each group, which means the core problem remains: there’s no guardrail.

Organization is not the same as limitation.

A Simple Tab Limit Extension for Safari on macOS

Instead of managing tabs after the chaos starts, a better approach is to stop the chaos before it happens.

A tab limit creates a clear boundary: once you reach a certain number of tabs, Safari simply won’t open more.

How to Stop Opening Too Many Tabs in Safari

The most effective way to stop opening too many tabs isn’t relying on willpower — it’s adding a hard constraint.

When new tabs are blocked after a limit, you’re forced to either close existing ones or finish what you started.

Is There a Safari Extension to Limit Tabs?

Yes. TabCap is a Safari extension for macOS that lets you set a maximum number of open tabs. Once the limit is reached, Safari won’t open new tabs until you close existing ones.

If you’ve been searching for a way to limit tabs in Safari on macOS, this might be the simplest solution available.

I Built a 3D Global Radio Map with Next.js and Three.js

Thales Brederodes — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 03:38:32 +0000

I want to share how I developed Vibe Radio, a project that places radio stations from around the world on an interactive 3D globe.
It was a fascinating journey where I learned a lot about 3D visualization, Three.js, and managing geographic data.

Tech Stack

Next.js for the frontend
Three.js via React Three Fiber for 3D graphics
TypeScript
Radio Browser API for station data
Tailwind CSS for styling

The Most Interesting Challenges

Creating the 3D Globe
The core of ViberRadio is the interactive 3D globe. Building it involved several fascinating challenges:

// Earth component with continuous rotation and stations
const Earth = ({ stations }: { stations: Station[] }) => {
  const earthRef = useRef<THREE.Mesh>(null);
  const globeGroupRef = useRef<THREE.Group>(null);

  // Load textures
  const textures = useTexture({
    earthTexture: "/earth-texture.jpg",
    cloudsTexture: "/clouds-texture.png",
  });

  // Continuous rotation animation
  useFrame(() => {
    if (globeGroupRef.current) {
      // Rotate the entire group
      globeGroupRef.current.rotation.y += 0.0005;
    }
  });

  // ...rest of the component
}

Mapping Coordinates to 3D Space
One of the most interesting technical challenges was converting latitude and longitude coordinates to positions on the 3D sphere:

const latLngToPosition = (
  lat: number,
  lng: number,
  radius: number = 1
): [number, number, number] => {
  const phi = (90 - lat) * (Math.PI / 180);
  const theta = (lng + 180) * (Math.PI / 180);

  const x = -radius * Math.sin(phi) * Math.cos(theta);
  const y = radius * Math.cos(phi);
  const z = radius * Math.sin(phi) * Math.sin(theta);

  return [x, y, z];
};

This mathematical transformation takes a station's geographic coordinates and places it precisely on the globe's surface.
It was exciting to see stations appear exactly where they should be in the world!

What I Learned

This project taught me a powerful lesson: everything is possible today.

With the right mindset, AI tools like Cursor and Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and a willingness to build step-by-step, you can create projects that once felt out of reach.

Even complex applications like 3D visualization, real-time data management, and interactive maps become achievable if you break the process down and trust the journey.

You don't have to know everything from the start, you just have to start.

If you have an idea in your mind, go for it. Build it, experiment, and let the tools and technology help you evolve along the way.

Try It Out!

Visit Vibe Radio to explore radio stations from around the world.
Click on any dot to tune in to that station!

The project is fully open-source:
👉 GitHub Repository

If you enjoyed this project, feel free to leave a ❤️, follow me here or on GitHub, and share your ideas or feedback! 🚀

Would love to hear what you think or see your own creations too!
Happy listening! 🎶🌎