A Safari-first Opal alternative

Opal is a broader focus and app-blocking tool. Intent Guard is narrower: it helps when the loophole is opening YouTube, Reddit, X, Instagram, or TikTok in Safari.

Why Intent Guard

Use Intent Guard when deleting apps works until Safari becomes the fallback.
Add intent walls to exact websites and paths, including YouTube Shorts or Reddit.
Track selected Safari sites locally instead of building a full productivity system.

Best fit: people who want a lightweight Safari website blocker for social-media loops.

Not the best fit: people who need full native app blocking, group accountability, or broad focus-session workflows.

See Intent Guard

Opal and Intent Guard do different jobs

Opal is built around focus sessions and app blocking: you plan when to be blocked, and it holds the line for that stretch. That suits deep work you can put on a calendar.

The slip Intent Guard catches often happens between sessions. You deleted the YouTube app, you have a spare minute, and your thumbs type youtube.com into Safari. Intent Guard's walls stay up for the sites you pick, so every visit asks whether you meant to come.

Always on, not scheduled. Every visit to a Site Target meets its wall. Focus Hours make it stricter at the times you choose.
Part of a site, not all of it. Wall off youtube.com/shorts and keep the rest of YouTube for tutorials and talks.
Friction you pick. A Gentle Pause, a Math Check or a passcode, instead of all or nothing.
Nothing to sign up for. No account, and your site data stays on your devices.

Running Opal and Intent Guard together

Keep Opal for apps and focus sessions. Nothing in your current setup needs to change.
List the sites you reach in Safari instead. Usually they're the apps you deleted: YouTube, Reddit, X, Instagram or TikTok.
Add each one as a Site Target. Start with a Gentle Pause, and move to a Math Check for the sites you still slip into.
Line Focus Hours up with your Opal sessions if you want Safari to be just as strict while you work.

How it works

Add a Site Target. Type a domain such as youtube.com or reddit.com, or narrow it to a path like youtube.com/shorts.
Choose an intent wall. Pick how much friction stands between you and the site, and how long access lasts once you choose to go in: anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes.
Turn on the Safari extension. Enable Intent Guard in Safari and allow it on your target sites. The app walks you through each switch.
See the wall once. Open the site in Safari. When the wall appears, protection is live; until then, Intent Guard won't pretend it is.

Questions

Can I use Intent Guard and Opal at the same time?: Yes. Keep Opal on your apps and let Intent Guard handle the websites you reach in Safari. Give each site to one app, so it's always clear which rule you've hit.
Why not block the website in Opal too?: You can. Intent Guard is for when a full block is too blunt: it can target just the part that loops you, like Shorts, and still lets you in on purpose when you need to.
Does it work on Mac?: Yes. Intent Guard has iPhone and Mac apps, each with its own Safari extension.
What if I actually need the site?: Go through the wall. That's the point: access stays available, it just stops being automatic. The unlock lasts as long as you chose, then the wall returns.