Watchfulness, the app fast
Fasting from more than food: a voluntary fast from the apps and websites you choose, kept on the days the Church fasts.
Why fast from a screen
The Church fasts to be set free: the small, chosen hunger of the fast teaches the will to say no to itself. St John Chrysostom says the fast of the mouth profits little if the eyes, the tongue and the hands do not fast too.
The Fathers call that attention nepsis, watchfulness: a sober guarding of the heart, so that prayer is not scattered. Watchfulness in Orthros puts the apps and websites you choose away on the Church's fast days, and asks for one Jesus Prayer before one of them is opened.
Read more on why the Church fasts, the measure of a fast, the Philokalia and watchfulness, and the Church's fasts this year.
How the Church's fast works
1. Choose
In Watchfulness, choose New fast, then the Church's fast, and pick the apps and websites to put away in Apple's own picker.
2. Keep
On the days the Church fasts, by the calendar style you chose, Apple's Screen Time shield is put over those apps and websites. On other days your choices wait for the next fast day.
3. Pray
On a shielded app, tap Begin prayer. On iOS and iPadOS 26.5 or later the shield opens Orthros's prayer room; on earlier versions a notification takes you there. The Jesus Prayer appears while a gold ring fills; then confirm the lift, and that app can be opened for fifteen minutes. You may need to reopen it.
Fast now keeps a fast at once, for a span from fifteen minutes to two hours. The prayer before an app opens is the Jesus Prayer.
On iPhone, iPad and Mac
On iPhone and iPad, Watchfulness uses Apple's Screen Time. On Mac it is a Safari site fast, through the Orthros Watchfulness extension; it does not close Mac apps or sites in other browsers.
Orthros is in public beta. The Church's fast and Fast now are free. Scheduled fasts of your own, additional passion fasts, the desert, the vigil and longer waits are part of Orthros+, which is planned and not yet on sale; in the beta those controls stay locked. Some controls, such as sealed fasts and daily allowances, are unavailable while their device checks continue.
Every setting, step by step, is in the Watchfulness help article.
Questions about Watchfulness
What is Watchfulness in Orthros?
Watchfulness is a voluntary fast from chosen apps and websites. You choose what to put away; on the Church's fast days Apple's Screen Time shields them, and lifting the fast for an app asks first for one Jesus Prayer. It does not count devotion or decide a spiritual rule for you.
How do I fast from social media as an Orthodox Christian?
How much to fast, from what, and for how long is a question for your priest, not for an app. If you keep such a fast, Orthros can help: choose the apps and sites to put away, and keep the fast on the days the Church fasts, or now, for a short span, a longer span, or until 6:00 AM. While it is kept the chosen apps are shielded, and opening one waits on one Jesus Prayer.
Is Watchfulness free?
The Church's fast and Fast now are free, with one Jesus Prayer before a fifteen-minute lift. Scheduled fasts of your own, additional passion fasts, the desert, the vigil and longer waits are part of Orthros+, which is planned and not yet on sale. Orthros is in public beta, and some Watchfulness controls, such as sealed fasts and daily allowances, are unavailable while their device checks continue.
Does Watchfulness work on Mac?
On Mac it is a Safari site fast: in Watchfulness you choose sites for the Church's fast, then enable the Orthros Watchfulness extension in Safari with its site permissions. Safari may pick up changed choices or a lift a little after the app saves them. It does not close Mac apps or sites in other browsers. On iPhone and iPad it uses Apple's Screen Time.
Can a Watchfulness fast be undone?
The Church's fast can always be lifted after one Jesus Prayer, for fifteen minutes. Orthros uses Apple's supported tools and does not claim an unbreakable lock: revoking Screen Time access or deleting Orthros can remove restrictions. The fast is a help to watchfulness, not a substitute for it.
The fast ends at the parish.
An app can keep a door shut. The measure of a fast, and its purpose, come from your priest and the life of the Church.
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