ReelGuard
Know how many Reels and Shorts you watch, set a daily limit, and stop when you reach it. Everything stays on your phone.
Download APK View sourceWhat it does
Counts your swipes
Detects when Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts is on screen and counts each item you move through, per day.
Daily limit
Pick your own limit and reset time. Get warnings, and a "limit reached" screen once you hit it.
Only Reels and Shorts
Regular videos, your feed, stories and messages are never blocked.
Private by design
No account, no analytics, no ads. The app never reads captions, usernames or messages, and the released APK makes no network requests.
Install
ReelGuard is not on Google Play yet, so you install the APK directly.
- Tap Download APK above and open the file on your phone.
- When Android asks, allow installs from your browser or file manager.
- Open ReelGuard and follow the short setup. It explains the Accessibility permission before asking for it.
- On Android 13+, if the switch is greyed out: Settings > Apps > ReelGuard > ⋮ menu > Allow restricted settings, then turn ReelGuard on under Accessibility.
Why Accessibility?
Neither Instagram nor YouTube offers an API for what you are viewing. ReelGuard uses Android's Accessibility Service only to see whether the Reels/Shorts screen is showing and when you swipe. It ignores every other app. You can switch it off any time in Android settings. Read the full privacy policy.
Early release: detection relies on view identifiers that Instagram and YouTube change between versions, and has had limited device testing. If counts look wrong, please open an issue.