The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2026
Dull bets users pay to strip Reels and Shorts: Show HN 153 pts, 205 paying subs in 28 days
Kaspar's iOS browser strips Reels, Shorts and algorithmic feeds from Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and Reddit; $3.99/mo, no VPN, nothing leaves the phone.
Dull
What the business is
Dull is a paid iOS browser that loads the real mobile web versions of Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and Reddit and strips out Reels, Shorts, algorithmic For You/Explore feeds and ads using manifest-driven filters. It adds grayscale, a live usage timer, time limits, scheduled quiet hours and a friction gate; each platform runs in its own isolated data store, there is no VPN or system hooks, and sessions stay on the device.
How it started
Kaspar built Dull after repeatedly deleting and reinstalling Instagram: he needed DMs but kept losing 40 minutes to Reels, and screen-time limits were trivial to override. He first tried a Safari extension, found it could not reliably intercept SPA navigation or watch lazy-loaded content, and shipped a WKWebView browser with three layers of filtering per platform instead.
What happened
An earlier Show HN on 2026-03-09 drew little attention; the paid app launched on the App Store in late March 2026 at $3.99/month, $14.99/year or a $59.99 lifetime license, with no free tier by design. The 2026-04-01 Show HN reached 153 points and 123 comments. ReadySetLaunch's case study reports $1,549 in revenue and 205 paying subscribers within 28 days, converting 2,178 new customers, with 45% discovering the app directly on Instagram — the very platform it filters.
How it ended up
As of 2026-09-06 Dull is live on the App Store for iOS 16+ across five platforms, with an Android waitlist; the founder describes it as a solo project funded by subscribers, with filters maintained as platforms change their DOM.
Background
Dull is a paid iOS browser by solo developer kaspar that opens the mobile web versions of Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and Reddit with the addictive parts already removed: no Reels, no Shorts, no For You or Explore feeds, no ads, while DMs, search, subscriptions and full videos still work. On top of the filters it adds grayscale mode, a live usage timer, daily time limits, scheduled quiet hours and a friction gate that asks users to pick a destination before a platform opens.
The founding bet is that the platforms themselves will never offer an off switch for algorithmic short-form video, so a separate browser can sell the subtraction. Kaspar started from his own loop of deleting and reinstalling Instagram — he needed DMs but kept losing 40 minutes to Reels, and screen-time limits were easy to override. A Safari extension could not intercept SPA navigation or catch lazy-loaded content, so he built a WKWebView app with three filter layers per platform: network-level rule lists, injected CSS, and a MutationObserver for dynamic content.
Dull launched paid-only in late March 2026 — $3.99/month, $14.99/year or $59.99 lifetime, deliberately without a free tier. The 2026-04-01 Show HN drew 153 points and 123 comments, and ReadySetLaunch's case study reports $1,549 in revenue with 205 paying subscribers within 28 days, converting 2,178 new customers; 45% of new users found the app directly on Instagram, the very platform it filters.
The business runs on maintenance as much as features: Instagram obfuscates class names and YouTube reshapes how Shorts appear, so filters live in per-platform manifest files that make each fix a short, versioned edit. As of September 2026 Dull covers five platforms on iOS 16+ with an Android waitlist, still a solo, subscriber-funded project.
What has to be true
- Instagram and YouTube deliberately offer no way to disable short-form feeds, so the only product that can sell 'keep DMs, lose Reels' is a separate client that controls what renders.
- A browser needs no VPN, no accessibility permissions and no system hooks, and isolating each platform's session removes the trust objection of handing logins to a third party.
- Skipping a free tier tested willingness to pay immediately, and the reported 205 subscribers in 28 days showed the frustration is specific enough to convert.
- Manifest-driven filters turn the endless cat-and-mouse with platform DOM changes into a maintainable single-file edit instead of a fragile private hack.
What can be applied
Sell subtraction: platforms offer no off switch for short-form feeds, so a browser that deletes them while keeping DMs earned 205 subscribers in a month; the real job is surviving DOM churn.
Aftermath
As of 2026-09-06 Dull is live on the App Store for iOS 16+ across five platforms — Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X and Reddit — with an Android waitlist, still a solo project funded by a roughly $4/month subscription with a 7-day trial. The site documents filters, time controls and a per-session bypass, and the founder is explicit that maintaining filters as platforms redesign is the core ongoing cost. Risks include platform terms-of-service pressure, App Store review friction and retention once the initial detox is over.
Sources
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