Block Websites

[eriksatie]

Is it possible to build a workflow that block some website and another to stop blocking them?

could be based on edit the host file or there is some other way to do it?

 

thanks

[jdfwarrior]

Is it possible to build a workflow that block some website and another to stop blocking them?

could be based on edit the host file or there is some other way to do it?

 

thanks

 

This would usually be done with a proxy. A hosts file COULD do it but.. editing it would require admin permissions unless you modified its permissions but, that's not something I'd recommend

[eriksatie]

ok I was trying to edit host file and first problem was permissions. so I would need a proxy server, configure it with blocked sites and launch it with a workflow. this should do the job.

 

I'd like also to block apps... how can I block an app from being opened?

 

basically, I'm trying to mimic this app: https://heyfocus.com

[deanishe]

You'd probably want the proxy running all the time (you have to mess with System Preferences to set/unset a proxy server).

 

If you're using squid (from homebrew), you could just activate/deactivate (i.e. comment out) an ACL list and send a HUP to the proxy to load the new settings.

 

Dunno about blocking apps. You could probably prevent some apps from starting by setting them to blocked in Gatekeeper, but I don't know if that would work for Mac App Store apps.

 

Quitting apps should be fairly straightforward, though.