I shipped v1.2.0 of my Chrome extension for intentional website blocking
I just shipped v1.2.0 of ResistGate, a Chrome extension I’m building to help people stop opening distracting websites on autopilot.
The core idea is simple:
Don’t just block distractions. Add intentional friction before access.
A lot of blockers are binary.
You either block the site completely, or you disable the blocker when you get annoyed.
I wanted something slightly different.
A gate.
A pause.
A small moment where the user has to choose consciously instead of falling into autopilot.
What’s new in v1.2.0
Graduated challenges
The biggest update is graduated challenge difficulty.
Users can now choose between:
- Easy — a short sequence
- Moderate — a sentence prompt
- Hard — a five-paragraph challenge
This matters because one mistake I noticed is that too much friction too early can backfire.
If the product feels like punishment, users will uninstall it.
So the goal with graduated challenges is to let users build discipline without burning out.
Send feedback
I also added a direct feedback button inside the popup and settings page.
This is small, but important.
Before this, users had no obvious way to tell me:
- what confused them
- what felt annoying
- why they uninstalled
- what feature they expected
- whether the product actually helped them
That’s a problem.
A product without feedback is mostly guessing.
Cleaner first-run experience
I redesigned the welcome page so new users can understand the extension faster and get to the first important action:
Setting up their blocklist.
The first-run experience matters a lot because the real activation moment is not “user installed the extension.”
The real activation moment is:
User adds a distracting site, hits the block page, and understands the value.
That’s the moment I need to optimize for.
Funnel analytics
I also added analytics to understand the funnel.
Not because I want vanity metrics.
Because right now I need to know where the product breaks.
For example:
- Do users install but never open settings?
- Do they open settings but never add a site?
- Do they add a site but never trigger the block page?
- Do they complete the challenge?
- Do they come back?
Without this, I’m just building in the dark.
What I’m learning
The technical part of a Chrome extension is only one piece.
The harder part is the product loop.
Someone has to:
- Discover it
- Trust it
- Install it
- Understand it
- Set it up
- Use it at the right moment
- Feel the benefit
- Come back again
That is the real challenge.
v1.2.0 is not about adding random features.
It’s about making the product easier to understand, easier to start, and easier to improve based on real behavior.
Chrome Web Store:
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/resistgate-website-blocke/elpiihpfmgipodcddhhpiijmppkmlpnc
I’m open to feedback, especially from anyone who has built Chrome extensions, productivity tools, or onboarding flows.