Cat Gatekeeper fights doomscrolling with an orange cat

The Japanese developer @konekone2026 has released one of the most unusual plug-ins for Google Chrome. The plug-in, called Cat Gatekeeper, is designed to help users avoid spending too much time on social networks. If a time set by the user is exceeded, a cat appears on the screen and makes itself comfortable, almost filling the entire screen.

After a period of time, which can also be set in advance, the cat disappears again and frees up the screen. In this way, the developer aims to digitally simulate one of the most common experiences of cat owners, as cats have a habit of making themselves comfortable on the keyboard whenever work is in progress. Cat Gatekeeper was developed specifically for social networks and currently only supports YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and X. The plug-in only tracks time when a tab with one of these social networks is open, with the timer resetting when the active app is switched.

According to the developer's description, Cat Gatekeeper is the "world's cutest forced break app". According to the information in the Chrome Web Store, the plug-in does not collect any user data, so privacy should not be compromised. Cat Gatekeeper can now be downloaded free of charge from the Google Chrome Web Store and is currently only compatible with Google Chrome, both on Windows PCs and Macs such as the MacBook Neo ($589 on Amazon). The video in the X-Post embedded below shows Cat Gatekeeper in action.