Letters took days to arrive. Photos spent days at the developer. The next episode waited a week. Until recently, everything came with a delay before you could open it.
Now, everything can be opened the moment it arrives. That is simply convenient. But as opening got faster, what arrives outgrew what we can process. One thing after another — open, respond, and the next one is already there. Individual willpower can no longer stop it.
Brake. puts a time lock on one point in that flow. A message that no one — not even the sender — can open until a chosen moment. That is the only feature.
Things that can be opened immediately get opened in passing. Something that cannot be opened yet must be waited for. The same content arrives differently.
The wait also selects the recipient. Those in a hurry leave. Only those who can wait will open it. Content that does not need to reach everyone can reach only those willing to wait.
Things that can be opened linger at the back of your mind — unread, unopened, meant to check later. A Brake. message simply cannot be opened until its time, so there is nothing to feel anxious about.
While the key is being computed, you do not need to sit in front of the screen. Make tea, step away — the calculation continues.
Tools for going faster already exist. Brake. is a tool for the opposite direction: guaranteed not to open before a chosen time, by cryptography. The technical details are on the How it works page.