Spoiler Shield and other “spoiler-free” apps are increasing in popularity during the Olympics.

With the 2014 Winter Olympics well underway, viewers are constantly finding out results prematurely. The New York Times recently published an article describing the benefits of the “spoiler-free” app, Spoiler Shield. Spoiler Shield, released in 2013, protects user’s social media feed’s from potential spoilers for sports teams and TV shows.

Here’s a demonstration video about the app:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqaeLg-Zy0I]

Spoiler Shield is available free for both the iPhone and Android devices. To help with a “spoiler-free” Olympics, first download the app and go into the app’s settings, switch on a catch-all Winter Olympics “shield” for the duration of the games, and then log into your Facebook and Twitter feeds.

The app will then try to protect you from seeing tweets and Facebook posts that have anything to do with the winter games, covering up the offending items. Give a quick double-tap to any “shielded” content, and it reveals itself. The app also offers filters to protect you from seeing content about your favorite TV shows, as well as results related to a variety of other sports.

However, while this app serves a good purpose, users have to keep in mind that it is meant to be used as a substitute for their existing Facebook and Twitter apps.

For more information about Spoiler Shield, click here.

Another app that The New York Times mentioned is Bloko. Bloko is another free app that blocks spoilers, however it is only available for iPhone users. Bloko and Spoiler Shield are essentially the same idea, Bloko just uses the same graphical interface of your original mobile versions of your social media outlets.

Other outlets are finding ways to attempt to not “spoil” the Olympics as well. For example, on my elevator ride to work, the TV monitor that gives constant news updates does a countdown to the Olympic medal count, so viewers will know when to look away.

Hopefully with these new spoiler-free ideas, more people can enjoy the Olympics on their own time.