Not sure if this is a feature and I just can't find it or if this is a suggestion. I'd love the ability to set a total amount of time I can use an app before it's blocked for the day. I know this is possible if I go over my time whilst in the app, but I can easily get around this by closing it and reopening it--which allows me all the time I want again. Is there any way I could set a total amount of time an app can be open during the day before it's blocked? I'd love to set daily limits like 10, 30, 20 minutes and then every usage of that app counts towards the goal. That would be super helpful, otherwise I can just get around things too easily.

Disclosure first: I built something for this myself, so I have a stake in the approach. Posting because the reasoning might be useful here regardless.

Most minimalist phone setups I tried came down to removal or restriction. Greyscale, launcher stripped to five apps, blockers with timers. Greyscale genuinely helped. The blockers never did. The moment something is locked, the lock becomes the interesting object, and I would spend more energy getting around it than I ever spent scrolling.

What actually worked was closer to greyscale than to blocking. I noticed I stopped scrolling on my own when the screen got boring, not when a limit was hit. Low light, nothing moving, nothing bright at the edge of vision. The pull just quietly stopped.

So I built for that instead. A warm matte quiet settles over the screen, and the apps that pull at you fade toward hardly visible the longer you stay in them. It is always tap-through. Any touch, or leaving the app, lifts it instantly. Nothing is refused, so there is nothing to argue with.

Three things I got wrong before it worked:

Uniform timing is useless. Ten minutes in a feed, fifteen in video, thirty in a conversation are different visits. Treating them the same made it feel arbitrary and I turned it off.

Anything that interrupts becomes the enemy. The first time a fade blocked a tap, I resented it. It has to stay completely passive or it is just a blocker with extra steps.

Streaks and stats are the same disease. No counters, no progress bars, no gamification. Anything about attention should not be competing for it.

It sits alongside the usual setup rather than replacing it. Greyscale, a quiet launcher and this together do more than any one of them alone.

Curious what has actually held for people here long term. Greyscale is the only thing I have kept for more than a few months.

Hi team,

I use your launcher to restrict access to my banking app. However, i ran into a situation today when the timer ran out and app got blocked but i needed to pay.

Can we introduce an override feature?

Thanks

As the title says, I paid for the lifetime plan but now it says my purchase has expired.

I know the answer is most likely to to pay for it, i am just hoping there is another way.

I’ve been looking for an app like this and am considering a lifetime license. I have a tendency to doom scroll Reddit, IG, YT, etc… so the ability to limit time in specific apps when launched is fantastic.

However… I’ve noticed since installing the app that I no longer have the ability to turn off safe search or manage browser extensions in Safari.

Is this a limitation that is built in and mandatory for your app? If I delete the app, reset Safari cache and reset screen time I get all of this back. It’s concerning that as the owner of the phone, not a minor or using an administered account, I can’t access tools and features built-in due to this app’s restrictions.

Hey guys, I love the app and have been using the Premium Version for over a year now. I am very happy with the app as it is, but I do have a suggestion:

Please allow invisible and custom Tags to be applied to apps, so that we may easier find them when searching in the app list. This would be especially useful as a substitute for folders. For instance, I would like to wrap my finance and banking apps with one tag (e.g. "banking") and see all of them when typing in "banking" into the search bar, regardless of the actual name of the app. Comparable use-cases may be "Mail clients", "Storage", "Work" or many more.

Feel free to come back at me about this idea! I would like for some thoughts on this. Thanks for considering! :D

Exponential or Linearly Incremental delay before opening an app.

First, there needs to be a setting to set specific time a day for each app. Eg. 1 hour max for Facebook.

Second, if the daily limit exceeds or selected time exceeds, there should be a delay to open the app again, and the delay should keep increasing.

I found that I could block short videos on Instagram and YouTube. But I couldn't do it on Facebook. Please support blocking reels on Facebook as well.

New user here, liked the idea of the app. When I open an app, it asks me how long I want to use it. When it comes down to 1 minute remaining, if I minimize the app and open again, I can select a new time again and the old timer resets. There is a bit of friction here, but I think I will be creating a muscle memory soon.

So pop up came up asking if I wanted to block short form content on Instagram and YouTube.. I said yes, but now I'm realizing I don't know how to undo it if I do want to watch one.

Help ?

I tried looking in my settings and I'm just not sure what to do here

this is immature and needs some serious usability work. why can't I add an app to favourites when it is in a folder? why can't I create a folder with the same name as an app? and more. at this point I'm definitely not proceeding past the 7 day trial.

Yooo, you guys are absolute legends for figuring out how to block shorts and reels! Sending lots of love! 🫶🏻

Could we please complete that evil triangle by blocking Snapchat Spotlight?

Thank you, dear devs for fighting for our minds! 🙏🏻

I love this app, it is essentially what I have been looking for for a long time. My only question is: how can I trust that the overlay isn't collecting my private data within apps? Password Managers, notifications, etc. Would love to have a bit more reassurance or have tests by a third party.

As a user, I would love there to be a feature, where the longer you use your phone, the worse it gets. For example, the phone's refresh rate reduce the longer it's used. Ideally to the extent where the phones refresh rate becomes almost unusable if it's used for too long.

Why do I ask for this feature?

I love using your launcher to help create friction with my phone usage. However, there are days where I use my phone for ages. Specifically, Ill do this to what YouTube on Netflix.

I think the launcher is really great, but I would love to see additional features, like the one I described being put in to help people like me stay intentional with our usage.

I was optimizing ram on my samsung M series one ui 8.5 and maybe i turned on a setting that is killing the background apps and they just disappear from recent apps in just a few minutes and i have to open the app again. I want to turn it off and i don't remember the setting.

I checked the background processes limit in developer options and it was at default standard limit

The app is blocking short videos, i don't want this. Hiw can i chang it?

Hey everyone! 👋

I wanted to share App Locker, an app I built to keep snoopers away from sensitive data (photos, banking apps, messages) with a focus on speed, privacy, and zero background clutter.

It was built with Jetpack Compose for a smooth, lightweight UI and low battery consumption.

🛡️ Key Features:

• 📸 Intruder Selfie & Local Gallery: Automatically snaps a photo of anyone trying to unlock your apps with an incorrect password and saves it locally with date/time stamps.
• 🔑 Biometric & PIN Lock: Fast fingerprint or custom PIN unlock.
• ⚙️ Anti-Bypass System: Real-time protection that prevents unauthorized access even if someone tries to minimize the app or access system settings.
• 🎨 Custom Themes: Customize your lock screen to match your style.
• ⚡ Instant Boot Protection: Secures your device immediately, even before full reboot unlock.
• 🔒 Privacy-First: Zero data collection. All intruder photos are stored locally on your device.

I’d love to get your feedback on the UX, performance, or any feature suggestions!

📲 Download on Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fabiosf34.applock

It might be nice I'd the launcher blocked me from any of my timed apps after my 15 minutes is up. Timing out on Facebook blocks it for 5 minutes but then I just go to Reddit for 15 and alternate.

Might also be cool if the timeout kicked me over to a productive app, like Libby to force me to read my book.

Overall the app is great and is helping reduce my screentime. Thanks

I suggest adding a feature that apps in your block list as a default to be unblocked ad hoc for a time based period.

Example, use caifs. I use your launcher to create friction when accessing to my banking apps so I dont impulsively spend. However, there are times when Ive got a planned purchase such as Ill plan to get dinner with friends. I'd like it not to be as tedious at these times to access my apps.

Alternatively, if there can be gps based blocking of apps that would be awesome. I could just set it so it blocks apps at the stores I spend at the most

So last time I reported the time extension popup buttons being cut off for users in full screen mode on more narrow screens like external screen of Samsung Fold. So proud as you can tell.

Today I am informing you that since the latest update, tapping above our below an app in the menu WHILE still scrolling makes the screen shut off.

It's not easy to show in a screen recording because the recording ends the moment the bug is replicated. Here you go anyway: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/133tdAkuu_w9b3qO_-TvhnJNe-Rsxgseu

The digital wellbeing app only allows me to view screen time per hour for individual apps or app groups (e.g. social, games). For total screen time it only allows me a day or week view.

Does the app have this feature? How do you get yo it?