BB - Screen Time & App Blocker

For some reason, this app has constant background activity while other similar apps do not.

I almost never write reviews but this app is fantastic. There are plenty of apps that offer similar services, but this one offers the most for free, and the premium option is far more accessible as well as it’s a one-time purchase of a very reasonable $5. It also offer more privacy since you don’t make an account, everything is just stored locally on your device. The schemas are pretty straightforward to set up, and are definitely effective (especially with strict mode enabled). It’s also great that it works on iPads as well, exactly the same as on your phone, which I found was not the case with comparable (much more expensive!) apps. I have just a couple of suggestions: 1. The ability to pause schemas for a set amount of time, e.g. “Pause for 30 minutes” or “Pause for 2 days.” Things like that. Or also pause until certain times like “Pause until 11:00” etc. 2. I don’t know how possible this is in terms of maintaining privacy, but it would be useful to have an in-app screen time tracking feature, where you could see how much time you spent in total, but also see apps marked as productive vs unproductive (either automatically marked by BB or manually selected by the user) to see how much productive vs unproductive screen time you had for that day/week, etc. I know it’s just one person building this app on the side, so I completely understand if these recommendations aren’t possible for such a small operation, or if they’d require functions the app simply can’t access due to iOS limitations, but they are just some ideas I had. Overall, this app is amazing, especially considering its price (or lack thereof), and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to cut back on their screen usage. :)

Unfortunately doesn’t look like you can block specific apps. Only app categories, if you try to do individual apps it won’t block them unless the whole app category is selected.

I’ve tried all the other apps (Opal, OffScreen, ScreenZen, Brick). All the other ones either offer scammy subscriptions, or cannot block based on schedule, or UX wise just are not there. This app ticks all the boxes. Easily worth the purchase of pro. I’m usually very hesitant about spending the money but not on an app like this. And if you paid the subscription free for other apps, you’re going to pay that amount in a month or two anyway. Initially I was turned off by the app icon but they provide a much better icon when you sign up for premium. They also let you customize the Lock Screen which is a very nice touch. I would prefer the premium icon being an option there. They don’t have the feature in Opal where you can just block everything by default and specify what you DON’T want blocked. But honestly, you don’t really need it. Block all the categories, and then unselect the apps you don’t need. Same thing. I would definitely suggest changing that default app icon. It just doesn’t give a good first impression for how good the app is. The app “Brick” gives a way to block Safari as well via shortcut automation, along with detailed instructions in the app as to how to do this. This would be a nice future addition. The iOS app picker is buggy no matter which app you use. Don’t blame the app dev for that. But once you set things up how you want them, you mostly don’t have to deal with it. Great great app. Best in its class. Extremely cheap. Thank you. Don’t add subscription model please.

This is exactly the app I needed. I can get sucked into the Social Media abyss from time to time. This app keeps me from doing so. Thank You Guys!

I’ve always struggled with overusing my phone. I’ll often spend 6-10 hours everyday endlessly scrolling my life away until my eyes are strained and my day is wasted. This app is honestly a lifesaver. I used to use the app blocker built into IOS, but it was far too easy to bypass. Burnout Buddy has saved me hours, even days of my life in the few months I’ve used it. I’m able to get more done, have less anxiety, and feel better about my habits. Amazing app.

Never actually blocks the apps I tell it too.

Amazing

This app is easy to understand and customizable in every way that I could want without being too complicated! It’s been great for helping me limit app and screen time.

I struggled to find a distraction blocker solution for iOS that could also block browser access, but this app does exactly that. My mindless scrolling hours have almost gone away entirely since configuring the app. I also like that it’s escape hatch is just the right amount of cumbersome to activate.