TollieScreen time apps for iPhone: which ones actually block
"Screen time app" covers three different things: apps that measure, apps that nudge, and apps that close the door. Knowing which one you need saves a subscription.
Three kinds of screen time app
1. Trackers: they measure
Apple's Screen Time already does this for free: a weekly report, per-app minutes, pickups. Third-party trackers add charts and a widget. None of them changes anything by itself. If the Sunday report has not changed your behaviour by now, a prettier report won't.
2. Nudgers: they slow you down
one sec puts a breathing pause before Instagram opens. ScreenZen makes you wait and limits how many times you can open an app a day. These work on reflex opens, the ones you did not decide to make. They do little against the open you decided on at 11:40pm.
3. Blockers: they close the door
Opal, Freedom, AppBlock, Brick and Tollie shield apps on a schedule or after a budget. The difference between them is the key. If it is a passcode or a button, the door is closed for a child, not for you. If it is a device (Brick) or a place (Tollie), the door is closed for everyone, including the you that wants in.
Tollie closes the apps you pick. The key is a spot in your home.One booth free forever · No account · iPhone
Get TollieWhich one you need
| If this is you | You need | Try |
|---|---|---|
| "I don't know where the hours go" | A tracker | Apple Screen Time, free |
| "I open Instagram without deciding to" | A nudger | one sec, ScreenZen |
| "I set limits and ignore them" | A blocker with a key off the phone | Tollie, Brick |
| "I need it on my laptop too" | A cross-device blocker | Freedom |
| "It's for my child" | Parental controls | Apple Screen Time with Family Sharing |
How a blocker with a real key works
Tollie closes the apps you pick on a schedule (bedtime 23:00 to 07:00, the workday) or after a daily budget of free minutes. To open one for ten minutes you walk to a spot in another room that you scanned during setup, or walk 100 to 2,000 real steps. There is no passcode and no "Ignore Limit". Making a rule easier waits 24 hours; making it harder is instant.
Phone, Messages, Maps, Camera, Wallet, Health and Settings can never be blocked. For a real emergency, Break Glass opens everything for 30 minutes, once a week, and tells a witness you named.
One booth is free forever. Every booth is one payment of €59.99 at launch, no renewal. Nothing leaves your phone: no account, no server, no analytics.
Stop measuring. Close the door. Set one booth tonight on the free tier and see Monday's report change.
Questions
Can I use Apple's Screen Time and a blocker together?
Yes. Keep Screen Time for the weekly report and let the blocker do the blocking. Tollie is built on the same framework, so the shields are Apple's own.
Do I need an account?
Not for Tollie. Rules and keys sync through your own iCloud. Opal, Freedom and most others need an account.
Which screen time app has no subscription?
ScreenZen is free with tips. Freedom has a $199 lifetime. Tollie Forever is €59.99 once at launch, and one booth is free forever.
Tollie is made by the people who wrote this page. Other product names belong to their owners and are used to describe them. Prices were read from the US App Store on 21 October 2026 and may have changed.