Recently bought a 2 pack of these devices and really love it! This device and app accomplish what ScreenTime was always meant to in a brilliant way. I really look forward to its continued development and hope that Apple patches some of the longstanding bugs in ScreenTime to make it even better. Some suggestions: -5 seconds is way too long a time necessary to brick the phone when just pressing the button -would be nice to have a long press option on the app icon to lock down -if you’re thinking about subscription models to keep this app sustainable, $20-$30/year would be a very nice price point (e.g., my wife and I have been subscribed to AnyList for years and it’s been well worth it)
Updated review: restarted phone while bricked and brick button doesn’t work now. App crashes. Had to use an emergency unbrick to get out of brick mode.
Developer Response
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and suggestions! Notes like this go a long way in helping us make Brick better. I just wanted to point one thing out specifically - you currently can block websites on Safari - if you're having trouble doing so, please reach out to hello@getbrick.app so we can work with you to get it figured out.My mom bought this for me and my roommates and this thing is a total game changer. I sleep in a loft bed and before Brick I would charge my phone on my desk below at night so I wouldn’t stay up on it before sleeping. Now I can lock out everything but my essential communication apps so if there’s an emergency, or I need to send a quick text in the morning, I can do so without getting distracted.
I’m excited to try a different mode out for class time and see how it goes! I put our brick next to the door of our room where we have our white board with to do lists and important reminders and it’s perfect!
For college guys, this is the perfect tool to stay focused and get meaningful sleep. Thanks boys for making an amazing product, truly an inspiration.
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. This concept is exactly what I need. The problem is that, due to some combination of a glitchy app and glitchier app picker (from apple) it is frustrating if not impossible to set up. Reading other reviews (which I admittedly should have done before buying this product) reveals that as of a recent ios update, these problems have gotten even worse.
I really empathize with these guys because they have an amazing concept and some of the reason the app is not working is not in their control. However, they marketed this product to me knowing that these problems exist and did not disclose them. That is a huge problem for me and the only reason I am writing this review. It would appear that the developers are very responsive to reviews here. While admirable, knowing that they are “in constant contact with Apple” is not really helping me as I flounder in setting up the app. Unfortunately, I jumped in with both feet and bought a 3 pack and feel like a sucker.
Developer Response
I'm sorry about such a frustrating experience! Could you reach out to tj@getbrick.app so we can work with you to get this figured out? We just released an update that should improve the app selection experience quite a bit, so hopefully it should help quite a bit. If not, there's a few things we can try out with you to hopefully get this fixed.I’m in no way affiliated with Brick (apart from owning one, lol). I’ve tried other screen time reducing methods in the past. From paid apps to buying a Light Phone II. It didn’t fit into my lifestyle and it was a PITA to swap my SIM card when I wanted to swap phones.
Enter Brick. I love this thing! I saw an ad on IG (lol) and thought $50 was steep. Then reminded myself I spent $350 for a phone I don’t even use. I love that I can set up modes that block everything except a few apps or allow everything except a few apps.
My most common mode is one I set up to block my social media apps. I’ll turn it on when I find myself scrolling mindlessly, especially in the morning. Guess what? I’ll start cleaning! I’ll start organizing something! I’ll clear out my closet! I’ll pick up a book! It really works.
I’m going on a trip to see my family and plan on blocking my social media apps when I leave home so I can be present. I can always post when I get back 😉
My main feature request would be to have timed modes. For instance, an 8 hour working mode where I can’t get on social media.
Anyways, I love this thing. The time you get back is well worth the money. Great job!
So, if there has been a way to try out this app first, I never would have spent $50 on it, which I have to imagine why there is no demo. I have two gripes with it, the first is that you are limited in the number of apps you can leave unblocked to 50. That sounds like a lot, but if you are trying to set up your phone so that all apps that aren’t time wasters and might be needed, you can’t do it. I wanted to make a very customized allow list so that I could brick my phone when I was out, have access to anything I might need, except for the apps that it’s easy to endlessly scroll on. An easy fix for this would be to allow you to chose 50 apps to block instead of having to choose 50 to allow.
While the first issue is annoying, it’s the second that makes it ultimately a failure, and that is there are a good number of apps that this simply won’t block at all. I get that iOS is probably what’s responsible for the ones that can’t be blocked, but I paid $50 to find that out. It feels like the developers should have mentioned that, and therefore I feel pretty scammed.
Save your money.
Developer Response
Thanks for reaching out, and I apologize for your frustrations - both of your issues should actually be fixable!
First, you can switch to choosing the apps that are blocked (rather than choosing the apps that are allowed) by tapping the "Allowing Chosen Apps" button.
Second, if there are certain apps that aren't being blocked, could you check out our troubleshooting guide to figure out why? If that doesn't help, please reach out to tj@getbrick.app so we can work with you directly to get this fixed!I needed this for the same reasons the founders did. I shocked myself by tallying how much time I spend doing trivial things on my phone during the week (it’s terrifying when I did the math) so to reclaim my focus, attention, my ability to be present and because of a strong desire NOT to be a mindless zombie, I tried the brick tool. It’s amazing. I can keep certain apps that are not time wasters (banking, maps, weather, etc) and eliminate the time wasters.
What’s equally spectacular and pathetic is how often you reach for your phone for a distraction… evidenced by the angst you feel when the app doesn’t allow it. So telling about the depth of digital addiction and so necessary to break away.
Thank you awesome developers. 100% worth my money. Now if you could block safari without a bunch of hoops and automations that’s be great but I’m still hugely fond of this and tell everyone I know that they too need a brick.
Developer Response
Thanks so much for sharing! We created Brick because the problem was so personal for us, so it means the world when it's meaningful to others as well.
I just wanted to offer a note about Safari - you can block it normally (without the automation) if you're using the "blocking chosen apps" option. Additionally, you can now block specific websites!I was highly highly addicted to social media when I got Brick as a birthday present. I can confidently say that this is the ONLY thing that has helped me use my phone less. Every other method requires boundaries that are easily worked around, but not with this. I keep my brick in my car, so that if I truly want to use the blocked apps, I need to go outside and out of my way to unbrick my phone. It works like a charm, and I’m now much much better with how I use my technology. Even when my phone is not bricked, I have a much easier time not using the most problematic apps for hours. My brain has learned that my previous habit of doom scrolling is now not so reachable or satisfying, and thus the apps are much less of a toxic crutch for me. Brick has “broken the spell” in a way. I love this company! You’ve given me my most valuable resource back— my time.
This is a phenomenal concept, and when it works, it’s excellent. However - your app is borderline unusable for the newest iOS update. The app is consistently getting confused when toggling from Allowed apps to Blocked apps, (I believe this is new functionality, my brother has an earlier version and it only allowed him to block). Many times my app will revert to an earlier “version” of my block/allow settings, or the exact opposite of what I asked for. For example - many times my “No Insta For You” setting will allow me ONLY access to Instagram, rather than the opposite. The only thing that has worked thus far is deleting the setting, creating a new one (has to be a different name, if it’s the same name it will revert back to previous settings) and getting blocking/allowing everything on the first go around. If you try and adjust anything, consider yourself hosed.
For anyone who’s making a jira ticket about this: THIS IS HIGH PRIORITY. I really, really want this app to work, because when it does I truly love it. I pinky promise I will change this to 5 stars when you fix this issue, but you clearly have a memory/pointer/full-on-class-construction issue that needs to be fixed before I can recommend this to anyone.
Developer Response
Thanks for bringing this to our attention in such detail. It does seem as though something in the latest iOS update may have affected our app negatively, so we're looking into this to figure out as soon as we can. Could you please reach out to tj@getbrick.app so we can address this together to make sure we're aware of all the necessary fixes?I have to say, this Brick really works. As someone who has tried Freedom and all sorts of other apps (and constantly ignores time limits on Instagram), there’s something about physically bricking your phone that is so satisfying and effective. I brick it for 12 hours per day and it lets me get my work done and live my life without distractions while still being able to make calls, use maps, and text my family. You can create different profiles for different conditions. I love this thing and highly recommend it. I feel like I have presence and control over my life again. 😌
In the past, I couldn’t even think about sitting down and reading, but now with no distractions, I can finally focus. My workouts in the gym have been more efficient and I’ve grown to slowly lean away from even having the urge to pick up my phone. I’ve started to find entertainment in the ordinary things that life brings—the sound of the birds, the warmth of the sun, etc.
I’m excited to see how big of a change this app will bring to my life as I use it more and more.
I would highly recommend Brick to anyone wanting to get a grip on their screen time and do the most with their 24 hours
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