Comparison

Roots vs Screen Time Control for Focus

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Roots

This app helps you regain control of your phone usage by setting app limits, scheduling downtime, and participating in detox challenges. It provides insights into your screen time habits and offers features like 'Monk Mode' for focused periods. Aimed at improving well-being and reducing phone addiction.

Highlights
  • App and website blocking
  • Scheduled downtime
  • Phone detox challenges
  • Monk Mode for strict blocking
  • Digital dopamine monitoring
  • Daily goals and progress tracking
  • Personal balance score
Features
Read full description

Roots is the #1 screen time app. Set boundaries with your phone, and unlock more time.  Screen time has a major impact on our mental and physical wellbeing. We're here to help — with better app limits, digital downtime, daily goals, balance score, and more. Join thousands of people using Roots to build a better relationship with their phone. WHAT TO EXPECT - Better screen time management - Unlock 2 hours per day - Stop scrolling mindlessly - Cure your phone addiction - Detox from phone dopamine - Find better balance - Be more present - Stay focused BLOCK NOW - Start blocking apps at any time with one tap BETTER APP LIMITS - Block any app or website based on time limits or number of opens SCHEDULE DOWNTIME - Be intentional with "mindful mornings", "evening wind down", and more PHONE DETOX CHALLENGES - Personalized challenges to compete with yourself and friends - Challenges with neuroscientist and Roots Chief Science Officer, Tj Power BLOCK WITH "MONK MODE" - App blocking that doesn't let you unblock until tomorrow MONITOR DIGITAL DOPAMINE - Not all screen time is equal, so we help you understand the impact of each app DAILY GOALS - Set goals for screen time and phone pickups, and track your daily progress PERSONAL BALANCE SCORE - Daily score helps keep you accountable with beautiful illustrations and visuals SCREEN TIME TRENDS - View the progress and trends of your screen time journey BUILD A STREAK - Build a streak as you stay under limits, earn cheat days and custom app icons BLOCK ADULT WEBSITES - Keep yourself off adult websites once and for all DON’T JUST TAKE IT FROM US "We’re all guilty of being obsessed with our phones. Roots helps you break free." -- Tj Power, Neuroscientist and Author “It's beautiful, and it works” -- Jameston78 “This app does what it says” -- Casper-F “Worth every penny” -- Thehikingfool PRIVACY GUARANTEED We use Apple’s Screen Time API so all of your phone usage data stays on your phone. TERMS & CONDITIONS - Auto-Renewing Subscription Options: Roots Plus (Monthly or Annual) - Terms: https://www.getroots.app/terms - Privacy Policy: https://www.getroots.app/privacy-policy

About

Screen Time Control for Focus

Features
Read full description

You finally get a moment to yourself. ScrollDam helps keep it yours, blocking the apps that turn a little scrolling into an evening you never meant to spend on your phone. A few pages. An early night. A little time to feel like yourself again. You've done enough today. Let ScrollDam hold the line. Because you know how it starts. You pick up your phone to check one message. Forty minutes disappear, and you surface without a memory of what you saw. That's not weakness - it's apps built, on purpose, to keep you from letting go. You've tried Screen Time settings, maybe another blocker. Still, here you are - tired, but not giving up. ScrollDam won't talk down to you about willpower or pile on to whatever you're already feeling. You've carried enough of that on your own. What it will do is tell you the truth, gently - your real screen time, not the softer number you'd guess. Then hand you something stronger than willpower: a system that holds the line on the nights you're too tired to fight. FIND OUT WHERE YOU REALLY STAND Before anything else, ScrollDam asks you to guess your daily screen time, then shows you the real number next to it. That gap can be the moment it clicks: you can't change a habit you haven't had a chance to see clearly. TELL US WHAT YOU'RE FIGHTING FOR Better focus. Better sleep. Being present with the people in front of you. A calmer mind. Whatever pulled you here, ScrollDam builds your plan around that one thing. BLOCK YOUR WAY Start a block right now, set it to run on a schedule, or give yourself a daily time budget. Name your sessions whatever means something to you: "Sunday Reset," "Work Hours," "No Phone Before Bed." A gentle reminder before a scheduled block starts gives you a moment to wrap up. Small details, but it's yours. CHOOSE HOW HARD IT SHOULD BE TO QUIT Some days, a five-second breath before you open apps is enough to stop you. Other days it isn't. Set the resistance yourself: a short pause, a phrase you have to type to prove you mean it, or a completely locked session - no early exit, no bargaining with yourself at 1am. A REAL PAUSE, NOT A LOOPHOLE Something urgent comes up mid-block - it happens. When your chosen mode allows it, take a short pause instead of ending the session. Blocking resumes automatically when your pause is over. SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE Day, week, and month views of your screen time, your pickups, and exactly which apps are quietly eating your hours. No shame attached. Just the truth. WHO THIS IS REALLY FOR The person who sits down to work and the phone gets there first. The parent who realizes the walk to school, the bedtime story, almost slipped by unnoticed. The one whose mornings used to mean something quieter - a book, a prayer, silence - before a feed took that time. Anyone who misses sitting with a task or a conversation without a phone demanding attention. You didn't need another app to remind you that you have a problem with your phone. You needed one built to actually hold the dam. PRIVACY, HONESTLY We monitor and block the apps you choose - and that's the extent of it. We don't see what you're doing on your phone. Nothing about your activity ever leaves your device. Feel like yourself again. Your mornings, your evenings, every quiet hour in between - they never stopped being yours. ScrollDam just helps you keep them. Subscription Info: Prices depend on your country and are billed to your Apple ID once you confirm the purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before your current period ends. You can manage or cancel it anytime from your iTunes account settings. EULA: https://scrolldam.store/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://scrolldam.store/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Roots4 screens
Screen Time Control for Focus4 screens

Verdict

The call

Roots and Screen Time Control for Focus are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Roots sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Screen Time Control for Focus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Roots versus Screen Time Control for Focus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRootsScreen Time Control for Focus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3.1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews75.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings3.1K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size355 MB128 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMWMFocus Control Studio

Bugs and requests

Roots

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Apps getting blocked when they shouldn't be
  • Screen time data not syncing correctly
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • Subscription issues and inability to cancel
  • Trouble with the initial setup and syncing

Requested features

5 requests
  • Home screen and lock screen widgets
  • Customizable challenges and ability to share with friends
  • More options for the 'Do Not Disturb' mode
  • Improved analytics and progress tracking
  • Ability to easily adjust app limits without resetting

Screen Time Control for Focus

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

18 purchases

Roots

Subscriptions18
  • Roots Plus - Monthly Plan$6.991 Month
  • Premium$7.997 Days
  • Roots Plus - Weekly Plan3 Days trial$7.997 Days
Show 15 more
  • Roots - Monthly Plan$9.991 Month
  • Roots Plus - Monthly Plan$9.991 Month
  • Roots - Monthly Plan$19.991 Month
  • Premium Pass7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Roots Plus - Annual Plan$29.991 Year
  • Premium$39.991 Year
  • Roots Plus - Annual Plan7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Premium Pass$59.991 Year
  • Roots Plus - Annual Plan7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Premium1 Month trial$69.991 Year
  • Roots Plus - Annual Plan$79.991 Year
  • Premium Pass1 Year trial$99.991 Year
  • Premium3 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Premium Pass1 Month trial$99.991 Year
  • Premium Pass7 Days trial$99.991 Year
2 purchases

Screen Time Control for Focus

Subscriptions2
  • ScrollDam - Premium Annual7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • ScrollDam - Pro Annual1 Month trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Roots free?
Roots is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Screen Time Control for Focus free?
Screen Time Control for Focus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Roots or Screen Time Control for Focus have ads?
Neither Roots nor Screen Time Control for Focus shows ads.

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