Phoneless Garden vs Screen Time Control
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Phoneless Garden
This app helps you achieve your daily screen time goals through mindful pauses, not forceful blocking. It visualizes your progress with a growing plant and offers insights into your phone usage patterns. Designed with privacy as a priority, your data stays on your device.
- Set daily screen time goals
- Grow a plant to visualize progress
- Track mood and phone use correlation
- Journal daily reflections
- Receive weekly usage insights
- Customizable pauses and notifications
- Dark mode support
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Twenty minutes in, you find out it has been twenty minutes. Phoneless Garden does not block anything. It comes back when your time is up, with the day's total and one question. Close the app, or keep going. Both are real answers. HOW IT WORKS • Pick the apps you want to be more mindful with. Social, video, news, whatever pulls at you. • Every time you open one, the pause comes first. It shows your time on these apps today, and asks nothing else. Close, or continue. • Continue and you choose how long. When that time is up, the pause comes back, and this time it asks what you want from the next few minutes. WHY NO BLOCKING Blockers punish you, and punishment is easy to switch off. Phoneless Garden takes the opposite approach. It puts one moment of noticing between the reach and the scroll, and leaves the decision with you. Nothing to unlock, no passes to spend, no lockout to wait out. Not all screen time is wasted time. A long call with a friend is not the same as twenty minutes you cannot account for. This app does not pretend to know the difference. It just makes sure you are the one deciding. WHAT YOU GET • A pause with one question, every time you open the apps you choose • Your own words on the pause: write what you would rather do, and the pause shows it every other time • Gentler questions on days you log your mood as Low or Hard • A pause length you can set for each app, from five to ninety seconds (Premium) • A daily screen time goal that flexes. The app asks what kind of day it is, so work days and weekends can differ • A plant that reflects your day. Under your goal it grows, over your goal it rests. It never wilts • Mood check-ins, so you can see how screen time and mood move together • A few seconds of journaling when you want it • Insights into how often you open these apps, when your pauses happen and the timers you pick • Your month as a garden (Premium) • Dark mode PRIVACY Your pauses, moods and notes stay on your phone. No accounts, no email, no tracking. Purchases go through Apple and RevenueCat. Terms of Use: https://www.phonelessgarden.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.phonelessgarden.com/privacy
Screen Time Control
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Take back your screen time with ScreenPup, a playful focus blocker that helps you spend less time inside the apps you open by accident. Start focus sessions, block distracting apps, set daily limits, schedule screen-free windows, and track your progress with real usage reports. ScreenPup is built for people who want fewer compulsive pickups, less doomscrolling, better sleep, and more time back in their day. What You Get - Focus sessions that block distracting apps while you work, study, or reset - App Lock to limit how often certain apps can be opened each day - Daily time limits for the apps that drain the most attention - Smart schedules for mornings, deep work, wind-down, and bedtime - Limited unlocks and breaks so you can stay flexible without losing control - Real screen time reports with weekly and monthly trends - Focus score, streaks, pickups, and top app insights - Personalized onboarding based on your habits and goals - Reminders and progress signals to help you stay consistent Private & Secure ScreenPup uses your device's Screen Time and usage permissions to power blocking, schedules, and reports. Your focus controls are designed to run on your phone, and ScreenPup does not need access to the specific content you view inside apps. *Note: All features described above require a subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.screenpup.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.screenpup.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Phoneless Garden at none against Screen Time Control's shown. Screen Time Control's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Phoneless Garden sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Screen Time Control sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Phoneless Garden ships an update fortnightly, Screen Time Control every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Phoneless Garden | Screen Time Control |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hanna Posio | Soleia Technologies (OPC) Private Limited |
In-app purchases
Phoneless Garden
- Monthly premium14 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Yearly Premium$29.991 Year
Screen Time Control
- ScreenPup Premium Monthly V23 Days trial$9.991 Month
- ScreenPup Premium Yearly V23 Days trial$39.991 Year
Questions
Is Phoneless Garden free?
Is Screen Time Control free?
Do Phoneless Garden or Screen Time Control have ads?
Which is updated more often, Phoneless Garden or Screen Time Control?
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