Study Lock vs Emberlock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Study Lock
This app blocks distracting applications until you complete study sessions. It uses AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards from your course materials, rewarding you with screen time for correct answers. Track your progress with detailed statistics and spaced repetition.
- AI-generated quizzes and flashcards
- Import course material from PDF, photos, text
- App blocking via Screen Time integration
- Spaced repetition learning algorithm
- Oral analysis with AI evaluation
- Progress tracking and statistics
- Pomodoro timer with Live Activity
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Study Lock blocks your distracting apps until you study. Import your courses from PDF, photos, or plain text, and the app generates personalized quiz questions, flashcards, and oral analysis exercises, all powered by AI. How it works: Import your course material in any format. AI instantly creates quiz questions, flashcards, and oral analysis prompts covering the full content. Select which apps to block using Screen Time. When you try to open a blocked app, Study Lock asks you to study first. Answer correctly and earn screen time as a reward. The harder the question, the more time you unlock. Oral analysis lets you explain concepts out loud while AI evaluates your understanding and gives you a detailed correction. Every question follows a spaced repetition algorithm so you focus on what you actually need to review. Your progress is tracked with streaks, mastery percentages, and detailed session statistics. Study Lock is built for students who want real results without relying on willpower alone. It turns the time you spend on your phone into structured study sessions. Key features: AI-generated quizzes, flashcards, and oral exercises from any course material. PDF, photo, and text import with full-document coverage. Screen Time integration to block and unblock apps based on study performance. Spaced repetition scheduling adapted to your level. Oral analysis with speech recognition and AI-powered evaluation. Pomodoro timer with Live Activity support. Detailed statistics including streaks, accuracy, study time, and earned screen time. Works in any language. No ads. No gimmicks. Just a simple system that works. Privacy Policy: https://studylock.framer.website/privacy-policy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Emberlock
Earn back access to distracting apps by completing quick study quizzes or physical exercises. This app helps you build focus and maintain streaks by creating a small challenge before unlocking your chosen applications for a set period.
- Block distracting apps
- Earn screen time via quizzes
- Earn screen time via exercise
- Customizable unlock duration
- Daily streak tracking
- Offline study content
- Uses Apple Screen Time
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Your apps are locked. One right answer opens them. > The problem: the average person spends 5+ hours a day on their phone. At that rate, scrolling quietly eats years of your life — and every "just five minutes" costs you an evening of focus. > The fix: Emberlock flips the trade. Your most distracting apps — Instagram, TikTok, games, whatever pulls you in — stay locked until you earn them. Answer flashcards on a subject YOU choose, or put the phone down and knock out a set of reps. Learn first. Scroll after. WHAT CHANGES • Opening an app becomes a decision, not a reflex — a 6-second gate beats endless willpower. • Every doomscroll urge becomes a rep for your brain: real questions, real subjects, real recall. • Your streak compounds. Keep the ember lit day after day and watch the answered-questions count stack up. • When the timer runs out, the apps lock again. The trade is always the same, and it is always in your favor. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick the apps to block and how you want to earn them back. 2. Open a blocked app → a challenge appears instead. 3. Answer correctly, or finish your set → your apps open for 15 to 120 minutes — you choose. 4. Keep the streak alive. Milestones, streak shields, and a shareable Study Wall card mark the run. TWO WAYS TO EARN THE UNLOCK • Study — flashcards on a subject you pick. 25+ real subjects built in: SAT vocab, biology, chemistry, Spanish, coding, US history, psychology, world capitals, and more. 1,500+ curated questions that work fully offline. • Move — your phone counts reps with its motion sensors: push-ups, squats, jumping jacks. You choose how many it takes. PERFECT FOR • Students who reach for TikTok instead of their notes • Anyone with ADHD whose phone wins every fight for attention • Professionals who lose evenings to the feed • Language learners and exam preppers who want stolen minutes back • Anyone who has tried deleting apps — and just reinstalled them THE HONEST DEAL • Free tier that stays free: five unlocks a day, every mode, every subject, resetting at midnight. • A real free trial on the annual plan, or pay once and keep it forever. One price, no games. • Private by design — no account, no ads, no tracking. Your progress stays on your device. • You are always in control: Emberlock uses Apple's Screen Time (Family Controls) so YOU choose what to block, and you can change it any time. THE SCIENCE Retrieval practice — recalling an answer instead of re-reading it — is one of the most consistently supported findings in learning research. Emberlock turns the moment you most want to waste into the moment you remember something. That is the whole trick: the habit you can't quit starts paying for the one you can't start. — Privacy: https://studylock-llm-proxy.mcggmjhp5p.workers.dev/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Emberlock at none against Study Lock's 2. Emberlock also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 10 days) and ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. Study Lock sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Emberlock asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Study Lock against 5.0 for Emberlock. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Emberlock has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Study Lock ships an update every 10 days, Emberlock every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Study Lock | Emberlock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ethan Dietrich | Tom Nguyen |
Customer experience
Study Lock
Emberlock
In-app purchases
Study Lock
- Monthly Pro$5.991 Month
- Annual Pro3 Days trial$34.991 Year
Emberlock
No in-app purchases







