Minua vs Thumb Scroll
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Minua
This app helps you manage screen time by locking distracting apps until you earn time in them through productive activities. You can set earning and fun apps, ratios, and daily limits for yourself or your child.
- Earn screen time through productive apps
- Lock distracting apps until time is earned
- Customizable earning ratios
- Set daily earning caps and allowed hours
- Parental controls with PIN protection
- Works offline and privately
Read full descriptionHide full description
Screen time you earn, for your child or for yourself. Time in the apps you want more of unlocks time in the apps you want less of. Set it up on your child's iPhone or iPad behind a parent PIN, or on your own phone to break the scroll habit. You pick the apps, the ratio and the hours. Everything stays on the device. HOW IT WORKS 1. Choose who Minua is for: My child or Myself. 2. Choose the earning apps (learning apps, on a child's device): reading, math, languages, workouts, meditation, whatever you want more of. 3. Choose the fun apps: social media, videos, games. They stay locked until there's time in the balance. 4. Set the ratio, anywhere from 1:1 to 12:1. At 6:1, six minutes of earning unlocks one minute of fun. 5. Set the allowed hours and a daily earning cap. The balance shows minutes earned, minutes used and what's left. When it runs out, the fun apps lock again. It resets every day, so each morning starts fresh. ON A CHILD'S DEVICE • Settings and purchases sit behind a 4-digit parent PIN, with a timed lockout after repeated wrong attempts • On a child's device in Family Sharing, you approve Minua with your Apple Account, so your child can't switch the permission off or delete Minua without you • Setup tips to prevent app deletion and idle earning FOR YOURSELF • Put the apps you scroll behind the apps you want to spend more time in • Wording written for adults, and a PIN only if you want one • It's your phone and your rules: you can change them in Settings whenever you decide to. Minua just makes the scroll wait until you've earned it IN BOTH MODES • Ratio from 1:1 to 12:1, allowed hours and a daily earning cap • Bonus time: +5, +15 or +30 minutes for today • A heads-up about two minutes before fun time runs out • A weekly chart of time earned and time played • Change your PIN in Settings • Works on iPhone and iPad BUILT ON APPLE'S SCREEN TIME Minua uses Apple's Screen Time permission to lock and unlock the apps you pick. On devices outside Family Sharing, Minua shows on its home screen if the permission is ever switched off, and the in-app guide walks you through the settings that make the rules harder to get around. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts and no sign-up. No servers, no tracking, no analytics. Your settings and your balance stay on the device, and Minua works offline. TRY IT FIRST Every feature is free for 7 days. After that, a single one-time purchase unlocks Minua for good. No subscription.
Thumb Scroll
Read full descriptionHide full description
Your phone is always right there. One tap and you're back in. Thumb Scroll flips it: do something in real life first, then scroll. Block the apps that steal your time — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, games, any app you pick — and unlock minutes only after you've earned them. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick the apps (and sites) to block 2. Do a real action: make your bed, touch grass, drink water, read a book… 3. Snap a photo: AI verifies it and gives you coins 4. Spend coins to unlock minutes on your blocked apps No coins? Apps stay locked. Simple. You don't have to delete your favorite apps. You just have to do something first. WHY IT WORKS (where blocking alone fails) Other apps just say "stop." But your phone is one tap away and you cave. Thumb Scroll gives you a trade instead: a walk for TikTok, a book for Instagram, a glass of water for two minutes of scroll. Your phone comes after life, not instead of it. WHAT'S INSIDE • App & website blocking via Apple's Screen Time API • Coins earned with real actions, validated by photo + AI (no cheating) • 7 daily actions + Object Hunt: find an object with your camera • Store: turn coins into minutes • 3 difficulty levels (Light, Balanced, Intense) that change the coins→minutes rate • Bedtime & wake schedule + custom time rules (days and time slots) • Daily and weekly reports, a 0–100 score, day streaks • Your thumb mascot: happy when you unplug, worn out when you scroll too much PRIVATE & SECURE Thumb Scroll uses Apple's Screen Time API: all monitoring and blocking run entirely on your device. Your usage data never leaves your phone. EARLY ACCESS Thumb Scroll is in early access: every feature is available for free, no subscription. Jump in and help us make it better. Less scrolling. More living. Terms of Use: https://thumbscroll-7ac7f.web.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://thumbscroll-7ac7f.web.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
Minua and Thumb Scroll are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Minua sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Thumb Scroll sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Minua ships an update weekly, Thumb Scroll every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Minua | Thumb Scroll |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.4 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Flame Games | VITO BICA |
In-app purchases
Minua
- Lifetime Unlock$9.99
Thumb Scroll
- Weekly Pro$3.997 Days
- Annual Pro – Offer$24.991 Year
- Annual Pro3 Days trial$44.991 Year









