Comparison

Minua vs Earned Time

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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.

About

Earned Time

Features
Read full description

Earned Time flips the deal on screen time. Instead of guilt-tripping you with a weekly usage report, it pauses your distracting apps until you've done something that actually matters to you. HOW IT WORKS 1. Choose the apps you want paused — social, games, whatever pulls you in. 2. Set up goals from the activities you want to do more of: reading, studying, language practice, anything. 3. Pick which apps count as productive for each activity. 4. Time you spend in those apps is tracked automatically and converts into unlock minutes. 5. Spend your earned minutes whenever you want. Your paused apps come back for exactly that long, then lock again on their own. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT No shaming. No arbitrary limits you'll disable in a weak moment. You set the exchange rate between effort and freedom, and the app just holds you to it. FEATURES • Automatic tracking — productive app time becomes unlock minutes with no timers to start and no sessions to remember • Focus sessions for offline work that no app can measure • Roll over unused minutes so a strong day can fund a slow one • See exactly how you earned: which activity, which apps, how many minutes • Anti-bypass controls — confirmation delays, a daily cap on manual unlocks, or hide the escape hatch entirely • Streaks and achievements • Daily or weekly goals PRIVATE BY DESIGN There is no account, no sign-up, and no server. Earned Time makes no network connections at all. Your Screen Time data and your goals never leave your iPhone.

Screenshots

Minua4 screens
Earned Time4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Earned Time at none against Minua's 1. Minua's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Minua sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Earned Time asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Minua ships an update weekly, Earned Time fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 6 level
Minua versus Earned Time: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMinuaEarned Time
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlue Flame GamesPayam Khaninejad

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Minua

One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$9.99
None

Earned Time

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Minua free?
Minua is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Earned Time free?
Earned Time is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Minua or Earned Time have ads?
Neither Minua nor Earned Time shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Minua or Earned Time?
Minua ships an update weekly, and Earned Time fortnightly. Most recently, Minua was updated on October 17, 2026 and Earned Time on October 24, 2026.

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