Comparison

Rebound vs Takeback

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

Head to head
About

Rebound

Read full description

Your phone isn't the problem. The dopamine is. Every scroll trains your brain to crave more stimulation and tolerate less boredom, until sitting with your own thoughts feels impossible. That is not a discipline problem. It is dependence, and Rebound is the first app built to treat it like one: reduce the source, replace the reward, and track your recovery on one honest metric. MEET YOUR BATTERY Your Battery is a live reading of your dopamine baseline. It fills as your brain recovers and drains when you feed the loop, moving through four bands: Fried, Foggy, Clear, and Dialed. No streaks to lose. No guilt graphs. Just where your head is right now, and a clear path back up. BLOCK THE APPS THAT DRAIN YOU All-day rules: keep TikTok, Instagram, or any app behind a shield around the clock Schedules: lock apps during mornings, work hours, or whenever you slip most Block Now: start an instant session with one tap, 5 minutes to 8 hours Hard Mode: full commitment, no early exit, no edits, uninstall friction until the window ends EVERY OPEN HAS A PRICE When you tap a blocked app, Rebound does not just say no. It intervenes: Take a breath. A short guided pause interrupts the impulse. Face the question: is this how you want to spend your time? Decide with the cost in front of you. Opening drains your Battery. Walking away earns it back. Put the phone down and Rebound notices: "You walked away from TikTok this afternoon. +6." That is the addiction loop running in reverse. KNOW WHERE YOUR ATTENTION GOES Insights: screen time, pickups, and notifications, with your most draining apps ranked Focus Check: a 30 second self-check that verifies your Battery against how you actually feel Time Reclaimed: every hour you win back from your old baseline, counted since day one PRIVATE BY DESIGN Rebound runs on Apple's Screen Time framework. Everything stays on your iPhone: no account, no sign-up, no server. We cannot see which apps you use or what you do in them, and neither can anyone else. SUBSCRIPTION All features require a subscription. Yearly: $39.99 per year, with a 7 day free trial Weekly: $4.99 per week Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of the free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Prices are in USD and may vary by region. Rebound is a self-help tool, not medical treatment. If you are struggling, talk to a professional. Terms of Use: https://www.reboundfocus.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.reboundfocus.com/privacy Support: https://www.reboundfocus.com/support

About

Takeback

This app uses a drill sergeant persona to help you break free from excessive phone use. It negotiates your access to distracting apps and implements a progressive 60-day bootcamp to retrain your habits.

Highlights
  • Drill sergeant accountability
  • Negotiated app access
  • Progressive 60-day bootcamp
  • Customizable difficulty (Chill/Savage)
  • Habit retraining
  • Time and attention recovery
Features
Read full description

Every screen time app has an ignore button. That is why they stop working. Takeback does not. Open the app you swore you were done with and Sarge is there first. He is a drill sergeant, and he wants to hear your reasoning. Make your case. He decides. He is not easy. SARGE, YOUR DRILL SERGEANT He knows how long you have already scrolled today and answers accordingly. Ask for twenty minutes at midnight and see how that goes. Ask for five to reply to a message and he will probably wave you through. He negotiates. He counts. He remembers. YOU CAN'T FOOL HIM Try to talk your way past him and he will ask you to prove it. Say you are at the gym and he wants a photo from the gym. Pictures of pictures do not work on him. THE PROGRAM Four phases, and Sarge gets stricter in each one: Neutral, Firm, Strict, then full Drill. Your daily limit starts halfway between your old habit and your goal, and drops until it hits your goal. After that, the lock-in is for life. EARN YOUR TIME Want more minutes? Earn them. Go for a walk, work out, touch real grass, or hold a 45-minute focus block. He checks the proof: your steps, a fresh photo, or 45 minutes without unlocking. Up to 60 earned minutes a day. HE WANTS YOU ASLEEP Set your wind-down time. After it, Sarge gets much tougher and pushes you toward sleep. WHAT YOU GET BACK Evenings that end in sleep, not a 2am feed. An attention span you can feel coming back. Hours a week that used to vanish with nothing to show for them. A phone you finally trust yourself with. HOW IT GOES Day 1, you pick the apps. Sarge locks them and sets your first limit. Day 4, he gets firm and your limit drops again. Day 11, your limit is your goal. By the end, you have hours back and you are spending them on something. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://trytakeback.com/privacy

Screenshots

Rebound4 screens
Takeback4 screens

Verdict

The call

Rebound and Takeback 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rebound sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Takeback sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Rebound versus Takeback: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReboundTakeback
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark FaragGatarn Games Ltd.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Rebound

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly$4.997 Days
  • Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
3 purchases

Takeback

Subscriptions3
  • Takeback Monthly$19.991 Month
  • Takeback Annual$24.991 Year
  • Takeback Annual$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Rebound free?
Rebound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Takeback free?
Takeback is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Rebound or Takeback have ads?
Both Rebound and Takeback show ads.
Which is updated more often, Rebound or Takeback?
Rebound ships an update every 2 weeks, and Takeback every 2 weeks. Most recently, Rebound was updated on September 29, 2026 and Takeback on October 3, 2026.

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