Comparison

Times Up vs MathBlocker

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

Head to head
About

Times Up

This app locks your most-used applications until you solve a math quiz. It adapts the difficulty based on your performance, helping you rebuild mental arithmetic skills and reduce screen time. Customize which apps to block and quiz settings for personalized control.

Highlights
  • Math quiz to unlock apps
  • Adaptive difficulty based on performance
  • Customizable app blocking
  • Adjustable quiz length and unlock duration
  • Progress tracking and stats
  • PIN protection for settings
Features
Read full description

Your apps stay locked until you can do the math. Times Up blocks the apps you open without thinking (social, video, games) and unlocks them only when you answer a quick math quiz. Each quiz buys a set window. When the timer runs out, everything locks again. WHY A MATH GATE BEATS A TIMER A "5 more minutes" button takes half a second and no thought, which is why you always tap it. A math quiz takes fifteen seconds and real attention, and that is long enough to notice you never meant to open the app. A lot of sessions end right there, before the unlock. IT GETS SHARPER AS YOU DO Times Up scores every problem you see and weights the next quiz toward what you keep missing. The facts you are slow on come back more often. The ones you have nailed return on a spacing schedule so they stay sharp. Everything runs on the device, so questions are instant. TEN TIERS PER OPERATION Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and missing-number puzzles ("? x 8 = 56"). Ten tiers each, climbing as your accuracy holds. Mental arithmetic is a real skill that most of us quietly lost to calculators, and this rebuilds it in the gaps you were going to waste anyway. YOU SET THE RULES Choose which apps to block, right down to whole categories. Set quiz length from 3 to 10 questions and pick how long each unlock lasts. A 4-digit PIN protects your settings from your own weaker moments. WHAT YOU SEE Overall accuracy and 7-day trend, tier badges for each operation, a Needs Work list of the problems you keep dropping, and a daily log of every quiz. PRIVACY BY DESIGN Every answer and score stays on your device. No cloud, no accounts, no advertising IDs, no ads. REQUIRES iOS 17 or later. Apple Family Controls permission, granted on first launch. SUBSCRIPTION Times Up Premium unlocks the full app, including app blocking, the adaptive quiz engine, and your stats. There is no free version. Premium is offered as a weekly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, and current pricing is shown in the App Store before you purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions auto-renew unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel any time in Settings, Apple ID, Subscriptions. Privacy Policy: https://www.timesupapp.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.timesupapp.com/terms-of-service Contact: contact@timesupapp.com

About

MathBlocker

This app places a math problem between you and apps you overuse. Solve a math question to regain access to blocked applications, with difficulty levels and problem sets from standardized tests.

Highlights
  • Block any app or category
  • Adjustable math problem difficulty
  • Choose from various standardized test problem sets
  • Earn back app time by solving problems
  • Set daily, weekly, and per-app limits
  • Schedule blocks by time of day
  • Usage dashboard
Features
Read full description

MathBlocker puts a math problem between you and the apps you open too much. You pick the apps you want blocked. When you try to open one after your time's up, a math question shows up instead. You answer it, you get a few minutes back. You don't, the app stays closed. The questions are real. They come from the same problem sets people use to study for the SAT, ACT, AMC, and AIME. You can set the difficulty. Easy questions if you just want a speed bump. Harder ones if you actually want to stop scrolling. Features - Block any app or category — social, video, games, news, browsers - Pick your difficulty, from warmup arithmetic to competition-level - Choose your problem set: SAT, ACT, AMC, AIME, Putnam, or general practice - Earn time back per problem solved (you set how much) - Daily, weekly, and per-app limits - Schedule blocks by time of day (bedtime, study hours, work hours) - Dashboard with usage broken down by app, hour, and day - Custom block screen so it actually feels like a stop sign - Works with Family Sharing if you're setting it up for someone younger A few ways people use it: blocking social apps during work hours. Locking everything after 10pm with hard math. Pairing it with actual SAT prep so the time you would've spent scrolling becomes practice instead. Everything stays on your phone. No account, no login, no data sent anywhere. iOS 16 and up. iPhone only.

Screenshots

Times Up4 screens
MathBlocker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MathBlocker at 5.0 against Times Up's 3.5. MathBlocker also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Times Up sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. MathBlocker asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MathBlocker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Times Up versus MathBlocker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTimes UpMathBlocker
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (2 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMATHEW JAMES GRADWELLAndy Phu

Customer experience

Times Up

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

MathBlocker

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Times Up

Subscriptions2
  • Times Up Weekly7 Days trial$6.997 Days
  • Times Up Yearly$44.991 Year
One-time1
  • Times Up Lifetime$69.99
None

MathBlocker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Times Up free?
Times Up is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MathBlocker free?
MathBlocker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Times Up or MathBlocker?
MathBlocker is rated higher. Times Up averages 3.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while MathBlocker averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Times Up or MathBlocker have ads?
Neither Times Up nor MathBlocker shows ads.

Other comparisons