Normal vs SlowPebble

Normal actually makes you use your phone less by keeping selected apps blocked by default. To unblock you have to physically scan an NFC Tag, QR Code or use a Location. This can be any NFC Tag, QR Code, Barcode, Location you set in the app. This 'opt-in' approach is backed by research and actual use. Normal is made to be the most powerful screen time app available. Saving your hours of your day. It's fully open-source and no features are behind paywalls. It can also be made to be impossible to bypass. Highlights of Normal: - Block Apps via NFC Tags, QR Codes and Barcodes - Use ANY NFC Tag, QR Code or Barcode - Unblock/Block specific Apps - Timed Unblocks - Emergency Unblocks - Scheduling - Complete Granular Control - Can make it as easy or as hard to bypass Normal was made because of issues with some other screen time apps. - Other screen time apps are easy to bypass. Normal can be made to be impossible to bypass, or easy to bypass. You have complete control. - Most other screen time apps work on opt-out strategy, where you have access to all apps, then lose access through usage. - Normal works on opt-in strategy. The apps you have blocked are always blocked, to use them you have to physically get up and scan your NFC tag or QR Code. - Most screen time apps are paid, either one-time or more commonly, subscriptions. There are no paid features. Everything is free and open-source. - Normal is privacy-focused. We don't log any data, everything stays on device. Since we're open source, you can check our code and confirm. - Normal allows timed unlocks. Other NFC/QR Code blockers don't have this. If you want to use an app for 15min, you can unlock it for 15min only. You don't have to remember to reblock. Normal was made by actual users, research on smartphone addiction and developments in dumbphones in-mind. If you want to turn your iPhone into a dumbphone, you can. Block all smart apps, block the app store, prevent disabling normal (via preventing delete and the shortcuts trick). Now you have a dumbphone, which you can't make smart without your NFC Tag (which you can make as difficult as you need). If you want a semi-dumbphone, you can. Do the above but have some apps like maps, music, messaging, etc. If you're a professional who needs access to apps distracting sometimes, Normal is for you! Block all distractions with Normal. Set schedules for you work apps or used timed unblocks. Need 15min to post content or check email? You can do that! You just have to physically get up and scan your NFC Tag, QR Code, or Barcode. The apps will automatically reblock after your timer is over. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

The blocker you never have to turn off. Other blockers are opt-out: Instagram is open, and you block it for a while. Slowpebble is opt-in: Instagram is blocked, and you ask when you need a few minutes. That is why you never have to turn it off. WHAT IT BLOCKS • Apps you pick with Apple's Screen Time picker • Over a million adult sites, blocked from the moment you turn Slowpebble on, with no switch to put them back • Whole lists for social media, dating, betting, streaming, gaming, shopping, news and free movie sites, one switch each • Any site you add yourself NEED SOMETHING? ASK. Say what you need it for, in a sentence. An AI reads it privately. It never sees which app or site it is, only what kind, and nothing you type is kept. What you write doesn't change the wait: a quick unlock opens after 30 seconds, for 6 minutes. You get a few of them in any 2 hours, set from your own use, and with none left it still opens, after 2 minutes. Need longer? Say what for and it opens for up to 15 minutes, for two quick unlocks. Once every 3 days an emergency unlock opens right now. A hard limit closes the window after a set number of unlocks in 2 hours, and you can switch it off. Adult content never gets a yes. YOUR OWN PATTERN The Unlocks page draws your week: how many, which days, the hours it happens in, and what it was for. It stays on your phone, and you can clear it. TURNING IT OFF TAKES 24 HOURS Adding anything is instant. Taking something off your list for good, or turning Slowpebble off, takes 24 hours, and nothing makes it sooner. The app shows the exact time it will happen, and you can cancel before then. There is no override and no support address that can rush it. We built ourselves out of the loop on purpose. PEBBLES Every milestone gets you a pebble: a day, three days, a week, two weeks, and on up to a year. Switching Slowpebble off in Settings to get around it loses every pebble and raises the wait to unlock: a minute, then 2, then 5. Seven blocked days bring it back to 30 seconds. SAFE SEARCH, ON IOS 26 AND LATER Google, YouTube and DuckDuckGo stop showing adult results in every browser and app. A switch on the Sites page empties Google's picture results too. You switch it on once in Settings. Switching it off raises the wait to unlock, the same as above, until it has been back on for 7 days. WHAT WE DON'T SEE No account and no sign-in. Slowpebble never records which sites you open or which apps you launch, so there is no history to leak or sell. Your settings stay on your phone and in your own iCloud. Slowpebble needs Screen Time permission, which you allow once during setup. The first 14 days are free, with nothing to buy. After that, asking for access and adding new apps and sites need a plan. Everything you already blocked stays blocked either way. Slowpebble offers auto-renewable subscriptions, billed monthly or yearly. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. A subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://slowpebble.com/privacy