OpenAd vs ScrollSnack
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OpenAd
This app helps you limit screen time by making distractions inconvenient. Gate specific apps or categories, and watch a short ad to unlock them temporarily. It's designed to create friction, encouraging deliberate choices and helping you regain focus.
- Gate apps, categories, or websites
- Watch ads to unlock apps
- Temporary unlocks (5 or 15 minutes)
- Automatic re-locking
- Tracks user resistance
- Private by design, no account needed
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Before you scroll, pay the toll. OpenAd is a free app blocker and screen time tool. Pick the apps that eat your day, and every time you open one, you watch an ad first. It's annoying. That's the point. 100% FREE. NO SUBSCRIPTION. EVER. The ads pay for OpenAd, so you never do. No paywall, no premium tier. HOW IT WORKS • Block any app, category or website • Open a blocked app and you hit OpenAd's block screen • Watch 1 ad for 5 minutes. You also get 2 free passes a day • When time's up, the block comes back on its own • Change your mind? Tap "Not now", and it counts as a win STOP DOOMSCROLLING, AND SEE THE PROOF • Your screen time receipt: tolls paid, ads watched and urges resisted, for this week or all time. Share it in one tap • A Lock Screen countdown while your apps are unlocked • A Sunday recap of your week • A Home Screen widget with today's resisted urges MADE FOR • Cutting back on social media and doomscrolling • Staying focused while you study or work • A digital detox that doesn't depend on willpower GOOD TO KNOW • If an ad can't load, OpenAd offers a short timed wait instead. • You never have to tap an ad, install anything or buy anything. • Screen Time permission is required to block apps. Notifications and tracking are optional. • You can report an inappropriate ad in Settings. YOUR PRIVACY • The apps you block and your Screen Time activity stay on your iPhone. They're never sent to us or to advertisers. • Ads come from third-party ad partners. "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" is in Settings and on by default. • OpenAd collects basic usage analytics to improve the app. See the Privacy Policy for details. The world's most annoying app blocker. You're welcome.
ScrollSnack
This app helps you regain focus by temporarily blocking distracting applications. You can set intentional short unlock periods to access them, then they are blocked again. It offers privacy and no account, ads, or analytics.
- Block selected apps and categories
- Take intentional 5 or 10-minute unlocks
- Set daily boundaries
- Track unlock minutes granted
- No account, ads, or analytics
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ScrollSnack helps you create a little space between you and the apps that pull you in. Choose the social, video, game, or other apps and categories you want to keep blocked. When you genuinely need to check in, take a 5- or 10-minute ScrollSnack. When time is up, your selection is blocked again. FEATURES • Select apps and categories privately with Apple’s Screen Time picker • Keep selected apps blocked by default • Take intentional 5- or 10-minute unlocks • Set optional daily boundaries when quick unlocks are unavailable • See the unlock minutes you’ve granted yourself today and your rolling 7-day daily average • No account, ads, analytics, or feed Your selected apps, settings, and unlock history stay on your iPhone. ScrollSnack uses Apple Screen Time authorization to apply app shields. It does not report your system-wide Screen Time or measure exactly how long you spend in other apps. Privacy Policy: https://nicksnider.me/#privacy-scrollsnack Support: https://nicksnider.me/#support-scrollsnack
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: ScrollSnack at none against OpenAd's shown. ScrollSnack also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported). OpenAd's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, rating, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for OpenAd against 5.0 for ScrollSnack. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.
| Parameter | OpenAd | ScrollSnack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | — |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Seven Agent Studios LLC | NICHOLAS ALLEN SNIDER |
In-app purchases
OpenAd
No in-app purchases
ScrollSnack
No in-app purchases









