Seven apps that bring a friend into your screen time, grouped by how they work: one-way approval, mutual pairs and groups. Prices, platforms and verdicts.

Apps that break the doomscrolling loop, grouped by how they work: friction that slows the open, blocking that takes it away, and friends who notice.

No boss means nobody notices when you lose two hours to YouTube. Focus apps for freelancers across laptop and phone, plus how to bring other people in.

Plenty of app blockers say "free" and then paywall everything useful. What you actually get for £0 from Screen Time, Opal, ScreenZen, one sec and more.

Most new friend-based screen time apps are iPhone only. Here's what works on Android, from free Digital Wellbeing to blockers, focus apps and social apps.

How to cut screen time together without one of you feeling policed: the chat to have first, then the options from free passcode swaps to shared-pot apps.

Everything Android's built-in Digital Wellbeing does, from app timers and Focus mode to Bedtime mode and Chrome site timers, and what it can't do.

Blocked the TikTok app, then caught yourself on tiktok.com? How to block websites in Safari for free with Screen Time, and how to make the block stick.

There's no off switch for YouTube Shorts, but there is a Shorts feed limit you can set to zero. That and four other ways to make Shorts far less tempting.

Every iPhone has Screen Time built in, and it's free. What it does well, where it falls down (that "Ignore Limit" button), and when an app is worth it.

Opal is great, but at $99.99 a year in the US it's not for everyone. Seven alternatives: free tools, pauses, laptop blockers and friend apps.

Limits not kicking in? Usage totals look wrong? Six fixes for iPhone Screen Time, in order, from checking the basics to switching it off and on again.

BePresent and Snitch both make cutting screen time social. BePresent leans on points, leagues and challenges; Snitch on a small group sharing one limit.

Clearspace puts a moment of friction, or a few push-ups, between you and the apps you overuse. Snitch puts your friends there. Which one suits you?

Freedom is one of the original distraction blockers and strongest on laptops. Snitch is phone-first and social. They solve different halves of the problem.

Both apps bring a friend into your screen time. Friend Controls gives one friend the keys; Snitch puts your whole group in it together. Which suits you?

FriendLock gives you an hour of phone time for every selfie with a friend. Snitch is about friends too, but works the other way round. How they differ.

one sec makes you pause before opening an app; Snitch brings your friends in. When a pause is enough, when it isn't, and how to use both.

Opal is the best-known solo blocker; Snitch is for people who need other people. How they work, what they cost, and who each one is for.

ScreenZen is a well-loved free app that adds a wait before distracting apps open. Snitch adds your friends. When a delay is enough, and when it isn't.

Most screen time apps leave you holding the keys, and cold turkey backfires. What works better: other people, planned breaks and something to do instead.

A blocker sits between you and every other app on your phone. Seven quick checks to tell a solid screen time app from a rushed clone.

Brick, Bloom, Unpluq, Foqos and kSafe compared: UK prices, how each one locks your phone, and how easy it is to get round. Checked November 2026.