PhoneStop vs AppBlock
The serious Android blocker. Profiles, schedules, and a strict mode that will not let you out.
The short version
If your instinct is that you need a wall, use AppBlock — it builds the best wall on Android. If you have built walls before and gone around them, the problem is probably not the specific apps, and a budget for the whole phone will tell you more in a week than a blocklist will in a month.
| PhoneStop | AppBlock | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Android | Android, iPhone |
| Price | Free | Usable free tier; premium by month, year or a one-time payment |
| What it does when you hit the limit | Full-screen stop, then a reset and a one-tap lock | Blocks the profile's apps and sites, and Strict Mode refuses to be turned off |
| Warns you before the limit | Yes — at roughly 60, 30 and 10 minutes left | Profile start and end notices |
| How it enforces | Foreground service and a display-over-apps overlay | Usage access, plus an accessibility service for websites and Strict Mode |
| Blocks individual apps | No — it budgets your whole screen time | Yes — profiles, schedules, per app and per website |
| Account needed | No | Optional |
| Data leaves the phone | No — the app holds no internet permission | Optional account |
How each app stops you
AppBlock enforces rules you wrote in advance. When a profile is active, the apps on it will not open, and with Strict Mode on you cannot change your mind.
PhoneStop has no rules to write and nothing to enforce. It counts the phone's screen time against one number and gets loud at the end. The trade is real and worth naming: AppBlock will stop you opening TikTok at 11pm and PhoneStop will not. PhoneStop will tell you that TikTok, the browser, the news app and the game together have taken four hours, which AppBlock will not.
Where AppBlock is the better choice
- The strongest enforcement on Android, with a Strict Mode that genuinely resists.
- Website blocking, which PhoneStop cannot do.
- Per-app and per-schedule precision, if you like control.
- A free tier you can actually live in.
Where PhoneStop is the better choice
- Nothing to configure. Pick a number of hours; that is the whole setup.
- It sees the whole phone, including apps you would never have put on a list.
- Free, with no premium tier.
- No accessibility service, and no rule that can lock you out of something you need.
What PhoneStop does at the limit
The whole product is three moments. Warnings arrive as the budget empties, inside whatever app you are in:
PhoneStop
30 minutes left
Half an hour of budget to go. A good moment to pick where it goes.
PAUSE
PhoneStop
Time's up
You are out of budget for today. Take a minute, then lock the phone.
PAUSE
Then, at zero, the screen is taken over: a fifteen-second breath or twenty squats, and a button that locks the phone. If you genuinely need it, one tap extends the window and says so honestly, because an intervention you cannot escape is one you uninstall.
Disclosure: we make PhoneStop, so treat our own entry with the scepticism it deserves. Everything else here is written from public information and hands-on use; prices and platforms were checked in August 2026 and change often — check the vendor before you pay.
PhoneStop is a free Android app. Set a daily screen time budget, get warned before it runs out, and get stopped when it does.
Android. Coming to Google Play — no account, no ads, no data leaves your phone.
Questions people ask
Does AppBlock need an accessibility service?
For core app blocking it uses usage access. Website blocking and Strict Mode want the accessibility service as well, checked August 2026.
Can AppBlock limit total screen time?
It limits access to the apps in a profile. It is not a whole-phone daily budget, so total time can stay high while every one of your rules is respected.
Is AppBlock free?
There is a real free tier with a limited number of profiles and blocked items. Premium is monthly, yearly, or a one-time lifetime payment.