Compare
How Timeback compares
How Timeback stacks up against other blockers.
Most blockers run on the same phone they're blocking, so you can turn them off whenever you want. Timeback can't be turned off from the phone.
| What you're checking | Timeback | A Screen Time app Opal, Brick, BePresent | Apple's Screen Time built into the iPhone | A dumb phone Light Phone, Punkt, a flip phone | Apple Configurator Apple's own enterprise tool |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Removable from your phone | No no off switch on the phone | Yes delete it, or turn its access off in Settings | Yes off with a tap, or with the passcode you set yourself | Partly nothing on it to change, but you don't keep your phone | No the same mechanism Timeback uses |
| A strict mode you can undo in the moment | No the lock you set is the only way out | Yes strict modes slow the exits down, they don't close them | Yes your own passcode reopens it | No there is nothing on it to undo | No you write every rule yourself |
| Costs you the rest of your phone | No maps, camera, banking, two-factor codes | No | No | Yes the smartphone goes with it | No after the erase, whatever you set back up |
| Hard to set up | No about five minutes, once per device | No | No | Partly a second phone to buy, charge, and carry | Yes a Mac, and a full erase of the phone first |
| Subscription only | No pay once, or subscribe if you'd rather | Mostly a few are free | No free | Partly it may want its own line | No |
- A Screen Time app
- Opal, Brick, BePresent
- Apple's Screen Time
- built into the iPhone
- A dumb phone
- Light Phone, Punkt, a flip phone
- Apple Configurator
- Apple's own enterprise tool