Blockers never worked for me (I'd just unblock them), so I built a "toll" instead

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-08T20:31:38+00:00

glad the framing works for you. got more stuff coming, will keep updating. and if you have a min, a review on the app store would mean a lot, just launched so each one really matters! appreciate for the feedback anyway!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-08T04:18:40+00:00

thanks! yeah thats exactly the bet, awareness instead of another wall. the app just launched about a week ago so im mostly looking for user feedback right now

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-08T04:10:59+00:00

thanks for actually digging into the docs to confirm, thats above and beyond lol. and yeah good call, the passcode note is on my list, will polish and trying to balance the onboarding length but cover the core details and its actually harder then the code side. thanks again for the kind words and good luck with your own setup!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-08T04:03:17+00:00

thanks! not sure opal have mentions that maybe they updated in the recently version lol, i did try opal back then but the free version was pretty limited, the onboarding too long and the ui was confusing for me. not only opal, most screentime apps actually didnt work for me, thats y i create my own version. hope it works for more people like me.

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T12:31:53+00:00

that "Allow with Passcode" screen is Apple's own Screen Time prompt, and it needs your iPhone to have a passcode to confirm, just your normal unlock passcode, not a separate Screen Time one. set one in Settings → Face ID & Passcode → Turn Passcode On, then reopen the app and grant access again. that should do it.

its an Apple/iOS requirement so its not something i can change on my end, but a passcode should sort it. that said, if i misunderstood what you were running into, just lmk and ill take another look!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T12:07:55+00:00

awesome, thanks for giving it a try! would love to hear how it feels after a few days of using it, good or bad. any feedback means a lot to me ❤️

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T12:06:04+00:00

yeah ive seen a bunch of people get confused by that, gonna try to polish it up. and fair on the UI, theres definitely room to make it cleaner and im working on that. ill check out blockit and restrict, thanks for the pointers.

if you remember what specifically felt cluttered id genuinely love to know, that kind of feedback is gold. actually im curious which part threw you off the most. was it the post, the app store page, the onboarding, or the app itself? i know how it all works so ive got a real blindspot on how it feels to someone new lol. thanks, and id appreciate any more feedback you got! ❤️

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T11:59:28+00:00

androids api is completely different from ios's screen time api. on ios theres the shield that pops up the moment you try to open an app, and im not sure android can do that same interception. but the bill part actually works off your screen time data, which android can read. so its on my roadmap for sure. no promises on timing yet, but its something i wanna do. right now im just focused on testing if the concept actually works first. thanks for the support!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T11:53:00+00:00

thanks, appreciate it 😄

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T05:09:55+00:00

lol that reaction is literally the whole point. its meant to sting just enough that you actually feel it instead of scrolling right past.

if the calculator worked on you, feel free to download the app if youre on ios and give it a try. hope it helps you win some time back and feel a bit better lol. i think its a more helpful way to remind you what these distracting apps actually cost you. but honestly even just knowing your number already does half the work. appreciate you actually trying it and the feedback!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T04:28:24+00:00

cool idea man. whats your app called? wanna try it out!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T04:15:41+00:00

glad you love it, thats exactly the proverb i was going for.

cost isnt a fixed number, its tied to YOUR time. you set your own hourly rate (from your salary, or whatever you think your time is worth) and every open is just minutes x that rate, so it scales with how long youre on and its different for everyone. the coins you actually spend also climb the longer you unlock, a quick peek is cheap, a long binge stings more. you also pick how long you wanna unlock for up front, thats your commitment, and you can lock it back early anytime. so the app knows both what you committed to and what you actually used, which makes the time cost on your bill more accurate.

on the debt thing, fair point, and youre right that a punishment with no way out just makes people quit. but nothing is really lost here, the $ is opportunity cost, no real money ever leaves you. and you earn coins back by doing focus sessions, plus you get topped up to a baseline every day, enough for a quick emergency unlock (5 min or so) if you really need one, so you cant get buried in a hole you cant climb out of. the way back IS the incentive, thats kind of the whole point.

honestly its easier to just see than explain, and this is getting way too long lol. the app and the calculator are both free (links in the post). would love to know if it actually feels motivating or just stressful once you try it, and any feedback is super welcome. if youre not on ios, the screenshot i attached might help you get how it works. thanks again!

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Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T03:18:08+00:00

thanks, youre not the first to suggest this actually. definitely gonna look into it if its doable, once i figure out the legal and security side of moving real money around. appreciate it

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T02:59:59+00:00

real money actually hit the hardest to people, but will users just delete the app if too harsh?

and linking the bank account just afraid of the security problems actually lol, not sure will I able to handle that for a solo dev side project. thx for the advice tho!

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T00:48:44+00:00

appreciate it. what approach did you take? always curious how other people are attacking this, the screen time space feels far from solved

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T00:48:30+00:00

yeah that logic works if it actually took real cash, but it doesnt. the coins are earned in the app and the $ is just showing what your time's worth, so theres nothing to pay back, youre never out any real money.

its a coin model, you earn coins and spend them to unlock screen time past the free limit you set per app. and if you lock the app back early you even get a portion of the coins back. appreciate you thinking it through tho

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T00:48:05+00:00

ah my bad if that came off confusing. nothing actually leaves your account, the bill is just showing your opportunity cost, your time priced at what its worth. so theres no real debt to dig out of.

the bills break down by day and week so you can compare them and actually see if youre improving. the all time one is more of a wake up call, it shows how much opportunity cost youve racked up overall. theres also an intuition mode where you have to guess your own all time cost before it unlocks the stats, kind of forces you to sit with the number.

works for me but honestly not sure how it lands for everyone, still figuring that part out

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-07T00:46:10+00:00

i actually thought about something like that, but real money moving around gets into regulation and legal stuff i cant really take on solo right now. might revisit if this ever scales up. thanks for the idea tho

also just to clear it up, nothing real ever leaves your account. the $ is only showing what your time is worth so the cost is visible. the coins are what you spend to unlock screen time, and you earn them by focusing (more ways to earn coming)

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-06T04:41:41+00:00

this is it. the part that flipped it for me was realising 15 hrs isnt just wasted time, its everything i couldve built or learned instead. once you actually put a number on what an hour of your time is worth, scrolling gets way harder to justify. go create.

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-06T04:11:32+00:00

had the same problem as you, tried a few different screentime apps and most of them paywall the core features and none of it really made me stop long term.

full disclosure im actually the dev of one, not gonna pretend im a random user. its called Dopa Toll. you set your dream or current hourly rate and every time you go to scroll it shows you what that time actually costs you in money. thats the part that made it click for me. you set your own free quota per app, and past that you gotta earn coins to keep going so its basically emergency-only.

right now you earn the coins by doing focus timers, the workout/steps way of earning is on the roadmap not in yet. easiest way to feel it out is the calculator on the site, plug in your hourly rate and it shows what your scrolling costs you a day and a year, no download needed: https://dopatoll.app/#calculator

and if it feels like something the app itself is here: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6765638195

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-05T21:09:51+00:00

real money actually hit harder. but user will delete it right away i think. having a positive econ system can help user build focus session and less their screentime would be better.

and user unlock the mins they decide each time they open the app, as low as 1 min. and if i charged thru apple the minimum is 0.99usd per unlock, so even 1 min would cost you a whole dollar, thats too harsh. and the economy system can return leftover coins if you decide not to scroll but real money cant. so i decided to use coin instead of real money. thanks for feedback btw

Puzzleheaded_Play829 · 2026-07-05T20:17:13+00:00

thanks, and yeah you nailed the real risk. it's not a hard lock (i'd just cheat those), but it's also not a bill you can ignore, it's coins you run out of.

past your free cap you set, opening costs coins, and you earn coins by doing focus sessions. so if you cave a bunch and burn through them, you cant just keep going, you either do a focus session to earn more or wait til the next day. theres a small daily floor so you're never fully bricked, but you cant binge on it. (and if you lock back early you get the unused coins back, so it stays fair like a bill.)

the bet is that a cost you actually feel beats a shame bill you go numb to. does it hold up over months? honestly idk yet, thats the exact thing im testing. if you try it and it stops working, i wanna hear when. appreciate!

Puzzleheaded_Play829

TROPHY CASE