Flipd: focus & study timer Reviews

by Doddlekid20

So I downloaded this to try to use it while I was studying. I set a 30 minute timer and I was left with just Apple apps. This thing scared me. It like you download it self and I couldn’t get my apps back, I was so scared and I spent my studying time figuring out how to disable it without Flipd . If this out go to settings and remove its access profile. Trust me this got my apps back. Don’t try shutting/powering it off that doesn’t help (I tried that twice.) I will try Flipd again and if it works I will raise my review to a 5 if it works and the company responds to me. If the company doesn’t respond my review stays a 1.

*edit* I tried this again and Flipd didn’t show up it disappeared when I did the full lock down Flipd Flipid disappeared and I couldn’t get out of full lock down so one again I had to go to settings and remove the management. I don’t have time to do this every time I go in lock down. Also I think the price is too much it should be the price of 1 month forever and I think that doing the custom times should be free. Also the developers are slow they still haven’t responded and it’s been a couple of days. I’m at the point where I’m going to delete Flipd. It’s not worth any more of my time.

by Lambayear

When I first started using this app, I found it incredibly useful. However, I watched over time as they slowly hid more of their features under the premium subscription. At first, I was able to tolerate the changes. For example, the change from unlimited breaks with every this app session to only one break allowed without a premium subscription wasn’t too bad for me. I decided that it would be best to take less breaks anyway. However, today it was the last straw. I discovered that all sessions longer than 40 minutes have been locked under the premium subscription. While I used to be able to go a few hours to a whole day at a time, now I can’t even spend an hour in a this app session. The only way for me to extend the session would be to constantly start a new one every 40 minutes. This is very inefficient, especially since I use this app to help me stay focused on homework for long periods of time. I am finding it increasingly less useful than it was before without upgrading to premium. I am in high school and currently unable to get a premium subscription.

All I ask is for the sessions longer than 40 minutes to be made available for everyone again, or at least the 1 hour and 4 hour sessions. this app has been so helpful for me in the past, and I’d hate to lose so much from such a great tool. If you can make these longer sessions available without premium, it would be immensely appreciated. Thanks so much!

by Ashlee Y

(I was looking for an app that could achieve a true lock down of non-essential apps. I only tried the 5 minute lock down on Flipd once, and haven’t used Flipd since.) As many others have said, full lock is an excellent idea but not great in execution. Others complained about the apps being out of order - that was fine for me. What I can’t live with is having my notification settings reset every time I get back from lock mode. I assume this is how Flipd works: they achieve lock mode by uninstalling and reinstalling all of your applications. The profile you install gives their servers access to control your phone remotely - which is why an internet connection is necessary. However, it seems that the scope of what they can control is limited - most likely due to iOS’s own limitations. The additional script you download seems to be a workaround to reorganize your apps as you had before, but it doesn’t restore your notification preferences on the apps that were un/reinstalled. Your apps give you the “allow notifications” pop-up next time you go into each of them. If you are OK with default notification settings, maybe this is a limitation you can live with. I customize the notifications for each app and I am not willing to readjust those every time I use lock down.

by 856901

Flipd was alright when I first downloaded and previously provided the ability to obfuscate apps. Unfortunately, after exiting the session it rearranged all my apps making in difficult to navigate my phone. This feature was useful for limiting distractions. However, recent updates removed this feature and now only has limited sessions that require you to stay in the application.

I enjoy listening to music during my workday and need access to other essential applications. If you're looking for an app that will not interrupt your iOS experience look at the Freedom app, you can essentially configure to block data traffic for social media apps/ non-essential websites. As a young-professional, I need to be able to use my phone but also want to the freedom to limit my distractions. The Freedom application provides this flexibility. I do not recommend using the this app app or subscribing to their premium offering, features are severely limited and don't satisfy the use-case your looking to solve.

by Stephsteph11

Flipd is almost perfect. I could see this really helping me achieve my goals by helping me get off my phone so much. I didn’t even have issues with my apps getting oh of order like others mentioned. However, the nuisance of having my notification settings reset every single time you go into “full lockdown” is enough for me to delete Flipd. There’s no easy fix for this. Every time to go into a different app Flipd prompts you if you’d like to turn notifications on or off as it does when you first install an app. And whatever your settings were for the notifications before full lockdown gets erased. For example: for my email app, I only have the badge notifications turned on. After using full lockdown and selecting “allow notifications” I then got a default notification (with sound) every single time I got an email. Which is like every other minute. Which caused me to look at my phone to see why it vibrated/made noise. The exact opposite of what I’m trying to accomplish.

by Mollmoll007

So yesterday I used for first time and loved the FULL LOCKDOWN. I was able to use text, email and phone but nothing else, well camera and standard apps I basically rarely use. I was surprised to find there was no way to disable this at least that I know of. Ok so here is why I gave it only a 3. I have the majority of my icons in a separate folder because I DONT like my screen cluttered with icons! So when my phone went OFF full lockdown ALL OF MY ICONS WERE ALL OVER MY SCREEN!!!!! If you are going to block them PLEASE PIT THEM BACK! Ok so it’s a free app does that give me the right to complain???? I would never pay $7.99 a month though or is it $5.99? I forgot but either one is way too much! Ok so last thing is that you can set an alarm, an alarm that is basically worthless because it is such a faint little “ting” that if you don’t have your phone right next to you it is worthless..... plus I haven’t seen a repeat feature for the alarm so when you miss that tinny ting you can set it to ting again and again till you turn it off. Other then those complaints I really liked it and will use it again. I set the 4 hour mode lockdown and when I need google I wasn’t able to access it but that’s good in one sense I guess... I got a it done!

by A Burden Has Been Lifted

I downloaded Flipd a long time ago because I’m a student who really struggles with time management and staying focused in general on anything. Flipd truly helped me set my phone aside and set out long blocks of time where I could forget it existed.

Unfortunately as most makers of apps do, they shifted solely to how they could profit off of people and decided to lock more and more features. The once simple layout that alllowed everyone to set focus sessions for 1-4 hours has now decreased to only 40minute sessions. There is a large base of app users that are excluded from the quality of Flipd because it is unaffordable for students or other who cannot pay to use a timer for more than 40 minutes.

To add insult to injury Flipd is now completely cluttered with grabs for your attention in other places to market premium purchase. I really relied on this to help me get through times when procrastination was pushing me down, and it is sad that Flipd can no longer provide those services for stretches of time that are actually useful.

I wish I had not updated it and I wouldn’t have if I checked other reviews or had a way of knowing how it’d changed for the worse. That being said if you are able to afford premium then I’m confident it would be a different experience. It is a great app that lost its way a bit and cluttered itself too much. I will be deleting it now that I have seen the new update.

by Ashcari

My first time writing a review (EVER!!) because Flipd has so much potential!!
It’s my personal preference, but I just wish there was a stopwatch. Idk if there is one and I just missed it, but I usually study without setting time goal. I just do it until I need a break. Sometimes I have to stop suddenly, or I just study over what I set and I don’t want to turn on my phone just to start another timer and repeating that over and over.
I would definitely use Flipd religiously if you guys had stopwatch :(
I kinda drifted away from Flipd because of that

by Techburger

I am really pretty thankful for Flipd. It has improved my self-control when charging my phone next my bed at night. I haven’t really used any other feature besides the full lock. However, I do wish that Flipd had an auto-lock system that would allow you to set the time that you want it to lock, as well as give customized warning certain minutes before locking. It would be a lot more helpful because the main issue with digital self-control at night is having the self discipline to actually go on Flipd and lock you yourself out. If they found a way to auto lock you from the phone using a set amount of time, it would be so much more useful. I would pay for a premium subscription if that were the case.

by Adriankeith

Updated review: It looks like the delay related issues have been worked out and Flipd is now saving my sessions as expected. Unfortunately, I’ve moved on to another time tracking/management app. I did test out some of the functions that were not working for me and Flipd does look like it’s working as expected. I may return to using it but building a routine with one tool is critical for me. I want to call out Alanna and the customer service provided by her and the team. I tried to provide as much detailed feedback as to the issues I was experiencing and she replied in kind. I’ve updated the review to reflect that as I do think Flipd is worth trying if you’re looking for something to help you track your habits, productivity, or just your time in general.

by SocialLonerFromFrance

I don’t comment often but I really do love Flipd. It’s simple, useful, and efficient when it comes to helping me stay on task. However, there are a couple of things that I’d absolutely love to see in the next updates, and both have to do with (generally) the same thing. One: it would be great if we could choose which apps are allowed while we’re ‘this app’ off. There are a few apps that I need to use while studying, like Desmos, Google Classroom and similar apps. Two: the same goes for the ‘Full Lock Mode.’ I love the idea of it, but being able to keep select apps would be amazing. These two things are the only reasons I’m not using Flipd every time I study. Again, great app, and I hope you guys keep my ideas in mind :)

by Nsoni

Flipd is one of, if not the best app on iOS that helps you break away from your distracting apps. It goes way beyond just sending you a notification about stop using distractions apps and sites which can easily be dismissed. This locks all distracting from your phone by making them literally disappear. It was scary at first and thought there was a glitch and that my phone was erased but after some time everything came up. My only issue with Flipd is that after go full mode and the distracting apps disappear from your phone which is perfect and amazing but after the timer is over and the apps return by they’re in alphabetical order not the way I set it up. That’s the only reason I’m taking 1 star off. If they can somehow fix that after the timer is up then I will gladly change my review and pay for Flipd as necessary

by Cedarschimke

What I’ve been looking for fur. Eh. Vur. I don’t know what kind of voodoo magic the this app folks work on my phone when it goes into full lock mode, but it’s exactly what I need. I am so much happier not having those moments of ‘oh look, I just wasted 30 minutes of my life scrolling instagram’.
I open my phone, see that none of my apps are there, and don’t care. Now, I have such peace of mind from not having them there (when I’m in full lock mode), that I often enable it even when I’m not actively working or trying to be productive. It’s so much easier to be present.

Also, make sure you add on the thing that puts your apps back where you had them before you go into full lock mode. And read the instructions and prompts for how to do that. I know, I know, reading instructions is a draaaag but they’re short and simple and you only have to do it once. Enjoy not feeling like a squirrel anymore!

by Andriy Ivakhov

It’s probably my first review on Flipd ever. With the procrastinating soul, and plenty of time limitations installed already, i usually caught up myself “trying not to procrastinate”. Long time ago all social media was deleted from my phone but it didn’t really turned me into the productivity monster, I would find some hacks like reading telegram channels(READING can’t be procrastinating, right?!), constantly checking email/credit karma/headspace app. So far I tried: forest, focus at will, screen time internal, cold turkey on Mac, and maybe another thousand of apps like this.
Most of them can be easily hijacked, probably in the lockout mode if you delete the previously installed profile you’ll get your life full of distractions back, but at least it’s harder than 6 digits of my passcode and just loosing another tree in forest.

You guys did a really great job with groups, challenges, customization. I’m still surprised that your app can be easily used for free.

by Acwillet

Full disclosure: I have a phone addiction I wanted to control and a friend recommended this app. First few times even a half hour full block will drive you crazy but later you start to live like a 90s person who only used their phone for calls and texts -and whichever email you have associated to the default app on your phone. Other email apps won’t work- (which I’ve found is the only really useful things I do with my phone) so I have lost much less time since I installed this app and I have learned how to disconnect from my phone a bit and just live life on the present (pretty philosophical, huh?) New version is pretty sleek looking and nice, and selection of time in the free version is reasonable. You also have the option for a light block if you are at a stage where your willpower is good and you need to check one of your downloadable apps, which is cool. Overall, I think it is one of the few productivity apps that do work! I love it.

by Student1000000000

Flipd has really transformed how I use my phone, particularly in the way I procrastinate. I can turn off all my apps with the touch of a button and then I can fall asleep without temptation.

You know how it is: you crawl into bed and right as you ware about to turn off the light you decide to check email/instagram/amazon or whatever and then 2 hours later you realize you have fallen down the scroll. This amazing app has changed the way I fall asleep! I can’t thank you enough for helping me put a stop to my nighttime phone addiction! For a hot minute they needed to create a patch or something and Flipd didn’t work. They were quick to fix it but for those several days I was like “ack! Where is my app!” I use it almost every night!!!

by Nour Alanbari

I think Flipd is wonderful. I especially love the full lock option because it makes it so that you can’t use your distracting apps, whether you like it or not.

My only suggestion for the developers would be to put an option to automatically flip your phone off at certain times. Unfortunately, I’m addicted to using my phone in bed and waste a massive amount of time because of that; it can be difficult for me to always choose to hard lock my phone since a part of me doesn’t want to. I think it’s safe to say that there are many others out there who have an addiction to social media (for example, due to Facebook’s never ending scroll feature on the newsfeed). I believe those trying to cut down on phone time before bed, in the morning when they wake up, etc. can benefit a lot from an auto-flip feature. Hope we can see this sometime soon!

Other than that, Flipd works very well and I haven’t encountered any problems with it. Great job!

Edit: I changed my rating from 4 stars to 5 because they’re unable to include an automatic feature due to limitations of the iOS. Hope that changes soon!

by Strawberry The Unicorn

If you’re not necessarily enthusiastic about studying, you NEED this app in your life!! I’ve been using Flipd for about 6 months now and it has honestly changed the way I study for ever. Getting to study online with others in groups is a lifesaver and makes you feel like you’re not alone. I also like how you have the option to join group leaderboards but aren’t obligated to, as it is motivating for me. You can even see which days you’ve studied which helps me too, and the streak feature is very inspiring as well. Even when you’re not a premium member, most of Flipd is available to you and I appreciate this app not giving you constant reminders about getting premium. I also like the break feature, it makes it so much easier how you can just pause your session and come back without having to end it altogether. Lastly, I LOVE the layout. This is what drew me to Flipd and I was just amazed by everything. Flipd runs so smoothly, is easy and understandable to use, and the graphics are cute, minimalistic and pretty. I don’t know what more I could ask for. Thank you, this app team!! You have changed my life!!

by Sayen Princess

This is just something I wanted to say, you can ignore this part. So I installed the thing to keep my apps in order. Then I tested it. Guess what. It didn’t work. I followed every step and had PERFECT internet connection. Turns out I wasn’t supposed to restart my phone, so okay..... but otherwise best screen time app I’ve found. (Okay ignore that part) I have a few suggestions though:
A medium lock. You have light lock and a full lockdown mode, so it would be nice have a medium lock. It would be, you choose apps to restrict for a certain amount of time, almost like the lockdown mode, or it’s like the lockdown mode, but you choose apps to keep.
More apps to keep on lockdown mode. Not just any apps, but it would be nice to be able to keep some self help apps! That’s my main problem.
Time tracker. I couldn’t think of a name for it, but it’s like you have say a hour to use a app every day before it disappears until the next day.
Sorry for this being so long, but those are some suggestions I think would be cool. Thanks for helping with my screen addiction!!!

by Naviero0783

I have done some research and there is no other app that truly lets you to take a predetermined commitment and stick to it . The beauty of Flipd is that it literally locks down your apps , no other app does that , I am thinking it probably even goes against the agenda of most smart phone brands and that’s why it is such a pain to install . Anyhow, I rarely review apps but I must say this is the most productive app I have tried so far ! Keep it coming ! We will need more of these...
They say Cortez burned his ships on shore to ensure everyone stayed inland and get done with their tasks...
While it is not the most morally reassuring example , this is very close . Humans are prone to cheating ...

by Thessamp

I went to use the Full Block more today but it says it’s not available with this version. I know it says that you’re working on it.... please help! I love this feature of Flipd . It’s a great feature to help keep you focused.

Personally; I’m not a fan of the social aspect. I don’t need people to see if I’m fasting. (Zero app). I don’t need to challenge anyone to help stay on track... I understand the benefits of having an accountability partner...but what happened to be accountable for yourself? Personally I use Flipd to help detox from the HUGE array of social platforms; not create another one (but this is just me- I must be old school). The last thing I want to do is be distracted by the social platform when I’m going to Flipd to turn all of that OFF so that I can get what I need done....please bring the this app Off feature back!!!

by Sfw2829

I love Flipd and it does exactly what I need it to. I read the suggestion to keep apps in folders but then when the full lock would turn off, the apps would be pulled out of some folders and kept in others. So then I figured that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal to just have my apps in alphabetical order since I’m trying to not be on my phone anyway. I pulled all the apps OUT of folders, did a full lock session, and when I came back some were in folders again! 🤦🏻‍♀️ any idea when this will be worked out? I need it to be consistent. Not sometimes they are in folders and sometimes they aren’t. Other than this little glitch I absolutely love Flipd .

by Laerec

What I’ve been looking for fur. Eh. Vur. I don’t know what kind of voodoo magic the this app folks work on my phone when it goes into full lock mode, but it’s exactly what I need. I am so much happier not having those moments of ‘oh look, I just wasted 30 minutes of my life scrolling instagram’.
I open my phone, see that none of my apps are there, and don’t care. Now, I have such peace of mind from not having them there (when I’m in full lock mode), that I often enable it even when I’m not actively working or trying to be productive. It’s so much easier to be present.

Also, make sure you add on the thing that puts your apps back where you had them before you go into full lock mode. And read the instructions and prompts for how to do that. I know, I know, reading instructions is a draaaag but they’re short and simple and you only have to do it once. Enjoy not feeling like a squirrel anymore!