Refocus - Screen Time Blocker Reviews

this app is probably my favorite app on my phone, no joke. I needed something beyond the standard time limit on my phone, so it’s scheduling feature blocking apps during certain time durations is amazing, as well as the mindful prompt when you do unblock an app to remind you if it’s really what you want to be doing now. I opted for almost all barriers to unblocking an app (short of choosing Refocus to not allow me to unblock, which I’m very glad that feature is there) and it’s helped me limit my social media distraction so much while I’m trying to do other things, and now when I do go on social media for a short time every day, I actually enjoy it instead of doom scrolling. Highly highly recommend Refocus, just try it for a week and see the changes in how you use your time. Also, I’ve experienced only extremely minor bugs after using Refocus for months, so it seems to be very well managed and thank you to the developers!!

This is the best solution I’ve found yet for screen time management. I’ve looked through some others, but this one is one of the easiest ones to use. It has plenty of features available for free. Now, there is only one thing that I slightly dislike. I have tried a couple other screen time management apps, and some of them to allow you to lock Refocus with a passcode. Refocus doesn’t have it, and while it is still the best app around for managing screen time, I do wish it had that as a feature you could turn on in settings. Overall, Refocus looks nice, works well, and is the best app (especially with the amount of free features) I tried yet.

Does as advertised and allows for you to be specific about the apps and websites you block. I like that it doesn’t just shut off the entirety of my browser for example. However, it’s way too easy to bypass the restrictions. Yes, it allows a moment to reflect on whether I want to disable it and for how long, but ultimately, I click two buttons and I can be back to browsing. To me, this is no different than iPhone’s built in screen time lock. I think the ability to add photos, videos that play before being unable to unlock, or a math problem - something that actually causes a hinderance to using the restricted apps would go a long way. It has definitely helped in restricting, and has cut my screen time but I think some of these features would create a bigger impact.

Cheers!

I’ve been looking around for the best website/app-blocking app, and I’ve found it. I’ve only used it for about an hour so far, but I am absolutely impressed. Just a few of the features that I am loving so far:
- Highly customizable with the ability to make scheduled blocking periods to fit your own personal schedule
- Can block both apps AND websites. So many of the other apps only can block apps
- Works on Chrome. This is huge for me, as I use Chrome for my main browser. A lot of the other apps only work on Safari
- It just works. A lot of the other apps I’ve tried simply don’t work or have bugs, glitches, etc. that hamper their effectiveness. Refocus is seamless
- You get all of these amazing features for free. Even though the free features are more than enough for me, I think I’m going to subscribe just to support the developers and the company for making such an awesome app

I know this review makes me sound like a shill or something, but I rarely write reviews. It’s just that it’s so hard to find a good app/website blocking app, and Refocus really seems to do it all. 5/5 for me

For me Refocus blocker hits the right balance of being able to block my most distracting apps while still having the option to remove the block if needed (sometimes I block apps I need access to during the day!). I love the options, the ability to schedule several regular times during the day when it blocks and my biggest praise is for the ability to block distracting websites. Even if I remove the time blocker, I still can’t access those websites without going much deeper into Refocus settings to try and find and remove them, which I never do. This has saved me a ton of time during the day, because I no longer aimlessly browse those sites.

I did an end of the year check-in with my husband and we both realized that our social media addictions were affecting our mental and physical health. I didn’t want to fully delete my accounts because I do like to keep up with my friends’ lives but I did want to do something to limit the mindless scrolling. Refocus was easy to use and works perfectly. It has already made such a huge difference in my life and I feel much more optimistic about my ability to control my social media usage. I love that I can still access my accounts if I want to, but Refocus holds me accountable when I say “only 5 minutes”.

21 days in. Over 60 hours of my life reclaimed.
When I set up Refocus it told how much time, based on my average screen time, I could expect to waste on my phone over my lifetime. The number blew me away and frankly disgusted me. Obviously I was already looking to cut back, but that gave me the kick in the pants to follow through.
Refocus is straightforward in its design, it is easy to set up custom time blocks and custom settings for what apps and sites are being blocked.
Block them all, you’ll be better off ;)
Any how, 5/5. I would encourage everyone to take back control of their time, and Refocus is an excellent tool to do so.

I have been more productive than ever since staring to use Refocus! I’m even picking on learning guitar since I DO HAVE EXTRA TIME. Before I would sit on my couch to check a notification I got ‘really fast’ but when I looked at the time, an hour had passed by! So now I set my time to 5 minutes whenever I have a spare time, I check my social media for 5 minutes and that’s it, time to this app and go back to doing my errands! If I need extra time to reply messages I just set the timer to a higher time, and that works. I have recommended Refocus to my hubby, my brother, my best friend, and they all love it!

Refocus serves its purpose magnificently and can help you focus and saves you from wasting time by a huge margin. Plus you can keep a check on the number of minutes or hour you want to take a break. I will recommend using Refocus for anyone who feels addicted to their phone or who don’t want to stop using apps like social media, games or anything which you like to use everyday but want to keep a check on the time you spent on the non-productive things in your phone.

Being able to set various times to block certain apps at different days, it meets all the bars it needs to. Sure, when it’s free you can still turn off the blockage yourself as an option, however, it’s knowing and it still has made it way easier to adjust my habits and be more accountable to myself. Doom scrolling social media just needs to stop. I’m tired of being told society is collapsing and everyone hates men. Refocus helped me changed my habits and my mood

I have a problem with doom scrolling and this app gave me my life back. For real. The fact that I allow myself to scroll for one minute and then I am blocked is perfect Even if I can unblock again. I rarely do because when I get blocked I also remember that I don’t want to be scrolling

I am not a fan of subscriptions and I would love to purchase to support Refocus . Maybe add an intermediate level of extra features?

Is it possible to provide ability to search for app to block? Currently, having to figure out which category is tedious. I noticed that if the specific category (for me, Productivity & Finance) has too many apps/websites, it will crash the component. This makes it impossible to block a specific app in that category. Hope this feedback is taken into consideration. Overall, one of better apps for blocking distraction.

Absolutely life-changing! Refocus has been a game-changer for my productivity. Being able to block distracting apps during specific times has helped me stay focused and get more done. I love how customizable it is, allowing me to set different schedules for different days and even customize the list of apps to block. Highly recommend for anyone looking to boost their productivity and reduce distractions

Love Refocus and how it functions. I wish one of the features that in the plus version I wish the password feature function different than it currently does. Idea of having to recreate a password everytime I want to deep focus was cumbersome I would rather have Refocus send a otp request to a trusted contact or something of the like. If that feature changed I’d be willing to subscribe to Refocus .

Glad to have finally found a Screen Time app that doesn’t overcomplicate things. I tried a few others but they make you set up schedules and limits and are just overly complicated. This one is dead simple, and by default does not let you bypass the limit without going into Refocus to manually do it. Exactly what I wanted, will consider paying for the full version!

This is a super helpful app, but I have one suggestion that would make my use of it even better. Can there be some way to enable a pop-up with a warning about how much time is left before this app takes over? kind of like how my phone tells me when it’s on 20%. And users could decide how early of a warning they would like. I would love a five minute warning

Perfect, minimalist app that does exactly what I need it to with no frills. I can set schedules and limits, and most importantly, I CAN’T allow myself more time without going through the process of opening Refocus and pausing it - the inbuilt screen time functionality makes it too easy to just click “ignore for today” once you’ve hit a limit. A few snags here and there, but great overall!

Refocus is very efficient when you want to save screen time. When I’m getting ready in the morning, I set the timer to the time I have to leave. Then, when I do have to leave, I instantly put my phone down and I’m on time everyday. I love Refocus, and I would definitely recommend it if you want to start cutting back on screen time.

Refocus is seriously fantastic… has everything you are looking for and even the free version is fantastic without continuously prompting you to buy from them… which is why I actually will! You can choose which apps to block, time frame, or max time allowed. It is easy to use and really increases your productivity.

Refocus has saved me from so much screen time! It completely blocks notifications from distracting apps to help keep me focused. It’s very easy to set up different schedules for specific apps and I love the mindful prompt when I try to unlock an app during those scheduled times. It definitely makes me rethink wasting my time scrolling.