Hi! Love the idea of this app and that you’re people-focused and not selling our data. I’m very specifically looking for an app that will let me set app time limits within a schedule. My issue with social media is not just that I lose track of time, but also that I have poor impulse control, so if I give myself a limit of 1 hour of Instagram a day, I’ll use it all in one sitting. I want to be able to set a schedule that says from 7a-10a, I have a 15 minute Instagram limit, and from 10a-6pm, I have a 30 minute Instagram limit. There was a website extension for chrome WasteNoTime that allows you to do this which was great for the world before smart phones, but I haven’t been able to find a solution that can do the same for apps. Do you have any intention of adding this feature or something similar? Thanks! Lara
This exact reason impulse control and everything is why I have downloaded 10 apps like Opal over the past 3 weeks. Nothing is out there for phones but you can find a bunch of stuff for Mac or PC.
“Truthfully the only thing I’d love to have (more of a feature idea) is to have “set” time limits for certain apps. Let’s say I have a focus block from 4p - 6p each night. I’d love to have a middle ground where I could say “I only want to be on instagram for a total of 10 mins in that 2 hour span”. Right now, to my knowledge, I can just block it and then go request a break to access IG, but would love to set a timeline on some time blocks where i’m okay with being on socials, but don’t want to be on there for hours”
For those of you out there using iPhones (iOS systems), if you will go to the Settings icon, then go into ‘Screen Time,’ you’ll find a statistical synopsis of how you’ve been using your time on your phone (social media, productivity apps, information & reading, etc.), as well as the specific apps (within those categories) you’ve been utilizing throughout that time period.
There’s a ‘See all activity’ option just below the graph of your weekly (day-to-day) phone usage, displayed in a general & nonspecific graph as your ‘daily usage percentage’ per 24hr period. After you click on the ‘See all activity,’ the details of what apps you’ve spent your time on are all listed below (as are the overall percentage of those categories with respect to the function they serve). You have the option to view the current day and also to view the current week’s breakdown.
Okay, so going back to the very first screen of your ‘Screen Time’ option, there are several different methods that are available to you / us, to be able to set those limits you are desiring.
Also, you have the option to set up for yourself, different ‘Focus’ times and sessions, where only certain apps are accessible to you during that specific ‘Focus’ session. It’s right there along with your ‘Do not Disturb’ times & options, and you can add as many as you like… it’s quite effective!!
<@Derek H%%user%%05e1e3fc-d93f-4769-a87f-fa58dd0a572c> <@Kenneth%%user%%dc80cb21-78fb-4447-9e30-1f8127723799> see my above info, friends!! Hope it helps
If I exit an app with the intention of going back to work but accidentally open the app up and get distracted again I’d like to set a timeout rule where the app automatically begins a session. Or some rule where after being on for so long it begins a session for a break. It would be an adjustable session length.
I would like to see app usage times but also if I get distracted by an app I’d like notifications after pre determined intervals. A perisitent pop up at 5 mins, or 7, or 10, etc to snap me out of it.
It would be great to be able to add daily timers to apps (example: 30 minutes of Instagram a day) and once that limit is reached the app will become blocked as if it were on a session.
This is the one feature that would convince me to switch from trial to annual subscription… being able to set a time limit and then automatically go into Deep Focus once I hit the limit.
We should be able to set an app limit for the entire day. For example I want to be able to only use instagram for 1 hour throughout the entire day and when i’ve used it i’m done. Instead i can only set to not use it through whatever time i set
The main reason I need opal is because the apple time limit is too easy to bypass, and I need an opal block screen when time is up. Right now opal only has blocked apps for a certain time of day instead of time limits.
Thanks for sharing this. Can you elaborate on why you think Time Limits is better vs Sessions? How do you use Time Limits today on screen time? for categories or apps? for a few apps?
I used to have this amazing app on android that would allow a certain app for a certain number of minutes per hour.
I feel like this was the best for me out of all features i have used for both android and apple screen time blocking apps. For example, i used to allow snapchat to be used for 4 minutes every hour. Every hour that timer would reset. This way I would get to choose when i want to use snapchat during the hour and also instead use it in a faster way instead of just sitting on the app for a long period.
Another way this can be done is by allowing an app to have a certain amount if minutes it can be used in a day. For example i had YouTube locked to a maximum one hour for the day. So it was my choice when to use and how budget the hour for the whole day. This helped prevent binge watching.
To get something similar to this in your app i have set up multiple recurring sessions every hour with 2-3 5 min sessions to allow me to use my blocked apps.
However with my features stated above i can choose when i want to use my blocked apps but still have a time limit. Otherwise i have to wait until the session ends to get to use the blocked apps.
My main goal is to reduce my time in social media apps but not block them all day. I want to have the ability to use them for important situations but still have a timer to prevent me from staying on the app too long.
Thanks and i hope you can make these changes. Me and my friends have been looking for an app that does this for years.
