PhoneStop: Screen Time Limit

PhoneStop gives you a screen time budget and then actually holds you to it. Most screen time apps show you a number at the end of the day, when it is too late to matter. PhoneStop works in the moment: it counts your budget down while you use your phone, warns you before it runs out, and puts a full-screen stop in front of you when it does — even when you are deep inside another app. How it works 1. Set your daily budget. Pick the amount of screen time you want per day. Onboarding suggests a realistic starting point based on how much you use your phone now. 2. Watch it drain. The home screen is a single ring that empties as you use your phone. One glance tells you where you stand. 3. Get warned in time. Notifications reach you at roughly 60, 30 and 10 minutes left, inside whatever app you are using — not buried in a weekly report. 4. Get stopped. When the budget hits zero, a full-screen reminder takes over and asks you to put the phone down. Let the urge pass Over your limit, PhoneStop does not just nag. It offers something to do with the urge: a 15-second breathing timer, a set of squats, or push-ups. They buy you nothing, and that is the point: move first, then put the phone down. And if you genuinely need your phone — driving, work, an emergency — you can extend the window in one tap and the warnings go quiet. What you get • A daily screen time budget that counts down in real time • Escalating low-budget warnings that reach you inside other apps • A full-screen stop the moment you go over • Breathing and movement breaks instead of doomscrolling • Daily and weekly history of your screen time, and a short letter about your week every Sunday • A pause button for when you actually need your phone • No account, no sign-up, no ads Private by design Your screen time never leaves your phone. PhoneStop keeps it on your device, with no account, no cloud and no ad network. The app sends only anonymous taps (which screens you open and which permissions you allow), a daily check that tracking still runs, and error reports without their messages. You can turn all of them off in Settings. Permissions, and why each one • Notifications — to deliver the warnings and the time's-up reminder. • Display over other apps — so the stop screen can appear over whatever you are using. Without it you get a notification instead. • Usage access — to show your last few days right away, and to keep the count correct if Android closes PhoneStop in the background. PhoneStop reads only when the screen was locked and unlocked, never which apps you use. • Battery optimisation exemption, asked only on phones known to close apps in the background — so tracking does not silently stop mid-day. • Internet: to send the anonymous taps you can turn off, and to complete a Supporter purchase. It never sends your screen time. PhoneStop is a soft blocker on purpose. It does not take your phone away or root your device. It puts one honest moment of friction between you and the next hour you were about to lose, and leaves the choice with you. For anyone who wants a digital detox without an app that shames them. Just a limit, a warning, and a stop.