PhoneStop: Screen Time Limit

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About this app

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.

Earn the moment back

Over your limit, PhoneStop does not just nag. It offers a reset: a 15-second breathing timer, a set of squats, or push-ups. Move first, then lock your phone with one tap. 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
• One-tap phone lock
• Daily and weekly history: screen time, offscreen time, unlock count
• A pause button for when you actually need your phone
• No account, no sign-up, no ads

Private by design

PhoneStop runs entirely on your device. There is no account, no cloud, no analytics, no ad network. Your screen time never leaves your phone — the app does not even hold the internet permission.

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 restore your stats if Android stops the app in the background.
• Device admin, lock only and optional — powers the "Lock my phone" button. PhoneStop only ever calls lock. It cannot wipe your device, change your password, or block uninstall.
• Battery optimisation exemption — so tracking does not silently stop mid-day.

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.

What’s new

Updated for Android 16.