Exist: Screen Time Control
App blocker, focus, detox
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases
iPhone
Built on behavioral psychology, Exist helps you beat your smartphone addiction without willpower.
The easy way to use your phone less.
Exist blocks distracting apps when you want to focus, but it does more than that…
It gradually removes your itch to use a smartphone, no willpower required.
Based on behavioral psychology, Exist counteracts many of the psychological tricks that tech companies used to make their platforms so addictive in the first place.
Specifically…
EXIST WORKS BY:
1. Rewiring Habit Loops (AKA, no more compulsive app opening)
Part of what makes certain apps and websites so irresistible is that they substitute for real human desires (excitement, belonging, love, etc.).
The more you understand what's behind your cravings, the easier it becomes to resist them, and eventually, the less they appear at all.
So, just before you open one of the apps that you'd like to use less, Exist will intercept you with a chance to think about why you're opening the app at all.
Exist will then give you a chance to bail, plus an alternate idea for a healthier way to scratch your TRUE itch.
(Outside your blocking schedules, you won't be hard-locked out of any app until you hit your self-imposed limit for the day.)
2. Providing an "Escape Hatch" from Doomscrolls (AKA, no more randomly losing two hours to the Feed)
Ever opened your phone for just a second, then lost two hours to scrolling?
This is possible thanks to "bottomless feeds."
With Exist, when you open one of your chosen "problem apps," you'll choose a time allotment, and when it's up, you can abandon the doomscroll with one tap.
Users have loved this feature so far.
3. Protecting Special Time Windows (AKA, get your nights and mornings back)
If there's ONE hack for better health in today's world, it might be simply getting your phone away from your face right before bed and right after waking up.
Inside of Exist, you can create schedules in which any combination of apps that you choose will automatically be blocked.
Plenty of other apps do this, but Exist offers a feature designed specifically for the hours surrounding sleep.
4. Letting You Go Analog (AKA, pretending like it's 2010 again)
Put your phone into "Exist Mode" to block all the phone functions that arrived with smartphones.
EXIST IS ALWAYS EVOLVING:
We are committed to helping people reclaim their brains from the internet.
We are constantly working with our subscribers to make the product as useful as possible.
We love talking to fans, and you can submit a request for any feature inside of Settings.
MORE INFO:
Exist uses Apple's Screen Time system to see and limit app use on your device.
Subscriptions are 7 days free, then $59.99/year or $9.99/month. Cancel anytime in Settings.
Terms of Use: https://useexist.com/exist-terms
The developer, John Stringfield, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
- Purchases
- Contact Info
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- John Stringfield
- Size
- 444.1 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
9+
- 9+
- Contains
Health or Wellness Topics
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Exist Monthly $9.99
- Exist Yearly $59.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Firstmover LLC