FAQ

What is Unscroll?

Unscroll is a mindful scrolling app for iOS that shows you your screen time while you scroll, not after you've already spent two hours in a doomscrolling spiral. Instead of blocking or restricting your apps, Unscroll keeps you conscious of how long you've been scrolling so you can decide for yourself when to stop. No restrictions, no guilt-trips, just awareness when it actually counts.

How does Unscroll actually work?

Unscroll works in two main ways:

1. Screen time reminders before you open an app. When you tap Instagram, TikTok, or any app you've selected, Unscroll shows you a quick reminder of how much you've already scrolled today, before you go in. Think of it as a reality check at the door, not a debrief after you've already lost an hour.
2. Live screen time while you scroll. Once you're inside an app, a live timer shows your scrolling time in real time via a Live Activity on your Lock Screen or Dynamic Island. The rational part of your brain stays engaged instead of switching off on autopilot.

Optionally:

• Use the in-app social browser to check your feeds in one place without opening the native apps
• Set morning and bedtime detoxes for the moments when your willpower is weakest
• Track your weekly usage patterns to watch your habits shift over time

Which apps does Unscroll work with?

Unscroll works with essentially any app you want to be more intentional about. This includes:

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, Discord, Twitch, and anything else you find yourself mindlessly opening, including Mail, Messages, news apps, or websites you procrastinate on.

If you can open it on your phone and lose time in it, you can add it to Unscroll.

How long does setup take?

About 3 minutes. You accept the Screen Time permissions, select the apps you want to use Unscroll with, and you're done. There's no complicated configuration, no daily check-ins, and no habit-tracking to maintain. It just runs quietly in the background.

What are "scroll aware sessions"?

When you open one of your selected apps, Unscroll starts a 5-minute scroll aware session. During this time, your live screen time is displayed so you can see exactly how long you've been scrolling. Every 5 minutes, a reminder nudges you again. The goal isn't to interrupt you constantly: it's to keep a gentle thread of awareness running so you don't completely lose track of time.

What is the in-app social browser and do I need it?

The in-app browser is an optional feature that lets you check your social feeds from inside Unscroll, rather than opening the native apps. It's especially useful for apps like TikTok where the native app is particularly addictive: the slightly less polished web version creates just enough natural friction without fully blocking you. You don't have to use it. It's there if you want a cleaner, more contained way to check certain apps.

What are morning and bedtime detoxes?

These are scheduled quiet periods you can set for the times when your willpower is typically lowest: first thing in the morning when you're still half-asleep, and late at night when you're trying to wind down. During these windows, Unscroll adds an extra layer of awareness before you open selected apps in the in-app browser. You're not locked out. You're just asked a maths question to engage your rational brain for a moment, and help you bring that rationality to your decision to scroll or not.

Does Unscroll work in the background automatically?

Yes. Once you've set it up, Unscroll works passively. You don't need to open the app before scrolling for it to work. The reminders and live timer run automatically whenever you open a selected app.

Who is Unscroll for?

Unscroll is for people who want to use social media less, but not zero. Specifically, it's for you if:

• You find yourself scrolling for way longer than you intended, regularly
• You put your phone down feeling drained, foggy, or vaguely bad about yourself
• You've tried screen time limits or app blockers but found them too easy to ignore or too annoying to keep
• You don't want to delete your apps or disconnect entirely. You still want to keep up with friends, the news, and the content you actually enjoy
• You want to feel like social media is something you use intentionally, not something that uses you

Who is Unscroll not for?

Unscroll probably isn't the right fit if:

• You want to be completely blocked from social media with no way around it. Unscroll is deliberately not a blocker
• You're looking for a strict parental control or content restriction tool
• You don't use social media much and don't feel like it's a problem

If you want a hard lock, apps like Opal or Freedom are built for that. Unscroll is for people who want awareness and choice, not enforcement.

Will Unscroll actually reduce my screen time?

For most people, yes, and here's why it works when other methods don't.

The reason you scroll for two hours without meaning to isn't a lack of willpower. It's that time becomes invisible once you're inside an app. The feed is designed to be endless, the content is engineered to keep you watching, and there's no natural stopping point. Unscroll doesn't fight the algorithm. It just makes time visible again. When you can see how long you've been scrolling, the rational part of your brain re-engages, and you start making actual decisions instead of running on autopilot.

It's not a magic fix. But awareness is the prerequisite for change. You can't adjust a habit you can't see.

I've tried Screen Time limits and they didn't work. Why would this be different?

iOS Screen Time limits are easy to dismiss with a single tap, and most people do, because the friction hits at the worst possible moment (when you actually want to check something). After a while, you start ignoring the notification entirely. They also break down when you need access urgently. The moment you override it once, the habit of overriding it is formed, and eventually you turn it off altogether.

Unscroll works differently because it doesn't try to stop you. It just shows you information (your actual scrolling time) at the moment you're about to open an app or while you're mid-scroll. There's nothing to dismiss, no limit to override, no willpower required to "keep" the restriction in place. It works with your behaviour rather than against it.

Unscroll doesn't block anything. You always have full access to your apps. The difference is that you open them with awareness rather than on autopilot. Over time, that awareness compounds: you start noticing your patterns, catching yourself earlier, and naturally scrolling less without ever feeling restricted or resentful.

I already know I scroll too much. Will just seeing the time actually change anything?

It sounds almost too simple, and that's a fair scepticism. But there's a meaningful difference between abstractly knowing you scroll too much and seeing "1 hour 47 minutes today" appear on your screen as you're about to open Instagram for the fourth time.

The addictive pull of social media works partly because time disappears. The moment time becomes visible and concrete, the spell breaks a little. Not completely, but enough to make real decisions more often. Users consistently report that the live timer while scrolling is the feature that changes things most, because it keeps a thread of consciousness running that the apps are specifically designed to cut.

You probably won't go from two hours a day to twenty minutes overnight. But you'll start stopping earlier, opening apps less reflexively, and feeling less like scrolling is something that just happens to you.

I don't want to completely quit social media. Is that okay?

That's exactly the point. Unscroll isn't asking you to quit. Social media is genuinely useful: it's how you keep up with friends, stay across the news, follow things you care about, and occasionally see something that makes you laugh out loud. The problem isn't social media itself. It's the mindless, hours-long, autopilot version of using it that leaves you feeling drained and vaguely terrible.

Unscroll is built on the belief that the goal isn't zero: it's intentional. Checking Instagram because you want to is fine. Losing 90 minutes to it without ever deciding to is what Unscroll helps you avoid.

Is Unscroll suitable for teenagers or kids?

Unscroll is designed for adults who are self-motivated to change their own habits. It's not a parental control tool and doesn't offer the kind of hard restrictions that would be appropriate for younger children. For teenagers who are self-aware about their scrolling and genuinely want to use their phone less, it could be useful, but it works best for people who have opted in to the idea themselves, rather than having it imposed on them.

What's the difference between Unscroll and iOS Screen Time?

iOS Screen Time gives you a report of how long you've used your phone, usually surfaced as a weekly notification you glance at and forget. The app limits it offers are trivially easy to override with one tap.

Unscroll surfaces your screen time in the moment: before you open an app and while you're actively scrolling. That timing is everything. A number you see after the fact changes nothing. A number you see as you're about to go in, or while you're mid-scroll, actually gives you the chance to make a different choice.

What's the difference between Unscroll and Opal, Jomo, or Freedom?

Those are blocking apps. They work by preventing access to selected apps during set time windows. The core mechanism is restriction: you can't get in, or getting in requires deliberate effort to override.

Unscroll's core mechanism is awareness. You can always get into your apps. Unscroll just makes sure you go in consciously rather than on autopilot.

This makes Unscroll more sustainable long-term for most people: there's nothing to resent, nothing to override, and no moment where the app becomes the enemy because it's blocking you from something you actually need. The trade-off is that it requires some genuine intention on your part. If you want to be hard-locked out with no way around it, a blocker is the right tool. If you want to actually change your relationship with scrolling rather than just be prevented from doing it, Unscroll is built for that.

What's the difference between Unscroll and One Sec?

One Sec works by adding a moment of friction before you open an app, typically a breathing exercise or a pause that makes you confirm you really want to open it. It's a good idea, but the intervention is momentary. Once you're past the pause, you're in the app with no ongoing awareness, and the scroll can take over just as easily.

Unscroll's awareness is sustained. The live timer runs while you're scrolling, not just at the door. That ongoing visibility is what keeps the rational part of your brain engaged throughout the session, not just for the three seconds before you go in.

What's the difference between Unscroll and just deleting my apps?

Deleting apps works, until it doesn't. Most people who delete Instagram or TikTok re-download them within days or weeks, because social media is genuinely woven into how we communicate, stay informed, and stay connected. Going cold turkey means missing group chats, events, news, and the content you actually enjoy. The deprivation tends to make the eventual re-download feel like a failure, and you often come back with even less structure than before.

Unscroll doesn't ask you to give anything up. It asks you to use what you have more consciously. That's a much easier behaviour to maintain indefinitely, and it doesn't require you to be cut off from people and things you care about in the meantime.

What's the difference between Unscroll and a dumb phone?

Dumb phones are a dramatic but legitimate solution for some people. If you genuinely want to step back from smartphones entirely, that's a valid choice. But for most people it's not realistic: smartphones are how we navigate, communicate, work, bank, and organise our lives. Replacing your iPhone with a Nokia to avoid TikTok is a bit like moving house to avoid your noisy neighbour.

Unscroll is for people who want to keep their phone and everything useful about it, while just being more intentional about the scrolling parts.