Sprout Blog

Short, practical guides on blocking distracting apps and getting your attention back. No digital-wellbeing philosophy, just the settings, the trade-offs, and what actually holds after a week.

How to block short-form video on iPhone and Android

Screen Time, Digital Wellbeing, in-app switches, and why every one of them stops working after a week.

Screen time app alternatives: one sec, Opal, Forest and Sprout compared

Four apps, four different jobs. What each one is genuinely good at, and where each one stops.

How to stop doomscrolling

Why willpower loses to an infinite feed, and what to change in the environment instead.

Screen Time limits not working: fixes for iPhone and Android

Six reasons the limit does not block, the Android equivalents, and the one cause no setting fixes.

Best apps to block short videos in 2026

Six options, from the free built-in limits to friction apps and schedulers, with the honest downside of each.

Try the earn-your-time approach

Sprout blocks the apps you choose once your daily limit runs out, and gives minutes back only when you complete an activity: exercise, reading, a focus session, a chore. There is no button that grants more time. Free to start, on iPhone and Android.