I think screen time apps are the wrong category entirely
I think screen time apps are solving the wrong problem entirely. Lately I have been feeling like most screen time apps are built on the wrong assumption like they assume the real problem is that people need stricter rules like timers, locks, limits amd stuff like daily reports that tell you what you already know but that has never been my real problem. My problem was never that I did not know I was wasting time I always knew. The real problem was that in the exact moment I was tired, anxious, avoiding something, or mentally scattered, my phone became the easiest place to disappear into like some sorta escape mechanism and most apps still treat that like a discipline issue. So they either show me numbers after the damage is done, or they punish me in a way that makes me override them the second I feel stressed. That is why I keep thinking screen time apps are the wrong category. Maybe the category should be something closer to something that could actually just make the smartphone a bit less quiet and less dopamine inducing like a whole ahh environment or something. I might be overthinking this, but I honestly feel like a lot of people do not need another productivity system. Well sorry for the rant and have screen time apps ever genuinely helped you, or have they mostly just made you more aware of the problem?