Be smart, stay dumb.

Back to the sheet Office Focus timer · B6
Photo
B6 · Hall of smart-shame Oh no, you didn’t?

Opal screen-time app

By Opal.

$8–20
Per month, estimate. Prices change.

An app that blocks other apps, sold by subscription and installed on the device that distracts you. Focus, now with a login.

Online
Wi-Fi, Ethernet or cellular. An attacker can be anywhere, and it can collect data.
Cloud-dependent
Needs the maker's servers or app to work, so the maker can switch it off.

Buy the dumb one instead

We do not link to the smart one. You can find it.

Survival checklist

What it survives, next to the dumb one.
1
=SURVIVES(threat)Survives…
ThisOpal screen-time app
The dumb oneDumb onePomodoro tomato timer
2
Power cut
FALSE
TRUE
3
Wi-Fi goes down
FALSE
TRUE
4
The company switches off its servers
FALSE
TRUE
5
Someone tries to hack it
FALSE
TRUE
6
A firmware update goes wrong
FALSE
TRUE
7
Twenty years from now
FALSE
TRUE
8
=COUNTIF(TRUE)Total
0 of 60/6
6 of 66/6

The dumb one is the Pomodoro tomato timer.

Row 6

See it in the sheetIn the sheet
Photo You are here

Charges you to stop using your phone. On your phone.

Opal screen-time app

$8–20
Online · Cloud-dependent An app to quit apps. Hm.
#N/A

We looked. Sorry.

An electric timer without a chip is a clock with a motor. The tomato is one cell to the left.