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- 93.7SAFETY SCORE
- 4+CONTENT RATING
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Opal: Screen Time for Focus App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
Opal: Screen Time for Focus app received 52 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Opal: Screen Time for Focus? Can you share your negative thoughts about opal: screen time for focus?
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Opal: Screen Time for Focus for Negative User Reviews
✓ Leaving this app after some timeI used to have a Pro account for this app and found it really useful before the last major update. I liked that you could configure it in a way where it would ask you what your intention was if you wanted to unblock apps for a certain amount of time. It helped me be mindful about what I was doing. They got rid of that feature now, which was a huge bummer for me but not a dealbreaker. I understand that in the last major update they went from a VPN to using Screen Time, which made it easier for them to block the apps themselves, and not just the data. This is helpful. However, it seems like a huge oversight on their behalf that now I’m somehow still able to access social media websites on my web browser. So when Opal blocks my Instagram app, I can still go on my safari and access Instagram in no time. I reached out to their customer support for a solution. Apparently you can’t block specific websites, only the ones your screen time deems as “most visited” ones. There’s no way around this other than blocking every single website on your phone and then just manually adding the ones you wanna visit which is unrealistic, as I oftentimes work from my phone and I don’t know exactly which sites I need to go on. So this app virtually doesn’t work anymore. I can still go on Facebook or Instagram or any of those sites through my browser. It’s useless. Unfortunately I can’t get past this and I’ll have to find another app to help me block social media.Version: 3.12.1
✓ Deep focus is good but easy to bypassInitially I thought the Deep Focus mode was good because it stopped you from even using the apps or from stopping/interrupting the session. But I found if I go to iPhone settings, I simply disable Opals access to Screentime and everything simply unlocks. How can this simple bypass be stopped? Otherwise it would be a great app..Version: 3.28.1
✓ Forced payment rather than free week trial?Forced me to choose to pay rather than to move onto the free week trial so I couldn’t even try it. Was really looking forward to using it, but not paying that much until I understand how it works..Version: 3.20
✓ Why use it?!I don’t get the benefits of this app. From the built in Screen Time feature I can check my screen time and block apps. So why pay extra for that? Yes, I know there is a free trial, it’s not free after the trial!! Personally, I use my phone all the time for my work, so that time won’t be reduced. I have recently deleted lots of time wasting games from phone, didn’t need Opal for that! This low rating is because the app doesn’t properly explain the benefits of paying for what I think Screen Time does, also I can’t email this feedback without going out my way to create an account to send feedback..Version: 3.19
✓ BuggedIt worked fine in the beginning. At some point the app stopped blocking my apps. Recently returned to the app and the whole app got frozen when I clicked on the “Block” tab. Then I updated to the latest version. It continued to behave the same way, had multiple attempts. When it finally loaded, it says “issue detected”. So maybe an unfortunate update affected my previous blocking session/rules..Version: 3.49.1
✓ Okay wellOkay well it’s a good app I like the gems and I like the layout it’s very well designed but it is way too expensive like I can hardly afford stuff and I need to get off screen time and I need to find a good screen time that isn’t $20 a week that is way too much. If you could hook me up with a free lifetime plan, I would like endorse you so much!!!.Version: 3.45.1
✓ Not awful but needs serious programming workStarted out using Opal, worked really well, definitely got me off the apps I wanted to spend less time on. About a month in it just signed me out and seemed to forget my account but was still taking payment for subscription. I don’t think the app keeps you signed in and so after a few weeks it doesn’t keep your sessions running and you have access to the apps you don’t want to be on..Version: 3.34.1
✓ Unacceptable priceSeriously don’t know how you come up with such an outrageous price. Get real..Version: 3.19
✓ Charged me even though I ended my subscription via itunesOpal have charged my card directly and Apple will not help as they can not see that I have been charged. I have tried to find a way to contact opal, but it seems it is impossible and they refer back to Apple. I did not like the app at all as it was inflexible about blocking times as I would prefer. For that reason, I cancelled my trial subscription on the app store after the first day of the 7 day trial. I would like to be refunded for what I see as an unhelpful app for me. However, they seem to purposely make this difficult. I am now two days into an expensive annual subscription that I do not want to use. Zero stars… but I have to give one to submit this..Version: 3.19
✓ Cancelled during trial and still charged full yearI cancelled well before the trial period ended as the app was saying I was only using my phone for 5 seconds per day. If that were true I wouldn’t need the app. I have been charged for the full year. Requested a refund and have not had a response. App says it’s an Apple Store problem, Apple Store saying I wasn’t charged. Bank account clearly has a charge for a full year from Opal. Using my phone more trying to get a refund for the app that was meant to help me use it less..Version: 3.52
✓ 80 bucks a year to look at your phone lessTitle says it all. Asks you a bunch of intro questions and then slams you with a mega subscription… typical people trying to make money off of our bad habits..Version: 2.23
✓ Lots of bugsSolid app and idea but super buggy - it doesn’t even show the same screen time between block screens and the home page of the app, and logging in or subscribing don’t even make a difference in terms of saving your preferences and data. I decided to reinstall the app following persistent issues that remained after an update and lost literally everything: reports, data, insights, settings, focus blocks… all of it! Terrible experience and I’m glad I’ve learned this at the start rather than 6 months down the track. Now I’ve got 11.5 months to go on a subscription that I’m pretty unsure about….Version: 3.50
✓ Please update the app so it’s so buggy and laggyI use Opal everyday, and the past week I can’t get it to open and it FREEZES everytime the timer’s counting down when I need to snooze focus time, meaning I’m stuck and can’t access any of my blocked apps when I need to. Now it’s not even letting me click any buttons once the app loads up. Almost at the stage of deleting the app because its so frustrating 🥲.Version: 3.49.1
✓ Helpful but often freezesI have found this to app genuinely work in reducing my screen time. I initially loved it. However, I now find the app freezes often, and then when I ask to take a “break” it sometimes doesn’t let me or doesn’t unfreeze the right apps which is quite frustrating. There are obviously some glitches in the technology that need addressing. It’s also hard to find the stats which show how you’re doing and progress that’s made week on week with overall stats. I’m determined to keep using it as I’ve now paid for it for the year..Version: 3.30.1
✓ Too expensiveThe app isn’t a fair price..Version: 3.52.1
✓ Very buggyGreat concept, great product. The app itself though is so buggy. You want it take a break? Good luck. “Something when wrong”. Try restarting the app and trying again. Nothing, apps still blocked. It’s that successful at blocking them you can’t even get to them if you want to (or need to for work in my case).Version: 3.41.1
✓ Love it but buggyLove the concept of this app and when it works I think it is great. I’ve only used the free version but I like that you can set it up for multiple apps and it’s been very helpful. My only issue with it is it consistently doesn’t unblock apps when I go to start a break. I know it’s silly, but this is most frustrating when I’m at an event and I want to post a video on my Instagram story- so I just want to unlock it quickly, take the video then put my phone away. I end up spending an extra 5-10 minutes on my phone trying to close/restart the apps & opal to get the unblock to actually go into effect. Quite annoying. I will say that sometimes this has the successful effect of me giving up and not using the social media then, which I guess is not all bad. I deleted it after it got so bad that I was frustrated, but I am coming back to it now while using another app for my Instagram- I’ll just have opal block other apps that matter less if I can’t open them..Version: 3.44
✓ UselessIf you want to monitor and limit screen time just use the screen time option on your phone. Also app blocking is super buggy because often when I get up in the morning I go on instagram for 10 minutes and it says I’ve used my 40 minutes for today so I check how much time I’ve spent on instagram on the app and it says I’ve spent 10 minutes despite the fact it was blocked.Version: 3.20
✓ Money grabDidn’t set anything up or agree to pay and it locked me out of an extremely important Zoom meeting..Version: 3.53
✓ Very laggy but does the bare minimumIt definitely works at blocking apps but my god is the app itself hard to use. It’s so unbelievably slow and laggy, you have to shut it down 5+ times to edit anything on it because it will just freeze. I tried to make a new blocking session which didn’t work as I had to give up after the app crashed about a million times. Would be so much better if they could fix this..Version: 3.41.1
✓ Not great when wanting to snooze blocking for a dayGreat at stopping you from going on apps when needed, I have mine set to block all social media apps Monday to Friday. Sadly, it’s completely useless when you want to snooze the blocking for a day if you’re off work for a day for example, as it continues to stop access so you have to snooze it for a maximum of 15 minutes each time you want to use an app. Annoying ☹️.Version: 3.43.1
✓ Good in theory—but too easy to get aroundI have been paying for Opal premium for a few months now. It was really helpful at first—I loved that because the app requires you to set up all of your schedules and block lists from scratch if you delete it acted as a deterrent from my just deleting it if I really wanted to get past my restrictions. But now, I've realized that it's incredibly easy to just switch off screen time permissions for Opal in screen time settings (in iOS at least), which instantly gives you back access to all of your apps and websites without having to change a thing in the app. I know that there's nothing Opal can do about that, but it definitely doesn't make it worth it anymore for me to pay for premium and have the ability to set up "Deep Focus" sessions. I am instead going to try just using the native Downtime feature in iOS and having a friend set the screen time passcode so I can't easily make changes..Version: 3.20
✓ Works… when it’s not buggyMaybe it’s because I was using the free version, but this app seemed like it had some bugs. Which stinks, because when it works, it really it did help me cut down screen time. But the bugs led me to deleting it. Once, it wouldn’t let me receive a FaceTime call even though I did not have calls/messages blocked during my focus sessions. I had to go into the app and request a “break” in order to return the call. That’s a big problem if you’re using your personal phone for work! Just now, I tried to enter an app outside of a focus session and it was still blocked by Opal. But because it wasn’t a focus session, I couldn’t even request a break to access the app. I had to delete Opal and restart my phone to get access back. It’s a good concept, but as someone who’s self-employed and using my personal phone for work, these bugs make it unusable for me..Version: 3.26
✓ Not the best app for meI used this app for several months and ended up buying a subscription, however, it didn’t really work for me for a couple reasons. First the app didn’t block a lot of sites or apps that I wanted it to and my support requests weren’t helpful at all. In the end it wasn’t able to block the sites that I wanted to block most. More importantly, I think the approach of most of these app blockers like Opal isn’t the most effective for managing distraction or procrastination. I had much better success with a different app called one sec, and even the free version of that app is much more useful than Opal was for me. Even though I paid for one year, I only ended up using Opal premium for a month. I asked for some kind of refund and support with the issues I was having and received neither. I don’t recommend this app. Instead I think people are better saving their money and trying other approaches to managing distraction, like one sec..Version: 3.28.1
✓ Just as greedy as the rest of the big appsYou guys have a whole ad explaining how other apps are harvesting us. However how does making us pay 99.99 yearly make you any different. smell you later opal.Version: 3.53
✓ Not convincingA distraction blocker app that seems itself like a bit of a distraction. Not exactly minimalistic and constant pop-ups to ask you to subscribe. I’ll keep looking for something else..Version: 3.54
✓ Keeps crashing not user friendlyThis app (paid version) keeps crashing especially when I try to use “Other” to add to the block list. It comes up with a notification saying “This Apple screen has crashed. Please close it and open it again.” I can’t find how to set a one-off blocking session, as it doesn’t work when I follow the instructions. It looks a lot fancier than the Freedom app but I find it clunky and not very user friendly. Very disappointed for the price and only accidentally bought it because it charged me automatically after the free trial. Thought I’d make the most of it but it hasn’t been very useful. Looks are deceiving, looks good, functionality is mid..Version: 3.41.1
✓ Love it, but..I love the app! But it is too expensive. As a highschool student on multiple sports teams, I do not have any time to get a job in order to pay for this great app. And I believe that my generation struggles immensely with focusing when our phones are right in front of us. Although with that, a lot of us cannot ask our parents for 100 or even 75 dollars for an app on our phones (let alone an app that is a subscription, and will eventually run out). If it was a one time purchase I would have bought it ages ago. But instead, I have been looking for a less expensive alternative (By the way, none of them are as good as Opal). I have seen a couple of apps have an option for a one time purchase or for a subscription, and honestly I think that would be very beneficial for people like me. Or even for people younger than me.. I mean, if I saw the big 100 when I was in middle school or elementary, I wouldn’t even consider buying it. So please consider a one-time purchase, or at least a subscription for less than 60 dollars. I hope you take this into consideration because I am sure that I am not the only person who has not purchased because of the jarring price. Thanks.Version: 2.58
✓ Good concept but refresh time makes it a hassleIt is a good idea but when I take a ‘break’ or end my session it sometimes keeps my apps blocked, which is exactly why I’m taking a break to check my apps. This happens the other way around as well so when I want to start up a session the apps don’t block even though the session has started. If the refresh of this was quicker/worked properly it would be a much better experience.Version: 3.10.1
✓ Glitchy unresponsive app and never gets fixedIf you’re looking for an app that you can trust, this is not it. Freezes constantly, completely unresponsive when trying to select something on screen. I don’t understand how they’re still having these issues after numerous updates considering it’s the most basic functionality. When I open the app, everything is alive, but I won’t be able to click anything for 30 seconds. For a time that’s supposed to help you save time, the countless times I’ve had to sit, waiting for the app, closing and reppening it ten times, still doesnt work, connecting it to a charger (?) makes it work sometimes, even if your battery is good and at 100%, sometimes that doesn’t work. Currently im writing this after being literally unable to disable the blocks for an important task on marketplace. So if you’re looking for a productivity app, whilst this one looks nice, it’s extremely frustrating and is basically a 50/50 coin flip of whether it will work whenever you open it up. I’ve lost so much time to this time saving app. I would swap to another but I’m used to this one now. Though if this keeps happening I’m going to switch. Please just fix the basics. An app like this should be fast, seamless and always responsive. Bare minimum: it should work. It should fit effortlessly into a work flow. It shouldn’t SLOW YOU TO A HALT..Version: 3.50
✓ Great but buggyI have tried this app twice, and both times I have had to uninstall due to bugs. When I contacted for support for the bugs, I was told the issue “was not with the app but with apple”. Really unhelpful. The app was not correctly tracking my sessions (so if I spent 3 hours in a session, it wouldn’t be added). The app (apart from the bugs) was really great for increasing my productivity. It’s easy to use and the opals are a great incentive for using the app. The bugs were just too frustrating to justify continuing to use the app. Hopefully the “issue with apple” is resolved soon because I would happily download this again..Version: 3.25.1
✓ Avoid! Having to reset phone as can’t unblock appsOnly just downloaded this a few days ago and like many other people have experienced judging by the reviews, my phone has been blocked out of accessing several apps. I’ve even deleted opal from my phone, reinstalled the blocked apps and turned my phone on and off - still can’t access Instagram or WhatsApp!! AVOID this, seriously. The free trial isn’t worth this nightmare, and it looks as though once the trial is over there’s no features for anyone not paying £80 a year! An absolute joke. Regret ever downloading it.Version: 3.28.1
✓ Great app, way too expensiveI loved the features of this app and really wanted to keep using it, however the $100 annual subscription is ridiculous for something that other apps do for free. I would totally pay a one time fee, sad when the subscription model ruins a great product.Version: 3.9.2
✓ Impossible to uninstallEverytime it opens it prompts me to select apps, to continue, regardless of what I do it doesn’t allow me to continue or rewind to previous screens. I deleted it off my phone yet restrictions remained, references in settings remained, reinstalled to see if I’d missed how to delete it and ended up stuck in the above loop… Offers no trial period and wasn’t interested in spending £90 on something I couldn’t even test..Version: 3.45.1
✓ Is it really worth the money?This is my fifth app blocking site, and although the rewards are great, it seems like it is just like most other apps capable of locking down both apps and sites, with one major downfall- the annual price is $100. For $100 annually, you can get an adhd planner, you can get a life list app to remind you of your need to do’s and reward you with real rewards, you can get your four things at the grocery store. Is this app worth $100 a year? I personally don’t think so. Getting through the trial has showed me my $2 paid app does everything the same but rewards with a simple celebration by knocking down your screen time for the day. Everything else on this app is just fancy for that. Don’t waste your money if you need it for other things, there are many apps that do the exact same thing and is easier on your budget..Version: 3.40.3
✓ Unrealistic priceThe app is smooth, has great design, and seems wonderful. But the price is not it. It’s $100 annual subscription. $100 one-time would make MORE sense… but even then I think that’s too much. Hope you guys change your mind on the pricing..Version: 3.52
✓ Doesn’t start blocking apps when in Focus modeI downloaded this app after seeing that I could trigger a session and block apps when I enter a mode like Do Not Disturb or Sleep. Unfortunately, this app doesn’t do that, even when running in the background, you have to independently open the Opal app and then blocking starts. Real bummer because I’m looking for a toggle to disable recording and camera while I’m working with a patient..Version: 3.52
✓ Bad first impression- You need to create an account to use. - They make it look like you need to sign up for the trial/subscription but you don’t. - Their KPIs are misaligned with the goals of their audience. You want more focus, less distractions. They send you more notifications to get you back in the app, and they want you to share your break on social media after congratulating you from taking a break so they get free advertising. The attention of your users is a privilege and this app like many others takes it for granted. - Still got notifications and could use apps that were blocked during a break..Version: 2.17.1
✓ Why pay for a phoneEveryone pays for a phone to use it for calling, messaging and social media…. Why should you pay an extra $200 per year for an app to reduce time on it. That’s ridiculously unreasonable and many would consider corporate greed. I agree that social media is very harmful and if this company believes the app ‘save years of your life from reel time’ and actually want to make a difference in the world, they would make it free. They’ve just contradicted their whole mission by working with who they go against I.e. social media apps to promote all their ads. They are then using the social media marketing tactics that they diss in these ads to get you to by their product. Make it free..Version: 3.53
✓ Great Concept, Poor ExecutionWhilst Opal’s mission is worthy, the experience is not. I downloaded the app following social media targeting and while I did expect some sort of restrictions on most used apps, I did not anticipate that it would completely restrict access to them. When I set up my account, I was asked about the apps I spent most time on which led to un-productivity, so I selected Instagram and WhatsApp as those are the most distracting ones. While I can survive without Instagram, I cannot access my WhatsApp at all and I don’t seem to be able to unlock it as it says it has to be done through Opal. I expected more detailed tracking of screen time, suggestions on how to improve productivity and some form of restrictions, but not to this extent. And I’m sure most behavioural studies would say that you don’t correct or improve a bad habit by completely obliterating it. I’m writing this an hour into having set up my account so this just reinforces my frustration..Version: 3.26
✓ Crashes all the time when I paid $300+This app crashes all the time. When I create a section. Create a list of apps. Or do whatever. It just crashes. I’ve tried so many times to create a white list of apps. It has crashed about almost ten times. I paid for lifetime which was over 300 dollars around I think May? I only occasionally use it, and it has been frustrating. I have tried updated the app. And my phone is the newest iPhone model and software up to date. Extremely disappointed. update: after abt an hour and a half, I was able to create a whitelist. Now I’m not able to choose an alternative list when I create or start any session. It has a pre chosen list that I created before. Whenever I click on it, it only allows me to edit that pre chosen list, but it doesn’t offer to let me choose another list. This whole thing is Garbage. Please fix. Update 2: I just realized the COPY ICON in this app can direct you to choose your list. Opal team please have a look at your app. We’re all netizens here. Please do not use icon logos that already have well known meanings to represent OTHER meanings in your own app..Version: 3.40.4
✓ Fantastic idea with unreliable executionTitle says it. The app blocks what it needs to block, and the lower level nature of this block helps prevent abuse better than most apps. However, random websites will suddenly not load (not those blocked, or in categories blocked), and it'll turn on blocking seemingly randomly (even if you pause or turn it off entirely). It became enough of an issue that I cancelled my subscription and uninstalled the app. If they improve these issues, might get it again. UPDATE AUGUST 2022: The app is still unreliable. It's blocking the wrong things less - that's a plus - but now the VPN keeps turning itself off for no reason, or only starts working when I manually open the app. There are a few screens which show constant loading icons as well - not sure what those are supposed to be. Looks like there'a supposed to be time tracking features, but those are broken. However, I'm going to keep using Opal for now because no one else is really filling this role. Opal, please fix these issues.Version: 2.65
✓ Money grabOutrageous price.Version: 3.54
✓ Too much in your faceI thought an app that would give more flexibility to controlling screen time would minimise distractions, but instead I get so many notifications, or at least get more distracting notifications from Opal. Also mixed in is bright emojis that make the app feel gimicky and distracting. Essentially I uninstalled the very next day I downloaded it because I was receiving too many notifications (during work), and it ended up being so easy just to click have a break. As soon as I clicked have a break I just deleted the app.Version: 3.14
✓ Lost accessTrialled it, decided to cancel the trial subscription and delete the app a few days after the trial finished. Now it’s still blocking my apps as if I had an active subscription, I tried to re-download and delete the app blocking schedule but to do so it required that I login to an account (which I don’t have). So now I’m stuck with no way to fully remove its control over access to my apps. I need this resolved asap as I can’t access apps when needed.Version: 3.14
✓ This app needs work.Blocks all apps even apps you need for work..Version: 3.53
✓ Almost good, too buggy.Great idea and works well half the time. Problem is the massive amount of glitches and bugs. Sometime my phone will be locked and Opal will notify me I’ve spent too long on Instagram, while I’m not even on it and block it. Sometimes it will let me scroll for hours without blocking apps. Sometimes I’ll finish a focus session and Opal will re block my apps within 30 seconds of me using them again. I have no idea how it counts the time you spend on apps but it isn’t consistent. Sometimes I’ll pick my phone up having not touched it for a few hours and opal will block social media in 30 seconds even though I set it to give me 15 minutes. It’s frustrating how little sense it makes sometimes..Version: 3.40.4
✓ Won’t send verification code to New Zealand phoneSo I can’t use it. Ironically this has been a waste of time..Version: 3.49.1
✓ Promising But Seriously FlawedOpal seemed like a promising choice to reduce digital distractions. It had a cute design and clever idea of introducing friction for unblocking, rather than blocking everything all the time. unfortunately, for the last year I’ve used the app, it has consistently had serious issues in executing on this promise. Back when it was a VPN-based blocker, it seemed to block personal hotspot and certain phone calls, issues that stopped when I turned off the VPN and switched to Opal’s new setup. This forced me to disable the VPN and forget to turn it back on for extended periods. Now, after Apple introduced an ability for apps to block things, Opal is still flawed. It doesn’t seem to automatically renew blocking unless the app is opened, making it nearly useless since I won’t remember to keep opening the app to make the blocking kick back in. The app frequently freezes for me, which wastes a significant fraction of my time as I try unlocking things. It also has unusual limitations in terms of how much it can block. Overall, Opal has had consistently poor execution for an entire year now and I certainly will not be renewing my subscription..Version: 3.4
✓ Started great - no longer works & no option for refundI loved the app in the first few months - aside from a few less than intuitive UI features, it worked as described. However for at least a month the app has stopped working. Active sessions don’t automatically block apps — I have to manually open Opal and when I close it, apps are now blocking. I’ve reported it to their team who are aware of the issue and couldn’t provide a solution (it’s apparently an IOS compatibility issue) nor did they offer any sort of compensation. I’m also not being given the option to request a refund through the App Store. So if I were you, I’d avoid getting yourself involved with this app until they’ve explicitly stated this major issue is solved..Version: 3.44
✓ For an app that is supposed to keep you off your phone it sure sends a lot of notificationsI got 8 notifications today from this app that is supposed to help me stay off my phone. That’s insane. And the subscription model is outrageous. I would happily pay the $100 for a lifetime access to an app that is on my phone, but I’m not paying that yearly. I pay $50 a year for Alltrails which has a million more features than an app that blocks apps..Version: 3.54
✓ Tried contacting support, so many bugs even support chat reads error hahaContacted support, there is so many bugs it’s barely worth 25 bucks a month. My screen time stats don’t add up / load 90% of the time, when asked about this they said it’s inaccurate because it’s when it connected to the internet only and did not even answer any of my questions / videos photos about the bugs 1) if it doesn’t do stats accurately, how does this justify 160 a year? 2) if it doesn’t load my dashboard half the time ( will literally freeze no matter what day you choose) then how is it even usable? 3) when I went to look for my convo in the chat support section and error message came up haha DO NOT BUY ITS BUGGY & SUPPORT CHAT DOESNT ANSWER / DOESNT EVEN WORK because you guessed it.. more bugs !.Version: 3.40.5
🙂 Opal: Screen Time for Focus Positive Reviews
Opal: Screen Time for Focus works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Opal: Screen Time for Focus.
⛔ Opal: Screen Time for Focus Problems
