Ripple
Ripple vs AppBlock, Stay Focused, Opal & Digital Wellbeing
If you have ever set a screen-time limit at 10:00 AM and then disabled Accessibility, changed the clock, or uninstalled the blocker at 11:30 PM, here is how Android’s main focus tools compare on tamper resistance, background survival, and cost.
Feature & Tamper-Resistance Comparison
| Capability | Ripple (涟漪) v0.1.1 | AppBlock / Stay Focused | Opal / One Sec / ScreenZen | Google Digital Wellbeing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price for Strict Mode | 100% Free, No Ads, No IAP | Paid Subscription / Premium required for full Strict Mode | Opal & One Sec Pro require paid subscriptions; ScreenZen is free/donation | Free |
| Delay Before Relaxing Rules | 15m–2h monotonic cooldown (2× for short-video apps) or Friend/Parent PIN | Configurable in Strict Mode (paid tiers) | 5–30s launch delay before opening an app; easy to turn off in settings | Zero delay (“Ignore limit for today”) |
| System Clock Tamper Protection | Yes (uses SystemClock.elapsedRealtime() since boot) |
Partial (can sometimes be bypassed after reboot before service starts) | No / Partial | No (changing date resets daily timer) |
| Anti-Uninstall & Self-Healing | Accessibility + Device Admin + optional On-Device Wireless Debugging / Shizuku daemon (~2.5s auto-heal) | Device Admin option, but Accessibility can drop when swiped from Recents on Chinese ROMs | Standard Accessibility service (can be revoked in Settings in 5 seconds) | Built-in, toggled off in Settings |
| Whitelist Per-Session Cap | Yes (default 30m per focus session for allowed apps) | Paid schedules only | No | No |
| Privacy & Telemetry | Local-only storage, no account, zero analytics SDKs | Account sync + analytics SDKs | Account & cloud telemetry | Tied to Google Account |
When to Choose Each Tool
Choose ScreenZen or One Sec if…
You only need a 10-second breathing pause before opening Instagram or Reddit, and you do not struggle with going into Android Settings to disable or uninstall the blocker late at night.
Choose Ripple if…
You need a hard daily cap and sleep schedule where your midnight self is forced to wait 15 minutes to 2 hours (or ask a friend/parent for a PIN) before relaxing any rule or uninstalling, and you want optional on-device wireless debugging or Shizuku auto-healing without paying a yearly subscription.