StayFree App: Track and block your phone usage across devices—boost focus and cut distractions. It’s free, cross-platform, and built for productivity.
StayFree review
StayFree might sound a bit pretentious as a name, but I’ve been using this app for more than two years. It’s one of my favorite screen time tracking app for boosting productivity, tracking digital habits, and it has extremely flexible settings that can meet virtually any need. Best of all, it’s cross-platform. I spent quite a while looking for a similar app that could be installed on my home MacBook, on my home Windows PC, and on my Android phone, and then synchronize everything. In the end, you get a complete and very objective picture of where and how you spend your time. At the end of this text, I’ll share some tips on how to fully tailor this app to your needs.
What this app is not
It definitely isn’t an app that includes a Pomodoro timer, a note-taker, a task tracker, etc. Nor does it have background music, custom counters, or other features typically found in apps that help people stay productive. But that’s not its purpose.
If you’re looking for a beautifully designed dashboard that combines productivity tools like to-do lists, quotes, and focus timers, you might want to explore our Momentum Dash review.
So what is StayFree app?
First and foremost, it’s a tracker for absolutely all your activities on your phone, computer, laptop, tablet, and so on, all in one place.
For example, let’s say you spend a lot of time on social media—Instagram and TikTok on your phone, you play GTA on your computer, and you get distracted by LinkedIn on your MacBook. All of that time will appear in StayFree’s overview. This way, you’ll know exactly how much time you could have used more productively.
You might say that your phone’s default settings also show you this data. Yes, they do, but for instance, on Android devices you can’t exclude certain apps or websites that are actually productive. Maybe you spend five hours traveling by car using Google Maps for work, or simply use a map to get somewhere. In the default tracker, that gets lumped into your total screen time. But with StayFree, you can ignore that app.
By adding all the apps you consider productive to the ignore list, you’re left with a clear, accurate measurement of how much time you spend on social media or other nonproductive activities.
Here’s what my own stats look like right now:
1.5 hours of nonproductive time spent today on social media, messengers, and online shopping—these are areas where I can grow. That’s how much time I feel is wasted. Currently, I average about 1.5 hours a day. Sometimes it goes up to 2.5 hours, and rarely does it drop below 1.5 hours. But I started out spending 4–6 hours a day on this.
This primarily helps you clearly understand where you’re losing the most time. And from there…
Main Functionality of the StayFree App
Daily Usage Limits
As the name suggests, this relates to setting usage limits. This phone time tracker can do app limits, category limits, or even limits for specific websites.
In the example above, I’ve already added a block for LinkedIn. The same goes for websites: StayFree website blocker blocks the entire domain, so you can’t access any page of that website. The same applies to social networks if you try to visit them via your browser.
If that’s more or less clear, let’s look at the next example.
Category Usage Limit
With Category Usage Limit, you can block entire categories of websites, social media, etc. The advantage of this method is that you don’t just block a single app or website; you block the entire category. This means that if you block Facebook, both the Facebook app on your phone and the Facebook website will be blocked. Additionally, StayFree comes with many built-in categories that fit most needs, but you can also create your own custom category. You can add absolutely any apps or websites that distract you, and those limits will apply everywhere.
Here’s how the Category Usage Limit settings look:
Here, you can:
- Select the category to which you want to apply the limit
- Edit the category to tailor it to your needs
- Set how much daily time you’re allowing yourself in this category. If you set it to zero, the app will immediately block all websites and apps in that category.
- Importantly, you can block not only based on total time spent in the app, but also based on the number of sessions. For example, if you frequently open a social network for just a few seconds at a time out of habit, this option is perfect for you.
There are also several action types that can be applied if you exceed your time or session limit:
- You’ll receive a notification that you’ve exceeded the limit.
- A pop-up message will appear.
- Any further sessions for that day will be blocked.
Personally, I only use blocking, because in my experience, everything else doesn’t really work.
Below is what your screen looks like once you exceed your time or session limit and have chosen the Blocking option:
Scheduled Focus Mode
Scheduled Focus Mode has roughly the same functionality as Category Usage Limit, except for the logic around when to block unwanted apps or sites.
It allows you to create a schedule for blocking such apps or categories.
For example, here’s the schedule I used when I first started using the app. I had a bad habit of checking the news and scrolling through social media as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning. Knowing what time I usually wake up, I set up a block from that time until the end of my workday. That solved another problem: I was getting distracted by social media during work hours. So my schedule looked something like this:
Every weekday from 7:15 AM to 5:00 PM.
Skipping ahead a bit, I’ll say that my discipline was pretty bad, and this approach didn’t work for me. Over time, I ended up keeping fewer apps and websites in the blocked section, but I blocked them for the entire day. My brain worked like this: “Alright, we can use them starting at 5:00 PM when the Scheduled Focus Mode ends. But if I’m going to start using social media at 5:00 PM anyway, maybe today I’ll hop on at 4:50 PM?” Then it becomes 4:30, 3:30, 12:00… and I eventually ended up on social media at 7 AM.
So, experiment with different approaches and schedules. We’re too complex for a single approach to work for everyone.
Limits On The Go
As I mentioned in the previous section, we’re far too complex for there to be just one approach that makes all of us productive. That’s why Stayfree offers a feature called Limits On The Go.
The logic behind this mode is as follows: every time you open an unwanted app or website, Stayfree will ask how long you want the session to last. For example, you open Twitter to read the latest news and think you’ll only need 10 minutes. But you also know those 10 minutes always turn into more, as you start reading more and more threads. And instead of 10 minutes, you end up spending 30. Sound familiar?
If so, you understand the purpose of this mode: after 10 minutes, Stayfree’s time tracker will block your current session in that unwanted app. Additionally, you must set a Cool Down Period, which is the minimum amount of time that must pass between sessions in these apps.
In-app blocking
A relatively new feature that’s appeared in the Stayfree app is in-app blocking. This means you don’t have to block the entire app; you can just block a specific part of its functionality.
Let’s look at a few examples:
Instagram In-app blocking
Personally, Instagram is one of my biggest problems. My behavior pattern there is pretty much the same every time: I open the social network, look at posts from friends and family, then check out their Stories, and it all ends with an endless scroll through Reels.
This behavior pattern is also confirmed by my screenshot—a snapshot of my Instagram usage. By the way, this social media usage data in the StayFree app really helps pinpoint your main problem area within social networks.
You can also see several blocking options:
- Block stories: You won’t be able to watch stories, but you’ll still have access to all other functions.
- Block reels: This is my absolute favorite. In my opinion, reels are where we waste the most time on Instagram. We can watch them for hours, sharing the best ones with each other. So having the option to block them is fantastic.
- Block explore tab: Blocks the ability to search for anything or anyone on the social network. Personally, this isn’t very useful for me since I rarely search for anything there.
You might be wondering: “Why not just block the entire app or even delete it?” I have an answer based on long and sometimes bitter experience. If we suddenly forbid ourselves from something, sooner or later it almost always returns—maybe after a week, or maybe after a few months, and possibly with renewed intensity.
If that approach works for you, please share your story in the comments; I’d love to read it. But in contrast, if you gradually introduce restrictions, it becomes much easier to give something up.
Youtube In-app blocking
YouTube is the second-biggest social network where I spend my precious time.
It’s harder for me to block it because, in addition to its entertaining content, there’s also a lot of useful material and motivational videos.
Beyond that, I’m not sure about your experience, but on my Android device, I can’t block YouTube via StayFree, nor can I uninstall the app.
Add to that the fact that my TV’s remote has a dedicated YouTube button.
On the upside, I can block the most destructive part—YouTube Shorts.
This is a very convenient feature that will remind you that you’re trying to cut down on your time usage.
You can also block the search function. However, I’m not sure how many people frequently use it—usually it’s the suggested content that seems to know our preferences better than we do.
Facebook, tik-tok, Snapchat and X In-app blocking
Roughly the same functionality is also available for the other most widely used social networks.
It’s also unclear why you’d block search on TikTok, given that the algorithms do almost everything for you.
Instant Focus Mode
Imagine it’s a workday—you have looming deadlines, but instead of focusing on your tasks, you’re scrolling through social media or watching videos on your phone.
Or maybe you reach a point where you’re simply fed up with wasting time and decide you have to put a stop to it.
Or you look at your phone’s screen-time stats and are shocked. You make the tough but necessary decision to stop squandering time on distracting apps and enable Instant Focus Mode in StayFree.
This is when it hits you that it’s time to get things done.
Personally, I’m a fan of planning and systematizing, so I don’t use this mode myself. However, I can definitely see how it could be useful for others for whom it might be more relevant.
Keyword blocking
An extremely underrated feature—probably one of my favorites in StayFree.
The logic behind it is that as soon as a blacklisted word appears on your screen, your screen immediately gets blocked. And I really mean as soon as it appears on the screen, in any form other than an image: whether you’re searching for the app on your phone, adding the word in your notes, or looking it up in your browser. Anywhere that word pops up, it gets blocked right away.
Unfortunately, this feature doesn’t work for me on YouTube either.
Productivity Usage Goals
This feature works the opposite way of all the others I’ve described so far.
Here, you set a goal for how much time you want to spend in a particular app or on a specific website.
For example, I study on Preply, and I’ve made it my goal to spend at least 15 minutes a day there. To do this, I set the duration of how much time I want to devote to Preply, as well as the time of day I want to receive a reminder if I haven’t yet reached my goal. Here’s what it looks like:
StayFree App Bottom line
Advantages
- One of the richest sets of features for restricting or blocking apps
- Cross-platform: you can sync your stats across all your devices
- The app is free
- Keyword-based blocking feature
- Various blocking approaches: number of sessions, session length, time of day, etc.
- Convenient app usage statistics
- Ability to exclude apps from tracking
Disadvantages
- The more apps you add to the ignore list, the slower the app runs.
- The volume of your usage stats also affects the app’s performance. After two years of use, the app noticeably slows down.
- Your behavioral patterns, in the form of anonymized data on your phone, can be used by third-party companies. I researched this a lot, and it seems the data is protected, but it’s still a concern. It’s the price for excellent free software.
Areas for Improvement
- I would really like to see a TV version of the app that tracks how much time I spend on YouTube, Netflix, etc.
FAQ
- Q: What is the StayFree app used for?
A: StayFree is a cross-platform productivity tool that tracks your app, website, and device usage. It helps you identify where you spend the most time and lets you set usage limits or blocks to reduce distractions.
- Q: Is the StayFree app safe?
A: StayFree uses anonymized data for its analytics and states it does not share personal user information. However, it does collect some usage data to offer insights. If you have concerns, review its privacy policy for full details.
- Q: Is StayFree app free?
A: Yes, StayFree is completely free and doesn’t even have a paid version.