AppBlock vs FocusComet

We make one of these, so read this with that in mind. AppBlock is the largest app blocker on Android — over ten million downloads and a 4.6 rating from more than 241,000 reviews. It is a serious, well-built product. The useful question is not which is better in general, but which matches the way you actually lose time.

Side by side

Where AppBlock is genuinely better

• Websites. If you lose hours in a mobile browser rather than in apps, AppBlock handles that and we do not. This is the clearest reason to pick it.
• Depth of rules. Multiple conditions, time windows, location and usage triggers. If you want a system, it is a better system.
• Maturity. Ten million downloads means most edge cases have been found and fixed by someone before you.
• Strictness. Its strict mode is designed specifically to resist you undoing it, which is a different and stronger promise than hiding makes.

Where the hiding approach wins

The structural difference is when the intervention happens.

A blocker acts after you tap. The icon is on your home screen, you see it, you reach, the app opens, and a screen appears asking you to stop. That works well when your problem is intent — you meant to open it and you want to be stopped.

Hiding acts before you reach. There is no icon in the launcher and nothing in the app list, so the loop never starts. That works better when your problem is reflex — you did not decide to open Instagram, your thumb simply went there during a pause in your thinking.

Most people underestimate how much of their usage is the second kind. If you have ever found yourself inside an app with no memory of opening it, that is the reflex path, and a block screen is a late and weak intervention against it. We go deeper on this distinction in app hider vs app blocker.

The honest weaknesses of FocusComet

Since we are the ones writing this:

• No website blocking. A real gap. If the browser is your problem, we are not the answer.
• Android only. No iPhone version, so no cross-device setup.
• Smaller and younger. Fewer users, a shorter track record, fewer integrations.
• You can end a session. Hiding is not a lock. Immersive mode makes ending deliberate rather than impossible.

Which should you pick?

• Pick AppBlock if you want website blocking, detailed scheduling, or the strictest possible enforcement, and you are willing to pay for the strict tier.
• Pick FocusComet if you open apps without deciding to, if block screens have stopped working on you, or if you want the core mechanic without an upgrade.
• Use both if you want scheduled rules across the whole day plus a harder cut-off for deep work. They do not conflict.

Frequently asked questions