ScreenZen and Stillfeed are both for people who do not want to delete their social apps but do want to stop losing hours to them. ScreenZen gives you a set of strategies to manage how you use any app you choose: delays, goals, interruptions and blocks. Stillfeed does one thing on a short list of platforms: it opens them with Reels, Shorts and For You taken out. This page compares them side by side, and it is plain about where ScreenZen offers more.
In short: ScreenZen is a toolkit of habits and limits that works on whichever apps you pick. Stillfeed is a single, specific change to eight social platforms. If you want controls such as delays, goals and strict blocks, ScreenZen has them. If you want the endless feed gone while keeping messages and profiles, Stillfeed does that.
What problem are you solving?
Before comparing features, it helps to be specific about the habit. Some people want fewer hours on their phone overall. Some want to stop opening one particular app on reflex. And some are fine with the time they spend on Instagram or YouTube, but resent the stretch of it that goes to an endless run of short videos they never chose.
These are three different problems. A general screen time tool addresses the first two well. The third is about the content, not the clock, and a clock-based tool only handles it indirectly: you can cap the minutes, but inside those minutes the feed still does what it was built to do.
What ScreenZen does
The ScreenZen App Store listing describes multiple strategies. You can set a delay before a distracting app opens, and the listing says the wait can grow each time you open it. You can check apps for short periods so you do not get pulled in, set a goal for an app and optionally block it when you reach your limit, and configure different rules for different days and times. It describes prompts such as asking whether opening the app is important, and breathing and other activities to fill the wait. It also lists strict blocks, by time range, number of opens or screen time, locks on its own settings to stop you changing them in a weak moment, and streaks as encouragement. One detail we like: it says it shows screen time for only the apps you flag as distracting, so something like a maps app does not inflate the number.
The common thread is control. You decide what counts as a distracting app, then you pick a mix of speed bumps and limits. It is a flexible system, and it works on any app, not just social media.
What Stillfeed does
Stillfeed is a browser for iPhone that opens Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook inside itself, with Reels, Shorts and For You removed. Direct messages, profiles and regular posts keep working. Hiding Reels and Shorts is free, and no account is needed.
It does not set limits, schedules or goals, and it does not track your time. There is nothing to configure about when you can use an app. Its single job is to make the platform you open less of a trap. If you find yourself giving up on limits because you keep overriding them, that can be the appeal: there is no limit to argue with, only a feed that is no longer there.
Side by side
| ScreenZen | Stillfeed | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Delays, goals, interruptions and blocks on apps you choose | Open social apps with Reels, Shorts and For You removed |
| Delay before opening | Yes, per its listing | No |
| Daily goals and limits | Yes, with optional blocking at the limit | No |
| Strict blocks | Yes, by time range, opens or screen time | No |
| Settings locks and streaks | Yes, per its listing | No |
| Works on any app | Yes | No: eight social platforms |
| Removes the endless feed itself | Not described in its listing | Yes: Reels, Shorts, For You |
| DMs, profiles, regular posts | Available outside blocks | Keep working |
When ScreenZen is the better fit
ScreenZen is the better fit whenever your problem is bigger than short video. If you lose time to games, news, shopping or any app that is not one of the eight platforms Stillfeed supports, ScreenZen can reach it and Stillfeed cannot. It is also the better fit when you want measured control: a daily goal, a limit that blocks you when you pass it, rules that differ on weekdays and weekends.
The settings locks matter too. A common reason limits fail is that you can edit them in the moment you want to break them. A tool that makes you wait or locks its own settings addresses that directly, and Stillfeed has nothing comparable. If you know you override your own rules, that is a real advantage.
When Stillfeed is the better fit
Stillfeed is the better fit when a time limit is the wrong shape for the problem. Suppose you give yourself thirty minutes of Instagram. You can spend those thirty minutes on messages and your close friends' posts, or you can spend them on Reels. A limit counts both the same. Removing Reels changes what the thirty minutes are made of, rather than only how many there are.
It also suits people who have tried limits and found them tiring. Tapping through reminders, extending a goal and unlocking an app for just a minute can become a daily negotiation. Stillfeed asks for no negotiation, because the part you would be negotiating over is absent. If Reels are what hook you, our guide to Reels addiction explains why they are so sticky and what to do about it.
Using both
Nothing stops you running both. ScreenZen can handle the general-purpose limits across everything on your phone, and Stillfeed can take the endless feeds out of the social platforms you still want to use. If you are unsure where to begin, begin with the free change: opening your most-used platform through Stillfeed costs nothing and takes a minute, and you can add limits later if you still need them.
For the broader landscape, see our comparison of app blockers for iPhone. If a pause before the app suits you better than limits, read Stillfeed vs one sec.
More comparisons
See all of them side by side in the best social media blocker apps for iPhone, or browse every Stillfeed comparison. One on one: Stillfeed vs Opal, Stillfeed vs Brick, Stillfeed vs one sec.
Common questions
Is Stillfeed an alternative to ScreenZen?
For cutting social media scrolling, it can be. They differ in method. ScreenZen gives you delays, goals and blocks across the apps you choose, while Stillfeed removes Reels, Shorts and For You from the platforms it opens.
Does Stillfeed have time limits or delays?
No. Stillfeed does not set limits or add delays. It changes what appears inside the platforms.
Does Stillfeed work on apps other than social media?
No. It supports Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Can I still use Instagram messages with Stillfeed?
Yes. Direct messages, profiles and regular posts keep working.
Is hiding Reels and Shorts free?
Yes. No account is needed.
Weighing other options? Compare Stillfeed vs Opal, Stillfeed vs Brick and Stillfeed vs one sec, or see the best app blockers for iPhone and every comparison in one place.
Download Stillfeed from the App Store and see your main platform without the endless part.
