What unhookd Users Told Us About Their Screen Time

A quick check turns into a long scroll. That is the moment I built unhookd to interrupt. But a product idea and someone's actual experience are different things, so I asked users what had changed for them.

In a survey collected between January 27 and August 29, 2026, 26 people shared how much time they thought unhookd saved them, the benefit they valued most, and how likely they were to recommend it.

The clearest finding: 19 of 26 respondents, or 73%, estimated saving at least one hour a day. These are people's estimates, not measurements taken from their phones. They describe this group of respondents, not every unhookd user.

How much time did respondents say they saved?

The question was: “How much time do you estimate Unhookd saves you per day?” All 26 respondents answered.

Combining the 1–2 hour and more-than-2-hour groups gives 19 ÷ 26 = 73.1%, rounded to 73% on the website.

I have not calculated an average number of hours saved. These are ranges, and the highest range has no upper bound. Assigning a made-up midpoint would imply more precision than the answers support.

What mattered most was often focus

The question was: “What's the biggest benefit you've experienced from using unhookd?” Each respondent selected one benefit.

Better focus and productivity was the most frequently chosen answer. Hobbies and presence with other people also stood out. To me, that is a useful reminder of what the product is for: making space for something beyond a smaller screen-time number.

Sleep, anxiety, and stress are included here because they were survey response options. These few self-reports do not establish a medical or therapeutic benefit.

Would respondents recommend unhookd?

All 26 people answered the recommendation question. Seventeen gave a score of 9 or 10; six gave 8, and three gave 7.

These are survey answers, not App Store ratings. They should not be displayed as a five-star review score or as a rating for all users.

What the written feedback added

Nine respondents described changes in their own words. Several described less automatic scrolling and more intentional use. One described little change. Another had not yet added a newly distracting app to their blocking choices.

Six people answered the feature-request question. Their feedback included easier short access, clearer usage trends, a visible timer for Peeks, occasional flexibility, and concern about repeatedly renewing Peeks. Those responses are useful product feedback, including where the experience could improve. A feature request is not a promise that a feature is available.

I am summarizing those themes rather than publishing identifiable responses or treating private feedback as permission to use a named testimonial.

How this survey was analyzed

• Source: an unhookd user-feedback survey exported from Tally.
• Collection window: January 27–August 29, 2026, using the timestamps supplied in the export.
• Sample: 26 non-empty submissions, with 26 distinct submission IDs and 26 distinct respondent IDs. One blank export row was excluded.
• Completeness: all 26 answered the time-saved, biggest-benefit, and recommendation questions. Nine answered the open question about changed phone use; six answered the feature-request question.
• Percentages: counts divided by the number answering that question. Table percentages are rounded to one decimal place and may not sum to exactly 100%.
• Privacy: only aggregate results and paraphrased themes are published here. Respondent identifiers and the raw export are not public.

The export does not tell us how many people were invited or the full recruitment method. We cannot calculate a response rate or claim that this sample represents all users. People who chose to respond may have different experiences from people who did not.

There was no control group, measured before-and-after comparison, or independent verification of time saved. The survey cannot prove that unhookd caused the changes reported. It is a small piece of user feedback, not a controlled effectiveness study.

A better default, in practice

unhookd blocks distracting apps by default, 24/7. You choose access through recurring Slots and short Peeks. The idea is to make opening a distracting app an intentional choice.

If you want to understand where that idea came from, read why I deleted Instagram for a year—and what changed my mind. Or see how Slots and Peeks work before deciding whether unhookd fits your day.