How ANKOR compares
Most ways of putting the phone down work on the phone. ANKOR works on where the phone goes. Here is the honest difference against the three approaches people try first.
Decide once where your phone hangs.
A phone in your pocket asks for a new decision a hundred times a day. A phone on ANKOR asks once. After that, the room is yours.
Choose a comparison
NFC blockers
ANKOR vs Brick
Same tap to start. The difference is where the phone goes while the apps are paused.
Read the comparison →
Built into the phone
ANKOR vs Screen Time
Screen Time draws the boundary inside the phone. ANKOR draws it across the room.
Read the comparison →
Timed containers
ANKOR vs a lockbox
A lockbox removes the phone. ANKOR parks the phone, in view and reachable.
Read the comparison →
Questions
Which comparison should I read first?
If you have already tried an app blocker, start with Brick. If you have only used the limits built into the phone, start with Screen Time. If you are after something stricter, start with the lockbox page.
Can I use ANKOR together with one of these?
Yes, and many people do. ANKOR decides where the phone goes; the others decide what the phone allows. They solve different halves of the same problem.
Is ANKOR strict?
Softer than a lock, firmer than the object looks. The phone stays in view and within reach, and a session ends when you tap the phone on ANKOR again. Calls always come through.
Why compare an object to apps at all?
Because apps are what people try first. Most people arrive having already installed something. The useful question is not which app is best, it is whether the problem is the app at all.
Where does ANKOR go?
Wherever the phone already lands: by the door, in the hallway, next to the bed. The spot matters more than the room.
None of these are about willpower.
Brick, Bloom, Screen Time, and lockboxes all work by making the phone harder to use. ANKOR works by giving the phone somewhere to be instead. The phone becomes a tool again.
If something does not work, write to us.
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