About
About Screentide
Screentide is an independent screen time app made in Australia, built to help people turn the tide on their screen time.
That doesn't mean giving up your phone or blocking everything that might distract you. It means making mindless use less automatic, and putting you back in charge of when, where and how you spend your time.
Our mission
To give you back the time your phone quietly takes.
Modern technology has removed almost every barrier between an impulse and a distraction. Screentide puts some of that friction back, in ways that can adapt to your routines, surroundings and the boundaries you want to set.
Sometimes that means blocking an app. Sometimes it means slowing it down, making you wait, or simply changing when and where it is available.
Our vision
A future where technology works for our wellbeing, not against it.
Technology should enrich our lives, not quietly take more of our time and attention than we meant to give. We want people to feel in control of their devices, not anchored to them. Screentide exists to help them chart that course.
We don't measure success by how much time people spend in Screentide, but by how many outgrow the need for it.
Our values
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Tools should adapt to people, not the other way around.
Different habits need different approaches. Screentide gives you flexible rules, schedules and triggers instead of one definition of “healthy” screen time.
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Friction can be more powerful than prohibition.
Blocking everything isn't always practical. Gentler interventions like Slow, Tint and Mute sit alongside traditional blocking, so you choose how much friction you need.
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Your attention shouldn't be exploited.
Screentide is built without guilt trips or manipulative pressure to keep you in the app. It's there when you need it, and out of the way when you don't.
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Digital wellbeing should be affordable.
Healthier habits shouldn't sit behind an expensive subscription. Screentide's core features are free, and premium features are priced to stay accessible.
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Powerful tools should still feel human.
Screentide takes its job seriously without feeling clinical or punitive. The nautical theme and characters are there to make changing habits a little less miserable.
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Progress beats perfection.
Changing habits isn't all-or-nothing. A slower feed tonight, a quieter meeting tomorrow: small changes add up, and a slip isn't failure.
Behind Screentide
Hi, I'm Anders, the creator of Screentide.
I'm an independent developer in Australia, and Screentide started as a problem I wanted to solve for myself.
I grew up with the late-90s internet, when being online had natural limits. You sat at one computer, waited for things to load, and eventually walked away. As those limits disappeared, I started to wonder whether some of that friction had been good for us.
So I built Screentide to bring a little of it back. Hard blocks can turn a feed into a treat in a cookie jar: off limits, and all the more tempting for it. Screentide makes the feed less sweet instead. Slow, for example, recreates the dial-up wait, so endless videos lose their pull while messages still get through.
I didn't build it because I think technology is bad, or because I have screen time figured out. I wanted a way to find balance without giving up the useful and enjoyable parts of being connected, and I'll keep building Screentide to respect people's time, attention and autonomy.
Thanks for giving it a try!
AndersCreator of Screentide
