Stories from the Balance Community

Giving up easy access to social media / youtube was not easy but the phone doesnt mean you need to give it up 100%.

Having access on something less convenient, like a laptop, still allows you to stay connected but without the easy access to reels. You can still watch videos on TV for entertainment, its the easy access thats changed.

If you make the decision there will instantly be moments where you reach for it and realise there isn't much to do. Instead you will want to maybe have a book to hand, talk to someone, explore thoughts and ideas, go to sleep earlier. Its like a whole new amount of time is given to you, its hard at first but it will be worth it. Do you remember the last 5 reels you watched?

We bought this for my 11 year old. It’s his first phone. We wanted him to have the benefits of a smart phone, without content that could cause him to become addicted to it.

Balance phone does what it says in the name. It balances the odds in the users favour. All the useful stuff is there. Online banking, weather, music, school apps. But without the content that is designed to distract. No video streaming, no social media. Not by choice. But by design.

When I talk to other parents about the difference this is making to our son’s ability to stay connected, whilst protecting his mental health, they are all considering the switch.

We are so lucky to have found balance phone. Now I just need to convince my husband to make the switch too!!!

It helps me a lot to reduce my Screen time.

Heel tevreden. Wat een fijne manier om je tiener vol vertrouwen (meer) eigen verantwoordelijkheid te geven in de online wereld. Zonder dat de online wereld hem/haar overneemt. Screentijd is beperkt tot hetgeen nodig is. Ik beveel Balance Phone aan bij al mijn vrienden.

Estic encantadíssima amb el meu Balance Phone. Els meus amics veuen com he tornat a pintar, faig punt de creu, escric i sóc més feliç en general.

Tot intentant minimitzar el meu screentime havia provat moltes apps, gadgets i fins i tot un altre ‘dumbphone’. Però Balance Phone ha estat la millor compra amb diferència. Eficient, senzill, infranquejable. Exactament el que volia.

Estic molt contenta i vull donar les gràcies a tot l’equip i agrair també la seva atenció al consumidor que ha estat excel·lent.

Moltes felicitats i moltes gràcies!
Petons de Girona,

Anna

Una pasada de teléfono, te mantiene protegido y sin distracciones, y a la vez te permite llevar una vida normal

Changed my life for the better especially since I have adhd. Cannot find downside so far. The price is the same as the phone without the software.

Really good at stopping my from wasting time on social media.

I've had a few issues logging back into some apps, but I think that is my own technology illiteracy rather than the phone.

The navigation of the phone isn't totally intuitive and I'm still struggling to find how I like the settings.

The handset is massive, this makes it really awkward to hold so that also helps me be on the phone less.

We feel secure that our daughter is safe from all the negative effects of having her first phone

I think it is great but it would be better if you weren't forced to use Google as the browser and would use a non tracking browser such as duck duck go, which is sadly banned.

Nothing in life is perfect. There's been some hiccups with accessing certain sites but, those are minor. I have found myself reading a lot, which seems good but I had to remind myself recently the goal is productivity not just off social media. So, I'll have to shelve the Libby app for a while. I do find myself wanting to sing the praises of the phone and advertise though. I am very much enjoying the experience of not having access to mindless distractions.

The perfect starter phone for my tweens, Impressed with the usability, battery life and software that prevents them from being able to access anything they shouldn't. It is reassuring and the perfect compromise to allowing them a phone whilst keeping them safe

I have been using Balance Phone for a while and it does an awesome job of restricting time-wasting websites and apps. Unlike other tools that can be bypassed by changing overlay permissions, using third-party tools like DeX, or resetting the phone, Balance Phone OS provides a fail-proof mechanism to help you achieve your goals.

Great experience but definitely still some room for further improvement:
- the blocks are very prominent, especially for external links to videos within, for example, a news site. It's almost impossible to go back to your previous screen without closing the app and searching for that one article.
- I would love to know if there's a way around for substack. There's a lot of valuable blogs and articles on there.
- a help centre, tips and info app would be awesome. Just a place to send an inquiry, get help, tips, etc.
- the blocker for videos within Spotify is quite annoying. You cannot skip a song when it has a video as you have to open the song, but then it gets blocked. Would love to see a better workaround for this.

Amazing OS with the option to have no browsers. AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE TOO!

changed my life dramatically. the phone is quite slow at times, which I think is just the phone itself, but apart from that, it's great.

Disappointing experience. I bought the Balance phone specifically to reduce distractions, but a few weeks after receiving it all my banking apps stopped working on the phone.

They eventually agreed to refund the phone, which I appreciate, but refused to refund the case and screen protector I'd bought specifically for it because they'd been opened and used. Given the compatibility issue wasn't apparent when I bought or first used the phone, I found this unnecessarily inflexible.

I've got Balance phone for my 11 year old son, as their school prohibits smartphones, except for the Balance phone. Brick phone was not an option for us because he commutes to school himself and needs access to maps, whatsapp, his bank app, school teams, etc. He has been using it for a few weeks now, and has been a great experience so far for him and also for me as a parent. I would definitely recommend.

This is the app you want to claim your time and life back. Thought about dumb phones? Tried various different apps to restrict or block social media usage? None of them worked for me as quite honestly there was always a work around. Balance OS has no work around, cant boot in safe mode, can't even uninstall the OS with out contacting them and asking them to do it. Balance OS has given me the wasted hours back spent on my phone scrolling mindlessly. It blocks all social media and adult content, but still allows access to messaging services like Whatsapp and Messenger which honestly I don't think anything else out there offers. You can still access Spotify and even Youtube Music as well as pretty much every other app that is actually useful and essential for modern day life. Even my sleep has improved now that I can't mindlessly scroll on my phone in bed.

The best money I have ever spent, such a fantastic product for people looking to reduce their screen time.

A life-changing device. I honestly was so close to giving up on ever getting rid of my iPhone, and all the bad habits that had formed on there. After numerous devices, dumb-phones, smartphones with strong parental restrictions, nothing met my actual need of a phone that is both 1. Extremely capable and fast, and 2. Devoid of all distractions. The balance phone does both. It's honestly faster than my iPhone ever was, as it's the most recent Samsung, and all my daily tasks are seamless on it. Yet it has none of the distracting stuff. Certain apps were unfortunately not blocked like takeaway apps, at the time of writing this review, but I managed to block them successfully with a third-party AppBlocker which (unlike on an iPhone) cannot be disabled. This has been one of the best decisions of my life. The customer support from this company is also excellent, and they take your ideas and feedback as a customer to heart. I hope this company grows and more people get a Balance Phone and that it becomes the norm rather than a niche.

Exactly as advertised. Blocked all the distracting apps and websites without sacrificing the essentials and the customer care was very helpful. Absolutely recommend.

So grateful for the Balance Phone being available.. allows my daughter to safely navigate having her first phone while still staying in the loop with her peers and friends. I’ve become (often annoyingly I’m sure!) evangelical about the Balance Phone..
I’ve friends and family working in paediatric mental health services who regularly despair at the now documented negative effects of social media and exposure to pornography on developing young minds. It was one of them that mentioned the option of the balance phone and I’ll be eternally grateful.🙏🏼

Great experience overall! Fast responses by support and good solutions!

Best decision to buy this! Perfect balance between utility and a choice to get back to your real life.

Muy contento con la compra. Bloquea todo tipo de distracciones y contenido para adultos. Además, si por casualidad encuentras alguna página o app bloqueable que el sistema no detecta le escribes al equipo de soporte por correo y encantados la bloquean ellos manualmente. Este último punto, que sabía por antelación por una entrada en un foro, fue el que me hizo decantarme finalmente.