moss vs Digital Wellbeing
Free and built into Android: app timers, Focus mode and Bedtime mode.
Checked 11 November 2026 against Google LLC's own pages. We make moss, so we have linked every source below.
What Digital Wellbeing is
Digital Wellbeing is part of Android and is found in Settings. It is free. It gives you a usage dashboard, daily app timers, a Focus mode that pauses chosen apps with one tap or on a schedule, and a Bedtime mode that turns on grayscale and Do Not Disturb. The controls are on the same phone: you turn Focus mode off or change a timer in Settings.
What moss is
moss is an iPhone app that comes with a small physical stone. You choose the apps that distract you, tap your phone on the stone, and those apps stay locked until you tap the stone again. People who live together can link their phones to share schedules and put their phones down at the same time, while each person keeps control of their own phone. Locking is free in the app, the stone is a one-time purchase, and the household features are a paid add-on.
Side by side
| Feature | moss | Digital Wellbeing |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US$49 stone, free app | Free |
| Subscription | None to lock your own phone. Household features are a paid add-on | None |
| Works on | iPhone only, iOS 17 or later | Android |
| How you lock | Tap the stone, or start from the app, a Shortcut, the lock screen or the Action Button. Schedules by day of week | Daily app timers. Focus mode by one tap or schedule. Bedtime mode |
| How you unlock | Tap the stone, in the app | Turn Focus mode off or change the timer in Settings |
| If you need back in | 3 emergency unlocks a month, refilled automatically | Not stated |
| Locking together as a household | Yes, as a paid add-on. Shared schedules, sessions others join in one tap, a view of whose phone is down, a streak. Nobody controls anyone else | None in this app |
| Whose key opens your phone | Only your household's own stone, card and sprigs unlock your phones | No key |
Where Digital Wellbeing is better
- It costs nothing and is already on an Android phone.
- A system-level dashboard of how you use the phone.
- It works on Android, which moss does not.
Where moss is better
- It works on iPhone.
- The off switch is a stone in another room, not a setting on the same phone.
- Households can share schedules, join sessions in one tap and see whose phone is down.
Who should pick which
Pick Digital Wellbeing if
You use Android and want to try free, built-in limits first.
Pick moss if
You use an iPhone and limits you can switch off yourself have not held.
Sources
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
moss is a stone that locks the apps you choose.
Tap to lock, tap to unlock. One price, and locking needs no subscription.
