Comparisons
In Stryct, uninstall protection is a single toggle you turn on once, and it locks automatically for the duration of every session after that. In AppBlock, it's one setting among six inside a longer Strict Mode setup. Here's what that actually means with the app open in front of you.
Stryct's Uninstall Protection is one switch you turn on once, in settings, and from then on it locks automatically for the duration of every session that follows. AppBlock, a large and well-reviewed app with over 10 million users and a 4.6-star rating across 5,400-plus reviews, offers the equivalent protection too, but as one of six settings inside a longer setup. Both apps require you to turn this on yourself, it isn't automatic in either one. The real difference is what that setup involves, and what happens once you've turned it on.
AppBlock's own documentation calls Strict Mode "a commitment layer." Uninstall protection is just one of six settings inside it, alongside locking your blocking rules, blocking device settings, blocking recent apps, blocking split screen, and blocking reinstalled apps, and turning any of them on first requires choosing an unlock method: a PIN, a charger connection, a timer, a cooldown period, or a trusted contact's approval.
Once it's on, the two behave differently in a way that matters more than the setup: Stryct's toggle locks itself the moment a session starts, so there's nothing to go turn back off until the session ends on its own. AppBlock's Strict Mode is switched off through whichever unlock method was chosen when it was activated, PIN, charger, timer, or otherwise, which means the setup you pick determines exactly how much friction is actually in your way later.
Worth knowing plainly: AppBlock's own help documentation describes an official Emergency Unblocking process, contacting their support team for a one-time unlock code, available even when every Strict Mode option is active and no unlock method is accessible. That's not a flaw, it's a deliberate safety net so nobody gets permanently locked out of their own phone. But it does mean the strictest configuration AppBlock offers still has a documented, intended path back in through customer support.
A support-ticket escape hatch is a reasonable thing to build, and we're not suggesting AppBlock is wrong to have one. Stryct doesn't offer an equivalent support flow for ending a session early, and once Uninstall Protection is turned on, that setting itself can't be changed again until the current session finishes on its own. There's no built-in early exit to reach for.
If you want blocking across your phone and your laptop, or rules that change based on where you are, AppBlock does things Stryct simply doesn't. Stryct's simplicity is a deliberate tradeoff, not a feature AppBlock is missing by accident.
Turn on Uninstall Protection once, and it locks automatically for every session after that. Free 3-day trial on iPhone.
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