flutter_screen_time

Flutter Screen Time lets you block distracting apps on iOS and Android.

iOS	Android

Features

• Get permission status
• Select apps to block
• Block/unblock apps
• Customise the Android blocking overlay UI (title, message, colours, text sizes, buttons)

Installation

Add the plugin to your pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  flutter_screen_time_api: ^1.0.0

How it works

iOS and Android use very different mechanisms:

• iOS uses the first-party Family Controls / Screen Time API. You configure the shield with setShieldConfiguration.
• Android has no system-level Screen Time API, so blocking is built from two special-access permissions the user must grant — "Display over other apps" (to draw the shield) and "Usage access" (to detect the foreground app). A foreground service then polls the current app and draws a full-screen overlay over blocked apps. You customise that overlay with configureAndroidOverlayUI.

The public Dart API is shared across both platforms:

final _flutterScreenTimePlugin = FlutterScreenTime();

Prerequisite

iOS

Make sure your Xcode target has the Family Controls capability enabled.

Android

No manifest changes are required — the plugin declares the permissions it needs (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW, PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS, FOREGROUND_SERVICE, …). The two special-access permissions are granted by the user at runtime; calling getAuthorization() opens the relevant system settings screens for them.

Setup

Create Object

final _flutterScreenTimePlugin = FlutterScreenTime();

1. Permission Information

Future<int> checkAuthorization() async {
  return await _flutterScreenTimePlugin.checkAuthorization();
}

Statuses:
-1 -> Permission denied
 1 -> Permission granted
 0 -> Not determined

On Android this returns 1 only when both the overlay and usage-access permissions are granted, otherwise 0.

2. Get Permission

void getAuthorization() {
  _flutterScreenTimePlugin.getAuthorization();
}

On Android this opens the "Display over other apps" screen first and then the "Usage access" screen (they can't be requested together).

3. Choose Apps to block

void chooseApps() {
  _flutterScreenTimePlugin.chooseApps();
}

On Android this launches a native app picker (the analog of the iOS FamilyActivityPicker).

4. Block apps

void blockApps() {
  _flutterScreenTimePlugin.blockApps();
}

5. Unblock apps

void unblockApps() {
  _flutterScreenTimePlugin.unblockApps();
}

Android — Customise the blocking overlay

Use configureAndroidOverlayUI to style the full-screen overlay shown on top of a blocked app. It is Android-only (a no-op on iOS) and every field is optional — anything you leave out keeps its built-in default. Colors accept #RGB, #RRGGBB or #RRGGBBAA (alpha last).

await _flutterScreenTimePlugin.configureAndroidOverlayUI(
  const AndroidOverlayConfiguration(
    title: 'Stay focused',
    message: 'This app is blocked during focus hours.',
    backgroundColorHex: '#111827',
    titleColorHex: '#FFFFFF',
    messageColorHex: '#D1D5DB',
    primaryButtonLabel: 'Got it',
    primaryButtonBackgroundColorHex: '#2563EB',
    primaryButtonTextColorHex: '#FFFFFF',
    secondaryButtonLabel: 'Close',
    secondaryButtonBackgroundColorHex: null, // outlined button
    secondaryButtonTextColorHex: '#FFFFFF',
    titleFontSize: 24,
    messageFontSize: 16,
    cornerRadius: 12,
  ),
);

AndroidOverlayConfiguration fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
title	String (required)	App blocked	Bold heading at the top of the overlay.
message	String?	This app is blocked right now.	Supporting line under the title. Hidden when null/empty.
backgroundColorHex	String?	#111827	Overlay background fill.
titleColorHex	String?	#FFFFFF	Title text colour.
messageColorHex	String?	#D1D5DB	Message text colour.
primaryButtonLabel	String?	OK	Primary (dismiss) button label.
primaryButtonBackgroundColorHex	String?	#2563EB	Primary button fill.
primaryButtonTextColorHex	String?	#FFFFFF	Primary button text colour.
secondaryButtonLabel	String?	none	Optional secondary button label. Hidden when null/empty.
secondaryButtonBackgroundColorHex	String?	outlined	Secondary button fill. When null the button is outlined.
secondaryButtonTextColorHex	String?	#FFFFFF	Secondary button text colour.
titleFontSize	double?	24	Title text size (sp).
messageFontSize	double?	16	Message text size (sp).
cornerRadius	double?	12	Button corner radius (dp).