u/Specific-Ad6347

I'll start by saying this will be my own doing for not going with and index finger fit and instead using my right ring finger. I currently wear an index finger ring and didn't want to remove it.

navigation is absolutely great using the ring finger, the only issue comes from constant accidental touches which fires up the menu, hoping there is a way to customise the wake up touch pattern at some point.

But for me, the main issue is how uncomfortable the ring is. the outside edge constantly rubs against my other fingers. I own an oura ring which has a similar shape and it has never once given me this issue.

As I say, my fault for wearing the ring on a different finger, but this ring should be flexible enough to wear on any finger and still have comfort and control nailed down.

Has anyone else had this issue or is it just me?

I haven't seen many other people talk about their experiences with Balance OS so thought I would pop my thoughts down.

TL;DR: It's been tremendously helpful, but there are a few annoying limitations.

Bought BalanceOS during the Black Friday sale rather than purchasing the pre-installed phone. Picked up a Samsung S25 separately on offer as it worked out cheaper than buying both from Balance (and I got to choose my spec of phone).

Why I bought it

Screen time was a genuine problem. Eight hours a day, easily. I'd tried third-party blockers but they were too easy to get around which made them useless to me. I would be motivated to circumvent them when the craving hits. I needed something I couldn't quietly talk myself past.

What's working

My OneUI set-up - preferred it to the BalanceOS UI

The OS is clean. text only, small dots for the notifications but I decided to flip back to running standard OneUI (but stripped back to black and white icons). The blocking has been great: Social media, YouTube, Reddit — all gon. Slightly annoyed about the latter. My screen time sits at 1.5 to 2 hours a day now, down from 8+.

It has changed how I use my phone. Took a few weeks to adjust as I kept picking my phone up by habit only to realise I now didn't really have anything to do on it.

The false positive flow is well thought-out too. When something's blocked that probably shouldn't be, you can request a review on the spot and it's usually resolved quickly. My local bus and transit routes got caught up in a block and one quick request and it was sorted. It doesn't always work, as some apps and websites are pre-blocked and you can't seem to ask for access.

What isn't working

Google Gemini. This is my biggest frustration and the one most likely to affect my renewal decision. Part of my goal with BalanceOS was to use my phone less, not just look at it less. Voice-activated AI was a key part of that, being able to interact via my voice for reminders, calls, quick queries, without picking the phone up at all. I can't do any of that because Gemini is blocked at the OS level, and blocked it from being used with my Galaxy Watch. You can access it via the browser, but that's not hands-free and defeats the point entirely. I understand the issue is that it requires the google app, and this is disabled by default with no option to re-enable it. I can use Bixby, but my experience with that has been so poor that I don't have an assistant enabled at all.

Easy ways to whitelist (some) apps. I dislike Linkedin, but professionally it's not optional. Without any whitelist option for work-essential apps, I'm desktop-only for LinkedIn. While I understand this omission, it isn't reducing my screentime, instead it is just passing the screentime over to a different device.

No Samsung Galaxy Store. This means I'm in the dark on Samsung app updates and I'm missing health features I'd normally have access to and prevents the install of some useful health apps on my galaxy watch.

Google Images. Blocked entirely. I get why image search could be flagged as a risk, but in practice this just means I pick up my laptop instead. I'm not being prevented from doing the thing — I'm just being redirected, again, to a different screen.

The thing BalanceOS isn't quite getting right yet

Reducing phone screen time is valuable. But if the blocking is so broad that routine tasks — checking bus routes, using Google Images, accessing work tools — can't be completed on the phone, you're not reducing screen time overall. You're just moving it to another device. I appreciate that is a tough challenge, and Balance is helping to reduce phone screentime and distraction, and is doing a fantastic job. Being off social media has been easier than I expected because of Balance, and I do feel more present because of it. I do however, hope that going forward they offer a little more granular control without affecting the whole point of the OS.

I would definitely recommend it if you feel your screentime is a problem, but you will have to make adjustments.