I’m using app monitoring. I have it set up such that I can use my distracting apps for 15 minutes, then it’s supposed to kick me off for an hour before giving me access again.
I find that I’m able to be on my apps for much longer than 15 minutes and I have to open and engage with Opal in order for them to be blocked. Example Flow:
I’m on Reddit for 40 minutes and realize I should have been kicked out a while ago
go to open Opal and it says Reddit is blocked
open Reddit and it’s blocked.
I don’t close any apps, so Opal is always on in the background (and in the previous version, the software was always on even if the app wasn’t open so assuming that’s stayed the same).
similarly, if it’s been over an hour and I want to access my distracting apps again, I have to open and engage with Opal before I can get access. Example flow:
open Reddit and it’s blocked,
open Opal and it says I have no apps blocked,
open Reddit and it’s blocked,
open Opal and it says no apps are blocked,
open Reddit and it’s unblocked.
Just wanted this to be on your radar. I have the most recent update of the app as of writing this.
Hi @Ciestupinan thank you for sending and good timing on this report; several related fixes have shipped recently.
The behavior you’re describing has two parts, and both have been addressed:
Why blocking fires late or not at all: The iOS system extension that applies your block was getting killed by iOS before it could finish (a memory limit issue). When that happened, the block never applied. This was fixed in version 4.1 (June 12) and should be significantly more reliable now.
Why opening Opal “wakes it up”: The app runs a blocking state check every time it comes to the foreground and re-syncs if anything is out of place. So opening Opal has always been the recovery mechanism when the extension fails which is why your sequence of “open Opal → it says blocked → now it’s actually blocked” works the way it does.
If you’re on 4.2.1 and still seeing this, it’s would be helpful sending a diagnostic log (Settings → Support → Send Diagnostic Log) when it happens. There’s a known edge case where if the extension is killed at exactly the wrong moment, the rule can get stuck for the rest of the day even after the foreground sync. The team is aware of it and it’s still being worked on.
thanks for the reply. I can run the diagnostic report when it happens again. But I want to clarify - I am on the most recent version of the app and this has been happening recently, most recent being yesterday 6/28.
Thanks @Ciestupinan for the follow up, and I am sorry this has not been resolved in the latest update. Could you send a message to support@opal.so and we can escalate this issue?