A parental control app where
screen time is earned.
Every other parental control app is a subtraction. It takes minutes away, your child finds a way around it, and you have the same argument on Sunday. HabitApp turns the same minutes into something they work for: you post a task — twenty-five minutes of social media for the homework, twenty minutes of video games for the dishes — and they accept it, do it, and submit it. Your approval is what unlocks the reward.
iPhone, iOS 18 or later. A parent and a child, each on their own phone.
Post the task
A title in your own words — the dishes, an hour of homework, the bins — and what it is worth. Screen time, an allowance figure, or both. Add an expiry if it only counts tonight.
They accept it
It arrives on your child's phone as an offer, and they can accept it or decline it. Declining is a real answer, which is the part that makes it an agreement rather than an order.
You approve it
When they mark it done, it comes to you for review. Your approval is the only thing that pays — the reward minutes land in their balance and the allowance figure goes up the moment you tap it, and not before.
Nothing pays on their say-so.
A child marking a task done does not mint anything. It moves the task into your queue and notifies you, and the reward only exists after you have approved it. That single rule is what keeps the board from becoming a machine for issuing yourself screen time.
The reverse is also deliberate: they can decline. An offer they can turn down is an agreement, and an agreement is the thing a twelve-year-old will argue with you about once instead of every evening.
The task board, parent side
One task awaiting review, one accepted, one expired.
Which apps are locked
With parent-managed limits on, the restricted-app list belongs to you and your child can no longer edit it. Everything else on their phone stays untouched.
The list is chosen on your child's phone with you present. Apple gives no third-party app any way to pick apps on someone else's device.
Whether enforcement is on
A master switch you can flip from your own phone — school nights on, holidays off, without borrowing their device.
Your screen shows how many apps are restricted, not which ones. The app names never leave their phone in a readable form.
What a task is worth
You set the reward on every task you post, and you can weight the dull jobs higher than the easy ones.
Screen-time rewards are minted by the app. Allowance figures are a tally you settle yourself — no money moves through HabitApp.
Their own goals, too
A child gets the same app you do: their own goals, their own check-ins, their own savings target. The task board is added on top of that, not instead of it.
They need their own iPhone and their own Apple account. There is no shared-profile mode on a parent's device.
| Screen Time / Family Link | HabitApp | |
|---|---|---|
| How a child gets more time | They ask, you decide | They earn it against a task you posted |
| What the child agrees to | Nothing — it is imposed | Each task, one at a time, with the option to decline |
| Chores and allowance | Not covered | The task board, with screen time and an allowance tally |
| App restriction | Yes, built into the phone | Yes, on the same Apple framework |
| Usage reporting | Yes, per app, built in | No. Planned, not built |
| Price | Free, pre-installed | $189.99/yr or $27.99/mo per family |
Apple Screen Time and Google Family Link are free, pre-installed, and better than HabitApp at reporting what a phone did. HabitApp is not trying to replace the reporting. It adds the one thing neither of them has: a way for a child to earn the time back.
It does not move money
The allowance side of a task is a figure and a reminder. HabitApp never holds, transfers or pays out a penny — how it actually changes hands is between you and your child, the same as it was before.
It does not show you their usage
A device activity view is planned. It is not built, it has never run on a phone, and it carries no date. What you see today is the task board, their check-in record, and how many apps are restricted.
It does not watch other devices
An iPhone app can only see the iPhone it is installed on. The console, the laptop and the television are outside what any app on that phone can reach, and no future version of this one changes that.
Family
A parent and their children. Adds the linked accounts, the task board and parent-managed app limits.
- Yearly14-day free trial
- $189.99/year$15.83/mo
- Monthly7-day free trial
- $27.99/month
Yearly bills once. Monthly and weekly bill you every cycle for as long as you keep the app. The plan only decides how often you get asked. Habit formation took a median of 66 days in the research, so three months is the honest recommendation — and the app is built to be finished with.
How is this different from Apple Screen Time or Google Family Link?
Those tools take time away. HabitApp lets a child earn it. A parent posts a task with a reward attached, the child accepts it and submits it, and the parent approves — approval is what mints the screen time. The restriction side runs on the same Apple framework Screen Time uses, so it is the same enforcement with a way to earn out of it.
Can I set goals for my child?
Yes. A parent posts tasks to a shared board — a chore, homework, anything you would otherwise ask for out loud — with a screen-time reward, a dollar amount, or both. The child can accept or decline, and nothing pays until you have reviewed it and approved it.
Does HabitApp pay my child real money?
No. No money moves through HabitApp at all. The dollar side of a task is a running tally plus a reminder to settle it; how the money actually changes hands is between you and your child.
Can I see how much time my child spends on their phone?
Not yet. A device activity view is planned but is not built and carries no date. What a parent can see today is the task board, the child's check-in record, and how many apps are currently restricted on their device.
Can I control which apps my child can use?
Yes. With parent-managed limits switched on, the restricted-app list belongs to you and your child can no longer edit it. The list itself is chosen on the child's own phone with you present, because Apple gives no third-party app any way to pick apps on another device.
What does my child need?
Their own iPhone running iOS 18 or later, and their own Apple account. There is no mode where a child shares a profile on a parent's phone.
How much does the family plan cost?
Family is $189.99 a year or $27.99 a month, and covers a parent and their children. It starts with a free trial — 14 days on the yearly plan, 7 on the monthly.
The argument was never about the phone.
It was about what got done before the phone. Put the second thing behind the first one and there is nothing left to argue about.