Chores earn XP. XP buys minutes. The countdown does the rest.

NOXP. NOMINUTES.

Finished chores earn XP. XP buys screen-time minutes. Your child taps Start, a countdown runs, and when it hits zero the apps lock again. Screen time becomes something they choose to spend, not something that just happens to them.

Download on theApp Store See how it works

✓ You set the price of every app
✓ The lock and the timer run themselves
✓ Premium feature — free for 7 days

How it works

A real economy, running on their iPad.

You set the prices once. After that the earning, the spending, and the locking all happen without you.

1

Do the missions

Make the bed, finish the homework, read the chapter. Each approved mission pays the XP you assigned to it.

2

XP lands in their balance

Your child watches it add up on their own screen. The balance is theirs — they earned it.

3

Buy minutes

They spend XP on screen-time minutes at the price you set. Everyday apps are cheap; the expensive ones cost more.

4

▶ Start, and the countdown runs

Apps unlock while the timer runs. At zero they lock again, automatically. No arguing with an app.

Expensive Apps

Not all screen time is equal.
So it isn't priced equally.

Duolingo can be free. Minecraft can be cheap. TikTok can cost triple. You decide.

Free apps
🦉 📖 🎹
0 XP
never locked — your pick
Everyday apps
🎮 📺 🧩
20 XP
per 30 minutes
NO FREE MINUTES
Expensive apps
♪
60 XP
per 30 minutes
💰 Three tiers, your rules 🚫 No free ride on the pricey ones 📱 You set every price — per child, from your phone

Your side of it

You hold the dials.

Three settings per child, all on your phone. Change them whenever you like.

🎚️

A free daily baseline

Give each child some free minutes every day if you want to — or none. Everything past the baseline is earned.

🏷️

The XP price per 30 minutes

Set what half an hour costs, per app group and per child. A seven-year-old and a thirteen-year-old don't need the same rates.

🎁

Bonus time from anywhere

Long car ride, sick day, grandma's house: grant extra minutes from your phone and they land on the child's device, wherever you are.

Why it changes behavior

Chosen, not endless.

When screen time is free, more is always the answer. When it costs something they earned, your child starts doing the math themselves.

  • ✓The decision moves to them. Is an hour of TikTok worth 120 XP? Sometimes they decide it isn't. That moment is the whole lesson.
  • ✓The nagging ends. You're not the timer anymore. The timer is the timer.
  • ✓Spending feels real. They watched the balance grow chore by chore, so spending it down means something.
  • ✓It's budgeting, years early. Earn, save, spend, run out, earn again — the same loop they'll live on as adults, practiced on Minecraft minutes.
Niki's math tonight
30 min of Minecraft20 XP
30 min of YouTube60 XP
Balance after 3 missions⚡ 120 XP
Her callMinecraft, and save the rest

FAQ

Questions parents ask

What happens when the timer runs out?
The apps lock again, automatically. Your child can buy more minutes if they have the XP, or go earn more. Nobody has to come take the iPad.
Can I still give free screen time?
Yes, two ways. You can set a free daily baseline of minutes per child that needs no XP at all, and you can grant bonus time from your own phone any time — it reaches their device wherever you are.
Do different apps really cost different amounts?
Yes. There are three tiers: free apps that never lock (your pick — reading apps, Duolingo, music practice), everyday apps at your standard rate, and Expensive Apps at a steeper rate with no free minutes. You set every price, per child.
What actually enforces the timer?
Apple's own Family Controls, at the system level. The lock survives app-closing and restarts, and you never touch the Settings app. You can read more about how the lock works.
Can my child overspend or go negative?
No. They can only spend XP they've already earned. When the balance runs out, the way to more screen time is more missions — that's the point.
Is this a Premium feature?
Yes. Earning screen time with XP is part of Premium, which is $8.99/month or $89.99/year after a 7-day free trial. The free plan keeps the simple version: one child, and the apps unlock when the day's chores are done. See pricing.

Tonight, the minutes are earned.

Set your prices once. The economy runs itself from tomorrow morning.

Download on theApp Store

Free for one child · every Premium feature free for 7 days · cancel in seconds