TutorUnlock.

What TutorUnlock is

A parental-controls app that helps kids earn fun-time by spending time in learning apps. You pick the learning apps and the fun apps to block; the fun apps stay locked until your child reaches a daily learning goal you set. It also works beautifully as a focus tool for adults.

How it works

You pick up to four learning apps or websites and choose which fun apps to block. Fun apps stay locked until your child reaches the daily learning goal. After that, time spent learning banks fun time at a ratio you set — for example, a 20-minute goal with a 30-minute reward earns 1.5 minutes of fun for every minute of learning.

Fun time works like a balance: it counts down while a fun app is open and climbs back up as your child keeps learning. When the balance hits zero, the fun apps lock again until more learning is done. You can also set an optional daily cap on total fun time, or grant a one-time bonus.

Getting started

1. Grant Screen Time access on first launch. The very first time you open TutorUnlock, iOS asks for Screen Time / Family Controls permission. Tap Allow — this is what lets the app see learning time and shield fun apps. If you decline it, nothing else will work; if that happens, delete and reinstall to get the prompt again.
2. Open Parent Settings and set your PIN. On the dashboard, tap the parent icon in the top-right corner. The first time, you'll create your parent PIN — the code that protects every setting. Save it somewhere safe — a note, a contact card, or your password manager. There's no backup PIN, so a saved copy is what spares you a reinstall later (see I forgot my parent PIN). From then on, this PIN is what opens the gate — and it's PIN-only by design, so a fingerprint or face won't open it and your child can't get in with their own Touch ID or Face ID. (You can change it later under Security.)

   

3. Take a quick tour. Parent Settings is organized into groups: Apps (Learning apps, Fun apps to block), Goals & Rewards, Child (Name & avatar), Reports, Override, and Security. Tap Done in the top-right anytime to return to the dashboard.

   

4. Pick your learning apps. Go to Learning apps and tap Pick learning apps & websites to open Apple's picker. Choose up to four apps or websites, then type a short nickname for each — that nickname is what your child sees under each ring. Making each ring actually open its app takes one more step — see Setting up a learning app below.

   

5. Set the daily goal and fun reward. In Goals & Rewards, use Required time to set the daily learning goal and Reward to set how much fun time a full goal earns. The app shows the resulting ratio (e.g. "Each minute of learning earns 1.5 min of fun"). Two optional extras live here:
   • Cap daily fun time — off by default. When on, fun apps re-lock once your child hits this many total fun minutes for the day, even if their balance is higher.
   • Daily reset hour — when counters reset each day. 4:00 AM is the default, so late-night use stays on the previous day.

   

6. Pick the fun apps to block. Go to Fun apps to block and select the apps you want shielded until the goal is met — games, social apps, whatever you choose. You can block any number of these.
7. Name your child and pick an avatar. In Name & avatar, set your child's name and a fun avatar. Their name shows up as the greeting on the dashboard ("Hi, Swith!").

Setting up a learning app so the ring opens it in one tap

Setting up an app (like Duolingo)

1. Install the app on your child's device from the App Store.
2. Open it and sign in with your child's account, finishing any first-run setup. (This native sign-in is what lets later taps land already logged in — TutorUnlock can't do it for them.)
3. Fully close the app — swipe up to the App Switcher and swipe it away. Skipping this can leave the app stuck on a loading screen when TutorUnlock launches it.
4. Add it in TutorUnlock. Pick the app in Apple's picker, give it a nickname, and in the Open link field type the app's launch shortcut — its URL scheme — like duolingo://.
5. Tap the ring to test. Go to the dashboard and tap that app's ring. If the app opens, you're done.

If the shortcut doesn't open the app

Not every app uses the obvious name, and some don't publish a shortcut at all. To find the right one:

1. Open Safari (or Chrome) on the device and type the shortcut into the address bar — e.g. duolingo:// — and go. If the app launches, that's the correct shortcut; paste it into TutorUnlock's Open link field.
2. If nothing happens, try common variations: appname://, app-name://, companyname://.
3. Still nothing? The app may not have a shortcut. Either ask the app's developer for their iOS URL scheme, or fall back to a website (next section).

Shortcuts confirmed working as of testing — these are private to each app and can change when the app updates, so re-test with the Safari trick above if one stops working:

• Duolingoduolingo://
• IXLixl://
• Kahoot!kahoot://
• Khan Academykhanacademy://
• Prodigy Mathprodigy://
• Readabilityreadability://
• Synthesissynthesis://

Website-only tools (no app)

Some learning tools are only websites. These can still feel app-like, with a little setup:

1. Add the site to the Home Screen as a web app — open it in Safari → Share (the square-with-arrow) → Add to Home Screen → Add. Most learning sites support a full-screen "web app" mode, which is what makes it feel like a real app instead of a browser tab.
2. Put the full https:// address in the Open link field — e.g. https://www.typing.com.
3. The first tap usually opens the browser so you can sign in. After that, it generally reopens in the clean, app-like mode — no address bar — with the login remembered.

This isn't guaranteed on every site (it depends on how the site is built), but for the major learning tools it normally settles into the app-like experience after that first sign-in.

If you skip the Open link entirely, the ring shows a friendly prompt asking your child to go to the Home Screen and open the app themselves. It works — it's just an extra step for them.

Why only four learning apps? (and how to switch them up)

On purpose. Four is plenty to focus on, and a short list keeps your child's attention where you want it. Any other learning app you don't add here simply stays unlocked and playable — it just isn't one of the four that earn unlock points. So you can leave a reading app or a piano app freely available while Minecraft stays locked, and only the four you've chosen drive the earning. Fewer, clearer goals do better at shaping the habit.

Switching up the four. When your child masters something or you want a fresh focus, swap them anytime: Parent Settings → Learning apps → Pick learning apps & websites, then deselect any you're dropping and add new ones (up to four total). Give the new picks a nickname — and a launch shortcut — and the dashboard rings update to match. Time already earned for the day stays put.

Using it on yourself

TutorUnlock works just as well as a focus tool for grown-ups — the setup is identical, you're simply the profile.

A real example: you pay for Duolingo but keep forgetting to open it. Set yourself up so Instagram stays locked until you've done 10 minutes of Duolingo. Two things happen at once — you actually do your practice, and because fun time runs down as a balance while Instagram is open, it quietly caps your scrolling too.

To set it up: Parent Settings → Name & avatar (use your own name), pick Duolingo as your one learning app (with the duolingo:// shortcut), set the daily goal and a reward you're happy with, then add Instagram under Fun apps to block. You hold the PIN, so you're the one keeping yourself honest.

What your child sees

The dashboard greets your child by name and shows a big ring at the top — their total progress toward today's goal — with a smaller ring for each learning app beneath it. Tapping a learning ring opens that app (instantly, once you've set up its shortcut). When they open a blocked fun app before the goal is met, a shield screen appears instead, showing how much learning is still needed.

When they hit the goal, the screen celebrates — confetti, a "Great work!" message, and the fun time they've just unlocked. It's the payoff that makes the whole loop click for younger kids.

Everyday use & overrides

Most days you won't touch anything — your child learns, earns, and plays. When you do need to step in, open Parent Settings and look under Override:

• Grant fun time now — drops an immediate fun-time bonus onto the balance so the apps unlock right away. Good for a reward on the spot, a road trip, or just getting unstuck.
• Reset today's progress — zeroes out today's learning and fun counters and starts the day over. (Shown in red — it's a clean slate, so use it deliberately.)

Reports → Time spent shows how learning and fun time are adding up, so you can tune the goal and reward over time.

Taking a holiday from TutorUnlock (without deleting it)

Going on vacation, or just want to switch the whole system off for a while? You don't need to delete the app and lose your setup. Instead, empty the block list:

1. Open Parent Settings (enter your PIN) → Fun apps to block.
2. In Apple's picker, deselect every app and category so nothing is checked, then save.

With nothing in the block list, TutorUnlock stops shielding anything — no apps are locked, no goal gate, nothing is suppressed. The device behaves exactly as if TutorUnlock weren't installed. It will still quietly log time spent in your learning apps, so your Reports keep building, but it won't block or restrict a thing.

When the holiday's over, open Fun apps to block again, re-add the apps you want shielded, and you're right back where you left off — your PIN, learning apps, goal, and reward are all still set.

When everything's locked and you need back in

Two ways out, easiest first:

1. Grant fun time now. Parent Settings (enter your PIN) → Override → Grant fun time now. The apps unlock right away.
2. The nuclear option. If all else fails, long-press the TutorUnlock icon on the Home Screen → Remove App → Delete App. Every shield releases instantly. Deleting also wipes your settings, so you'll reinstall and set up again — but nothing stays stuck behind a lock. (If you blocked app deletion below, switch it back to Allow first, using your Screen Time passcode.)

Lock it down: recommended iPhone & iPad settings

TutorUnlock does the earning-and-shielding, but two minutes in iOS Settings closes the obvious loopholes — most importantly, stopping your child from simply deleting the app to release every shield.

On your child's device, open Settings → Screen Time:

1. Set a Screen Time passcode your child doesn't know (Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings). Make it different from your TutorUnlock PIN. This is the master lock for everything below.
2. Stop app deletion. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, then tap iTunes & App Store Purchases and set Deleting Apps → Don't Allow. This prevents your child from wiping TutorUnlock to unlock everything.
3. Block account changes so they can't sign out of your Apple ID: Content & Privacy Restrictions → Account Changes → Don't Allow.
4. Optional: set Installing Apps → Don't Allow so a blocked app can't be reinstalled from the App Store.

How this affects the "nuclear option." Because you've blocked deletion, the delete-to-unlock escape now requires you to temporarily switch Deleting Apps back to Allow with your Screen Time passcode. That's by design — the escape hatch stays in your hands, not your child's.

Common questions

Privacy

TutorUnlock stores all data locally on the device. There are no servers, no analytics, no telemetry. Screen Time usage data is provided by iOS through Apple's Family Controls API and stays entirely under your control. Nothing leaves the device.

Contact

Questions, bugs, or feedback? Email swithbell@icloud.com.