Everything in HopOff, step by step.

Before you start

You need:

• Your own iPhone or iPad, on iOS 17 or later. This is where you run everything.
• Your child's iPhone or iPad, on iOS 17 or later, in your hand for the setup. You do the setup on it; then you hand it over.
• Ten minutes. Pairing and locking down is a one-off.
• Either a Screen Time passcode or Family Sharing for the child's phone, whichever your family already uses. Section 4 explains both. You do not need a child Apple account.

1. Your account and your family

1. 1Open HopOff and tap I'm a parent.
2. 2Tap Create account and enter an email and a password. (If you already have an account, sign in. Forgot password sends you a reset email.)
3. 3What's your family called? Type a family name and tap Create family. If another parent has already made the family, tap I have a code from another parent instead and type their 8-character invite code (section 13).
4. 4The app asks what the family should call you: Mum, Dad, your name. Your child sees it (“Approved by Jamie”) and so does the other parent.

The words for points

Children earn points and spend them on screen time. You can call them anything: stars, coins, gems. Tap the gear on the home screen, then Family name and points. There is a box for one (“star”) and a box for several (“stars”), because “1 stars” would look wrong to a seven year old. Tap Save.

2. Add a child

1. 1On the home screen tap Add a child.
2. 2Type their first name and pick an age group: 5 to 8 (pictures first) or 9 to 12 (streaks and stats). Tap Add child.

Each child gets their own screen: their points, their block lists, their devices, their blocked times. Tap a child on the home screen to open it. The free plan covers 1 child; the family plan covers up to the number you chose (section 15).

3. Pair their phone

Pairing links the child's phone to their name in your app. A code does it, once, and the code stops working after 15 minutes.

1. 1On your phone, tap the child, scroll down to Devices, and tap Pair a phone or iPad. A square code and a six-letter code appear.
2. 2On the child's phone, open HopOff and tap This is my child's device.
3. 3Tap Scan the code and point it at your screen, or type the six letters and tap Pair.
4. 4Your phone says the device is paired. The child's phone moves on to the setup steps below. Keep hold of it.

The setup steps on the child's phone

1. 1Allow Screen Time: tap Allow Screen Time access. iOS asks twice: tap Continue, then Allow with Passcode (or approve it as the family organiser if the phone uses Family Sharing). Without this nothing can be blocked, so the app will not go on until it is granted.
2. 2Choose the apps: you pick the apps from your own phone (section 5), so just tap Continue. (On the family plan there is also Choose apps on this phone instead, which opens Apple's own picker for apps our list does not have.)
3. 3What did you pick?: only appears if you used Apple's picker. Tap the name that matches each icon so your phone shows it properly, then Apply.
4. 4Lock the settings: the checklist in section 4. Tick each one as you do it, then tap I've done all of this.
5. 5All set. Hand the phone over. It opens on “Hi James”.

4. Lock the phone down

HopOff blocks apps using Apple's Screen Time. Left alone, a child could turn Screen Time access off or delete the app, and the blocking would stop. These settings stop that. They are Apple's settings, on the child's phone (or on yours, with Family Sharing), and you apply them once. The app shows you the same list during setup and asks you to tick each one.

There are two versions, depending on how the child's phone is set up. Use the one that matches.

Version A: the phone has its own Apple account (a Screen Time passcode protects it)

1. 1Open Settings, then Screen Time.
2. 2If Screen Time is off, turn it on and choose This is My Child's iPhone (or iPad).
3. 3Tap Lock Screen Time Settings (on older iOS, Use Screen Time Passcode) and set a 4-digit passcode your child does not know. This passcode is what protects everything else; do not use the phone's unlock code.
4. 4Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it on.
5. 5Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases, then Deleting Apps, and choose Don't Allow. Now HopOff cannot be deleted.
6. 6Go back to Content & Privacy Restrictions, scroll to Allow Changes, tap Background App Activities, and choose Don't Allow. This stops your child switching off the background refresh that carries your changes to the phone.
7. 7Still under Allow Changes: if there is an Erase All Content and Settings row, set it to Don't Allow, so the phone cannot be wiped to escape.

Version B: the phone uses Family Sharing with a Child Apple Account

Here the child's phone is protected by your Apple account, so the locks are set from your own phone and no passcode is needed on theirs.

1. 1Open Settings, tap Family, then tap your child.
2. 2Tap Screen Time, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, and turn it on.
3. 3Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases, then Deleting Apps: Don't Allow.
4. 4Under Allow Changes, tap Background App Activities: Don't Allow.

What the app does if something is switched off anyway

• Screen Time access turned off: your phone shows the device as Protection turned off and you get an alert. Nothing is blocked until it is turned back on. The child's own screen says “Screen Time access is off. Your parent has been told.”
• Notifications or Background App Refresh turned off for HopOff on the child's phone: the device shows Updates may be slow with the exact setting to turn back on. What is already blocked stays blocked; new changes just take longer to arrive.
• The app deleted, or the phone off for a long time: the device shows Not checked in with when it was last seen. If the app was deleted, pair it again with a new code.
• The clock changed to dodge a blocked time: the phone reports how far its clock is from ours and you are told.

5. Block apps

Apps live in block lists. A list is a named group of apps that is on or off as a whole, and it applies on every device the child has. Every child starts with one list, called Blocked apps.

Add apps to a list

1. 1Tap the child, scroll to Block lists, and tap a list.
2. 2Tap Add apps. The list opens with a section called On James's iPhone: the popular apps the phone has found installed. Below it are all 200 apps by category, and a search box at the top.
3. 3Tick the apps and tap Add. They vanish from the child's home screen within seconds; the list says Sending until the phone has confirmed. Apps that are not installed are simply ignored.

An app that is not in our list

Tap Add apps, scroll to the bottom, and tap Choose it on the iPhone. The next time HopOff is opened on the child's phone, a card says “Your parent wants to add apps”; tap it and Apple's own picker opens. Tick the apps, tap a name for each so your phone can show it, and tap Done. They join the child's first list. This needs the family plan, and the apps picked this way apply only on that device.

Switch a list on or off

The switch on the list's card, or the Blocking switch inside it. Off, the child can use those apps freely; on, they are hidden until earned. You can switch a list off for a treat and on again for a school night.

Opens with screen time, or stays locked

Inside a list, under During screen time, choose Opens (the apps open while the child has bought screen time; the usual choice) or Stays locked (locked even during screen time, for the things you never want back). If an app is in two lists and one says stays locked, that wins.

More lists

Tap New block list under the lists to make another (Games, Social, Videos), with a name, an icon and a colour. Inside a list, the pencil renames it, Edit removes apps, and Delete list deletes it (its apps stop being blocked unless another list has them). The free plan has the one list; more come with the family plan.

6. Tasks

Tasks belong to the whole family, so siblings share them, and each can be for every child or just some. Points reach a child's balance only when you approve.

The starter set

On the home screen tap Tasks. The first time, the app offers Start with these?: nine everyday tasks with points already on them. Untick any that do not fit and tap add, or tap Make my own instead. Nothing is added until you say so.

Add or change a task

1. 1Tap New task, or tap a task to change it.
2. 2Give it a name, an icon and a colour, and set the points.
3. 3Choose how often: Any time (whenever it needs doing), Every day, Weekdays, Some days (pick the days), or Just once (gone once you approve it).
4. 4For an any-time task you can add Wait between goes (a gap before it can be done again) and Times a day (a cap).
5. 5Pick which children it is for, or leave it for everyone. Tap Save.

Delete task is at the bottom of a task. There is no photo proof: children tick tasks off on trust, and you approve on trust or by looking.

7. The shop

The shop is where points become screen time. It also belongs to the whole family. On the home screen tap Shop. The first time, the app offers 15, 30 and 60 minutes at suggested prices; accept or change them.

• Tap an item to change its Minutes or its Price, or to Remove from shop. The app suggests a price from your usual rate so the maths stays fair.
• Tap New item to sell another length of time.
• Bought screen time opens every list marked Opens, on the device it was bought on, for exactly that long. Buying more while time is running adds to it.

8. Approving tasks

When your child ticks off a task, it arrives on your phone as a notification and at the top of your home screen under Tasks to check.

• The green tick approves it: the points land on the child's balance and their phone celebrates. Approve all does the lot.
• The cross sends it back. A sheet called Not yet? offers three quick reasons (“Not finished yet”, “Needs doing properly”, “Do it again, please”) or a box for your own words. Tap Send; your child sees the reason on the task and can have another go.
• From your lock screen: press and hold the notification for Approve and Not yet without opening the app. Face ID is asked for, so nobody else can approve from your phone.
• Two parents? Whoever taps first wins, and the other is told.

Approving needs the family plan. On the free plan there are no tasks to approve.

9. What your child sees

The child's app is simple on purpose. There is no sign-out, no settings, and no way into your side.

Hi James at the top, with the frog. A bar shows whether protection is on, how many apps are locked, and their points.

• Today: the tasks for today, each with a Done button. Ticked ones say “Waiting for a parent”, then “Approved by Jamie” or the reason they were sent back. A task with a wait shows “Again at 4:30”.
• Shop: the minutes on sale. Tap one, then Buy for the price. The apps open straight away, a countdown runs at the top, and I'm finished ends it early and gives the unused minutes back as points.
• Locked apps: what is hidden right now. During screen time this becomes Still locked: only the lists that stay locked.
• A bedtime card (“Bedtime until 7:00”) when a blocked time is running, and a sleepy frog when the family has no plan and tasks and the shop are switched off.
• Ticked a task with no signal? It says “Sends when you're back online” and goes by itself.

A blocked app that is opened anyway shows a HopOff screen: “TikTok costs stars. Do a task in HopOff to earn stars, then spend them here.” Apps chosen from our list are hidden from the home screen altogether.

10. Blocked times and the daily limit

Blocked times are when screen time cannot be bought or used: bedtime, school, homework. Nothing can be bought through one, and one that starts during bought screen time ends it and gives the unused minutes back.

1. 1Tap the child, scroll to Rules, and tap Blocked times.
2. 2Tap Add a blocked time. Give it a name (“Bedtime”), a start and end time, and the days. A time that crosses midnight, like 20:00 to 07:00, is fine.
3. 3Tap Done, then Save at the bottom of the screen.

Daily earning limit, on the same screen, caps the points a child can earn in a day. Blocked times and the limit need the family plan; when a plan ends they pause, and come back with it.

11. Lock now, Give points, Undo

• Lock now: appears while the child has screen time running. It ends the time on every device at once, hides the apps again, and gives the unused whole minutes back as points. The child sees “Jamie ended your screen time. 14 stars back.” The card says Locked once each device has confirmed.
• Give points: points without a task, with an optional note the child sees (“Great job at school”).
• Undo: under This week, every approval has an Undo. The points come off, even below zero, the child is told, and the task can be done again.

12. What each device status means

On the home screen and on each child's screen, every device shows one of these. Green is good; amber and red tell you what to do.

Tap a device to see when it last checked in, how many apps it blocks, whether it is protected by Family Sharing or the Screen Time passcode, and any screen time running. You can rename it there, or unpair it.

13. A second parent and quiet hours

Invite a parent

1. 1Tap the gear, then Invite a parent. An 8-character code appears; Share code sends it by message. It works for 7 days.
2. 2On their phone they install HopOff, tap I'm a parent, create their own account, and tap I have a code from another parent, then Join.

Both parents can do everything: approve, pair, change lists and rules. Every change is recorded with who made it. One plan covers both, and either can pay for it. Inviting a parent needs the family plan.

Quiet hours

Gear, then Quiet hours. Tasks finished during your quiet hours still arrive, silently: no sound, and your screen stays dark; they wait in your notifications. Each parent sets their own. Alerts about a child's phone (protection off, not checking in) always ring.

14. The activity log

Gear, then Activity: everything that happened in the family, newest first, with who did it. Filter by screen time, tasks, points, apps, rules, devices, alerts or family, and by child. On a child's screen, See all opens their own log.

15. The free plan and the family plan

The free plan: 1 child, 1 device and 1 blocked app, with no tasks and no shop. Enough to see the blocking work.

The family plan opens everything: any number of apps and lists, every child and up to three devices each, tasks and approving, the shop, giving points, blocked times and the limit, and a second parent. One plan covers the whole family, priced by how many children it covers, monthly or yearly, with 7 days free first. The prices are on the home page.

Starting it

Once a phone is paired, the home screen offers it, and anything that needs it (adding a task, approving, a second app) opens the plan page: what happens on the plan, then See the prices, yearly or monthly, then Continue and Apple's payment sheet. Apple takes the payment; we never see your card. Whatever you were doing carries on by itself once the plan has started. Gear, then Family plan, shows the plan you are on.

Changing or cancelling

In your phone's Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, then HopOff. Or Gear, Family plan, Change or cancel in the App Store. Cancelling stops the next renewal; you keep the plan until the period you paid for ends. To move to a bigger plan, add a child: the app offers the next size up and Apple charges the difference.

When a plan ends

Nothing is deleted. Your lists, tasks, shop and children are all kept. One app stays blocked on the first child's first device; every other app opens, and tasks and the shop pause. On the child's screen the lists show a padlock, and a card under the note lets you Change which app stays blocked (or Block no app). Tap a padlocked list to start the plan again, and everything comes back as it was. Points are kept throughout.

A new phone

Sign in with the same email and everything is there. If the plan does not show, Gear, Family plan, Restore a plan.

16. Unpairing, removing a child, deleting your account

• Unpair a device: tap the child, tap the device, then Unpair this device. The phone lifts its restrictions the next time it connects and shows “This device is no longer set up”. Pair it again any time with a new code.
• Remove a child: Remove James at the bottom of their screen. Their devices are unpaired straight away and their history goes. This cannot be undone.
• Sign out: Gear, then Sign out. Your children's phones stay protected; nothing changes for them.
• Delete your account: Gear, then Delete account. If you are the only parent, the family goes with it and every child's phone stops being blocked straight away. If there is another parent, they keep the family and only your account is removed. Everything is erased for good within 30 days. A plan bought through Apple is not cancelled by this; cancel it in your Apple account's subscriptions.