Support

• Blocking
• When iOS gets in the way
• The insteads
• History, reasons and your weekly letter
• Making it stick
• Someone you trust
• Automations
• The tag
• Pro, purchases and refunds
• About Pausible

Blocking

• How does the shield work?

  Pausible uses Apple's Screen Time framework. When you choose apps or categories, iOS puts a shield in front of them. Opening one shows the shield with two choices: Not now, or Instead…, which on iOS 26.4 and later opens a small menu — Open Pausible, Notify me instead (only while notifications are allowed) and, from iOS 26.5, 5 more minutes. Open Pausible brings the app forward on iOS 26.5 and later; before that it sends a notification you tap, and with notifications off the shield leaves Instead… out rather than show a button that does nothing. There you either wait out the pause for that profile's level, or finish a two-minute instead and skip the wait. Either way you then pick how long to unlock for, and the shield comes back on its own when the time is up.

  The shield is drawn by iOS, not by Pausible, which is why it looks the same on every app and why it cannot play sound or show anything richer than a title, a line of text, two buttons and that short menu.

• How do I change which apps are blocked, or the level?

  Open the profile from the home screen. Choose on the apps row opens Apple's picker; the dial under “How much of a pause” sets the level. Changes apply immediately. Each profile has its own apps and its own level, so with Pro's extra profiles you can keep social apps on Strict and news apps on Pause. Free keeps one profile; Pro runs up to fifteen.

• Can Pausible block the website as well as the app?

  Yes, if you turn it on: open a profile and switch on Also block these websites. It starts with the feeds people most often reach through a browser instead (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Facebook, Reddit and a few more), and you can add your own or take any off. It is free, like all blocking. Be clear about what you get: a blocked site shows Apple's own “restricted” page, not Pausible's pause, so there is no instead and no unlock there. When you do want in, open Pausible and go through the profile's pause — an unlock lifts the profile's websites along with its apps. iOS allows one app 50 websites in all, and while any are blocked, Safari's Private Browsing is off. Adding a site is immediate; taking one off, or turning the list off, waits like any other loosening.

• What are off-limits times?

  A schedule that raises a profile's level for a window of time — weekdays 22:00 to 06:00, say. Inside the window the profile behaves at the window's level, however it is set the rest of the day. On Strict, an active window doesn't open at all. Free: one off-limits window per profile, which can raise Nudge to Pause. Windows that go higher, or refuse entry, are Pro.

• Why does the wait get longer through the day?

  That is the friction dial doing its job. Each level has a base wait that doubles with every reopen of that profile that day, up to the level's cap, and resets overnight. The fifth open of the afternoon should cost more than the first.

When iOS gets in the way

• iOS asked me for Screen Time permission again. Did something break?

  Not on your side. iOS drops the Screen Time permission from time to time — after some updates, after a restore, and occasionally for no visible reason. Pausible checks for it every time you open the app and once a minute while the app is on screen, and a daily Screen Time schedule re-applies the block once a day on its own. When it notices, Protection Status on the home screen says so plainly and offers the re-authorization; it takes two taps and your profiles, levels and windows are exactly as you left them.

• Protection Status says the block isn't confirmed. What now?

  Tap Self-test on the status card (or Settings → Run self-test). Pausible checks that iOS is actually holding the shield for every protected profile (profiles you unlocked on purpose are skipped) and reports the result. If it fails it usually names the reason: the permission is missing, or iOS has expired the app tokens and the apps need re-choosing. Re-choosing the apps in the profile fixes the token case; the permission case is two taps from the status card.

  If a self-test passes but a blocked app still opens freely, force-quit the blocked app and try again; iOS sometimes keeps an already-running app in front of a new shield for a few seconds.

• Pausible says it “hasn't been able to check your block”. What does that mean?

  Pausible keeps one notification waiting a day and a half ahead and pushes it back every time it gets to check your block — once a day at 4 AM, and whenever you open the app. If you turn off Pausible's Screen Time access, iOS stops those checks and removes every block, and nothing can stop that; so the notification is the one thing still left to arrive, and it tells you. If you meant it, fine. If you didn't, open Pausible and give it Screen Time access again. It needs notifications to be on, and it can also turn up after a day and a half with the phone switched off or unused, since the daily check didn't get to run.

• Does a schedule ever fail?

  iOS's scheduling for Screen Time is not perfectly reliable, especially for windows longer than about 45 minutes. Pausible does not rely on it alone: the schedule, each unlock's own usage timer and the shield are separate layers and each is re-applied by the watchdog. If iOS misses a window edge, the next check catches it.

The insteads

• What is an instead?

  A two-minute alternative to scrolling, offered at the moment you'd have scrolled. Finish one and the wait is waived. There are five: Breathe (a 4-7-8 pace), Stretch (four thirty-second moves: neck, shoulders, wrists, a forward fold), Reflect (three short questions and a typed intention), Puzzle (four numbers, one target) and Read (a page of something you saved). Breathe, Stretch and Reflect are free; Puzzle and Read are part of Pro.

  If you always want the same one, open the profile and pick it under Instead: the pause screen then offers it in one tap, with Something else for the full list.

• How do I save an article to Read?

  Share it to Pausible from Safari or any app with a share sheet: tap Share, then Pausible. The article is fetched once, stored on your phone, and waits for the next pause. Nothing about what you saved leaves the device.

• Can I skip the instead and just wait?

  Always. Never mind, I'll wait on the chooser returns you to the countdown. Pausible never forces an activity on you; the instead is an offer.

• Why does the shield quote something I typed?

  When a level asks for an intention, Pausible keeps the last one you typed for that profile and the shield shows it the next time — “Last time: ‘Reply to Sam’.” — so the pause starts where the last one ended. It is stored on your phone only and is cleared when you remove the profile.

History, reasons and your weekly letter

• What does History show?

  Home → History lists each day's pauses, insteads and minutes open, plus any focus sessions, with the intentions you typed quoted beneath. The last seven days are free; Pro shows all of it. There are no streaks and no scores — it is a record, not a report card.

• Pausible suggested an off-limits window. Where did that come from?

  From your own log, on your phone. Once a week's opens for a profile mostly land in the same two hours, Pausible offers a window over them one level up; when a profile is opened far more than the rest, it offers the next level; when five opens on a profile were tapped as habit or bored, it offers to make Stretch that profile's first instead. It shows one suggestion at a time, Not now silences that idea for two weeks, and accepting goes through the same settings you could change by hand. Nothing is sent anywhere to work this out.

• What are the chips on the pause screen for?

  When a level asks what you're opening the app for, you can say why in one tap — Bored, Lonely, Avoiding something, Checking something, Habit, Someone messaged, Something else — instead of, or as well as, typing a line. A chip on its own is enough. It goes into your log on the phone and nowhere else, and once a week holds five of them History reflects it back in one line: “Mostly bored · mostly after 22:00.”

• What is the weekly letter, and who writes it?

  Part of Pro. History → Your week shows three short sentences about the past seven days: what happened, the pattern if there was one, and one gentle observation. Never a score, never a verdict. On an iPhone with Apple Intelligence turned on, Apple's on-device model writes it from a handful of numbers (pauses, insteads, minutes, your most-tapped reason, your busiest two hours) and Pausible checks that it used only those numbers before showing it — the card then says “Written on your phone”. On every other iPhone, or when the check fails, a plain template writes the same three sentences and the card says “From your week”. Nothing about your week is sent anywhere; there is no server to send it to. One letter a week, written only while you're looking at History.

• What does “closed early” mean on a day?

  You unlocked an app and then locked it again before the time was up, from Lock it again on the home screen or on the Lock Screen's unlock card. The minutes you gave back are noted on the day. They are never counted for or against you.

Making it stick

• I turned a level down and it says “at 4:00 AM tomorrow”. Why didn't it change?

  That's Slow to loosen (Settings → Make it stick), on by default. Anything that makes Pausible stricter happens at once. Anything that makes it looser — turning a dial down, removing or lowering an off-limits window, removing a profile that still blocks something, pausing your windows for a holiday, or turning Slow to loosen itself off — waits until the next morning (4:00 AM) or, if you choose, 24 hours. The change is shown under the control it will move, with Undo beside it. Undo is free, always. The point is that a 2 am decision doesn't win.

• Can I turn Slow to loosen off?

  Yes: Settings → Make it stick → Off. Turning it off is itself a loosening, so it waits for the current policy (next morning, or 24 hours) and shows an Undo like any other change. If you have set a trusted code, turning it off or weakening it (next morning to 24 hours) asks for that first.

• “5 more minutes” has disappeared from the block screen.

  You've used this week's quick unlocks. The shield's “5 more minutes” opens Pausible, which unlocks for five minutes with no pause and puts the block back on its own; it works three times in any seven days (the button itself needs iOS 26.5 or later). Settings → Make it stick shows how many are left (“2 of 3 left this week”); Pro can only set it lower, anywhere from none up to the free default. Every other way in stays open: Instead… → Open Pausible always works, and so do the wait and the insteads.

• What is a daily budget?

  A Pro rule on a profile: “Social, 30 minutes a day.” Every unlock Pausible grants for that profile counts against it — the pause screen's, an instead's, and the block screen's “5 more minutes” — and once it's spent the pause refuses until 4:00 AM. Pausible counts the minutes it unlocked, not what you did with them; it never sees usage. “5 more minutes” still works on a spent budget (within the week's allowance, as always) and its five minutes count. Raising a budget or turning it off waits like every loosening — next morning or 24 hours, whichever Slow to loosen is set to; lowering it lands now.

• How do I lock Pausible with my Screen Time passcode?

  iOS can put Pausible's settings behind your Screen Time passcode, so that loosening needs that code too — ideally one someone else holds. Settings → Make it stick walks through four steps, and the order matters — do them in this order:

  1. Turn off Share Across Devices first (Settings → Screen Time → Share Across Devices). While it's on, another device signed into your Apple Account can switch every step after this one back off, so doing it later defeats the rest.
  2. Set a Screen Time passcode (Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings). This is the code the other steps end up asking for — pick one you won't enter without meaning to, and let someone else set it if that helps.
  3. Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions (Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions). This is what makes the next step available at all.
  4. Set Pausible to Don't Allow Changes (Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Apps with Screen Time Access → Pausible → Don't Allow Changes). This is what stops Pausible's own access being switched off without the passcode. It needs iOS 26.4 or later — on an older iPhone this screen doesn't exist yet, so do the first three and skip this one for now.

  Settings → Make it stick has all four as their own checkboxes, in this order, so you can tick each off as you go rather than one all-or-nothing switch.

  Honestly: Pausible cannot check whether you did any of this. iOS gives apps no way to see it, so every step is your word, and Protection Status says “Locked with your Screen Time passcode” once all four are ticked because you told it so. Pausible never sets a passcode of its own and never asks for yours.

• Can Pausible stop me deleting it?

  Only if you ask it to. Settings → Make it stick → Stop apps being deleted is off until you turn it on. While it is on, no app on this iPhone can be deleted — including Pausible; iOS offers no way to protect one app on its own. Turning it off waits like any other loosening (and asks for your trusted code, if you set one). And one way out always stays open: Settings → Screen Time → Apps with Screen Time Access still removes Pausible's access, which lifts this along with every block — unless you locked that too with your Screen Time passcode (see above).

  With it off, delete the app and every block, every code, every pending change and every setting is gone at once; iOS removes the shields the moment the app is deleted. None of this holds your phone hostage. That is the deal.

Someone you trust

• What is the trusted code?

  Free. Settings → Someone you trust generates a six-digit code on your phone, shows it once, and lets you share it with a person you trust. From then on the hardest changes ask for it: lowering a profile from Firm or Strict, taking apps or websites off it or removing it, raising or turning off its daily budget, lowering, shrinking or removing a Firm or Strict window, weakening or turning off Slow to loosen, letting apps be deleted again, pausing your windows, and getting past a Strict off-limits window (the pause screen offers Ask the person who holds your code, and the code lets that one open through at the Deliberate level). Removing the code needs the code. Five wrong tries in an hour lock it for an hour.

  The code is made on the phone and stored only as a salted hash — Pausible does not keep the digits and cannot show them again. It leaves your phone only if you send it to someone.

• I lost my code. How do I get it back?

  You can't, and neither can we — Pausible never had it, only a hash. If the person who holds it can't be reached, the way out is to delete and reinstall Pausible. Everything resets: profiles, windows, history, the code. That is deliberate. A code with a back door is not a code. If you turned on Stop apps being deleted, first remove Pausible's access in Settings → Screen Time → Apps with Screen Time Access, which lifts it; Pausible never closes that door.

• Does the person who holds my code get anything on their phone?

  No. There is no account, no pairing and no app on their side; they just know six digits. When you need the code, you ask them and type it. Pausible never contacts them.

• How do I pause my off-limits times for a holiday?

  Open any profile that has a window and tap Pause all windows…, then pick the day they come back (up to two weeks out). Every off-limits window is ignored until then; the dial keeps working. Pausing is a loosening, so it waits for Slow to loosen and asks for the trusted code if one is set. Coming back early is one tap — Resume on the home screen or the profile — and happens at once.

Automations

• Can a Focus turn Pausible up on its own?

  Yes, with Pro. Pausible provides a Focus filter: on your iPhone, Settings → Focus → the Focus you want (Sleep, say) → Focus Filters → Add Filter → Pausible → choose the level under “Raise to”. While that Focus is on, every profile runs at least at that level; when it turns off, your own levels are back. A filter only ever raises a level, never lowers one. Settings → Automations in Pausible lists this and three Shortcuts recipes with exact steps.

• Can I start a focus session from the Action button, or when I arrive somewhere?

  Yes, through the Shortcuts app. Pausible's Start Focus Session action takes a number of minutes; put it in a shortcut and assign that to the Action button (Settings → Action Button → Shortcut), or in an automation that runs when you arrive at a place — including an NFC automation that runs when you tap any tag. Focus sessions from Shortcuts, Siri, Control Center and tags are part of Pro; Settings → Automations has the steps for all of them.

The tag

• What is a Pausible tag?

  Any NFC sticker or card — the cheap NTAG kind, a dollar or so each — plus an automation you build once in Apple's Shortcuts app: Automation → + → NFC, scan the tag, choose Run Immediately, then add Pausible's Start Focus Session action. A second tag with End Focus Session ends it. Put it on the fridge, the desk or the bedside table, touch the top of your phone to it, and the session starts. Settings → Automations in Pausible has the steps, and focus sessions from Shortcuts are part of Pro. A tag can only make things stricter: it cannot unlock an app, lower a level or get you past a block.

• Does Pausible read or write the tag itself?

  No. Pausible has no NFC capability of its own; Shortcuts reads the tag, with Apple's own NFC support, and then runs Pausible's action. Nothing is written to the tag, so a tag someone else finds tells them nothing about you. NFC automations need an iPhone XS or later with the screen on. If you'd rather not use Shortcuts, any NFC writer app can put one of Pausible's links on a tag — https://pausible.app/t/focus, /t/end or /t/toggle. iOS then shows a banner when you tap the tag, and tapping that banner hands the link to Pausible: two taps, by Apple's design.

Pro, purchases and refunds

• What does Pro add, and what does it cost?

  The rest of the friction dial (Deliberate, Firm and Strict), up to fifteen profiles instead of one, unlimited off-limits times, a daily budget of minutes per profile, your own dial per profile, unlimited focus sessions instead of one a day, the Puzzle and Read insteads, history beyond seven days and your weekly letter, your own quick-unlock limit, automations (the Focus filter and Shortcuts recipes), and the Siri, Control Center and Live Activity controls for focus sessions. Someone you trust is free on every tier. Pro is $29.99 once, with Family Sharing — no subscription, no weekly plan and no free trial. Blocking itself is free and never goes behind the paywall.

• I bought Pro on another phone. How do I restore it?

  Settings → Restore purchase. Make sure the phone is signed in to the Apple Account that made the purchase (or, for a lifetime purchase, to an Apple Account in the same Family Sharing group). Restore is free and can be run as often as you like.

• I'm on the old annual plan. How do I cancel it, and what happens if I do?

  Pausible stopped selling the annual plan on September 7, 2026 — Pro is now a single $29.99 payment, no subscription — but if you bought the year before then, it still works exactly as it did: Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Pausible Pro → Cancel. You keep Pro until the end of the period you paid for. If it lapses, nothing is deleted: profiles and levels above the free ceiling are stepped down to Pause, extra profiles and windows stay in place, and everything comes straight back if you buy the lifetime.

• Can I get a refund?

  Refunds are handled by Apple, not by us — we never see your payment details. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com, or see Apple's refund page. They are fair about it.

About Pausible

• What happens if I delete the app?

  Every block it set is gone, immediately, along with everything it stored — including any trusted code and any change still waiting for the morning. Pausible can't lock you out of your own phone; iOS removes the shields the moment the app is deleted. That is by design. If you turned on Stop apps being deleted, iOS won't let any app be deleted until you turn it off in Make it stick, or remove Pausible's Screen Time access in Settings.

• Is this a parental-control app?

  No. Pausible is for adults managing their own phone. It uses the individual form of Screen Time authorisation, which cannot be applied to another person's device, and it is not in the Kids category. For managing a child's device, use Apple's built-in Screen Time under Family Sharing.

• What does Pausible know about me?

  Nothing. There is no account, no server and no analytics, and Apple's framework never tells us which apps you chose or opened. The privacy policy fits on one screen.

• Which iPhones does it run on?

  iPhone on iOS 17 or later. The instead shortcut on the shield (Instead… → Open Pausible) needs iOS 26.5 or later; on older versions Pausible sends a notification you can tap instead, while notifications are allowed.