Why no free trial?
Because the €1 payment IS the security. A free trial means a kid can install the app and control it before their parent does. The paywall proves an adult is in charge. Kids don’t have credit cards — that’s the whole point. Not convinced after paying? I’ll refund your euro. No questions.
What happens if I cancel?
All restrictions drop. Every app becomes accessible. Device Admin deactivates. The app becomes freely uninstallable. Your config is saved for 90 days — resubscribe and everything restores instantly. I’m the arms dealer, not the warden.
Does ScreenOps collect my data?
No. Zero. Nothing. All data stays on-device. There’s no account, no cloud sync, no analytics server. I literally couldn’t spy on you if I wanted to. There isn’t even a server to store your data on. The privacy policy is the shortest one you’ll ever read.
What about multi-device sync?
There’s no cloud sync — by design. No accounts, no servers, no cross-platform data leaking. But ScreenOps has Config Clone: set up one device, export its config as a QR code, scan it with another device — done. Same rules, same app classifications, same budgets. Your parent phone can even act as a relay: scan from tablet A, walk over to tablet B, show the QR. Zero servers involved. Zero accounts needed. That’s the privacy tradeoff — you carry the config yourself instead of trusting a cloud with it.
Can my kid bypass it?
ScreenOps has an extensive anti-cheat system built around every known bypass method we’re aware of — and we’re not going to enumerate them publicly, because that would rather defeat the point. What we will say: it was built by someone whose own kid cracked every other parental control app on the market. Every known trick has a response. Is it perfect? Nothing is. But it’s the hardest one to crack on the market. If your kid cracks it, they really should apply to the NSA — they need people like that!
Does this unlock automatically when my kid turns 13?
No. Never. Unlike Google Family Link, ScreenOps has no birthday triggers and no auto-graduation. The age group you pick in setup only sets starting suggestions, and nothing unlocks later by itself. You decide when your child is ready. Not Google. Not a birthday. You.
What about AI apps like ChatGPT during homework?
Blocked by default during Homework Mode. I don’t support kids generating their essays through AI and handing them in without knowing what they’re about. If you decide your kid can use AI tools responsibly, you can whitelist them. But the default is: no.
Bedtime mode blocks educational apps too?
Yes. Bedtime is bedtime. Everything locks down unless you explicitly allow specific exceptions. If you want your kid to have access to an audiobook app at 10 PM, you can whitelist it. But I don’t assume homework at midnight is normal.
What’s Vacation Mode?
It’s not “turn everything off.” It’s “adjust the rules because the context changed.” You choose what to relax — more game time, push bedtime later, extend budgets, lift specific categories. Your parenting style, your call. ScreenOps just gives you the power to enforce it.
What’s Behavior Lock?
The consequence button. Two levels: Play Lock kills games but keeps educational apps running — still useful, just not fun. Full Device Lock shuts everything down. Only the phone dialer survives (emergency calls). Activated when you say so, deactivated when you say so. There’s no timer, no auto-expire, no kid-facing workaround. It stays until you lift it.
How does Weekly Accumulation work?
Monday through Friday: no play, no exceptions. But every minute the kid spends on educational apps during the week is banked. Come Saturday, they can spend what they earned. It’s the “no screens during the week” philosophy — but with a carrot attached. The kid who studied 3 hours on Wednesday gets rewarded on the weekend. The one who didn’t open a single edu app all week? Empty balance.
Can I control the kid’s device from my phone?
Yes. Same WiFi, automatic discovery, no cloud, no account. Your phone finds the kid’s device via local network and you can do everything remotely — change budgets, activate Homework Mode, approve tool requests, check live stats, or drop the nuke. Both parents can pair their phones independently — each gets their own direct link via a quick QR code scan, no account needed. Either parent can act without the other, from their own phone. If you’re not on the same WiFi, the SMS nuke still works over cellular from either parent’s phone.
What about iOS and Windows?
Android first. iOS and Windows are on the roadmap. A note on iOS: Apple doesn’t let any third-party app prevent its own uninstallation through code. On Android, ScreenOps handles this itself via Device Admin. On iOS, the same protection exists — but it’s provided by Apple’s built-in Screen Time settings, not by ScreenOps directly. You enable “Don’t Allow Deleting Apps” in Screen Time, and the result is identical: the kid can’t remove it. The functionality is all there — earn-to-unlock, app blocking, scheduling, the full system — it’s just that one specific layer relies on Apple’s native tool instead of something I can code myself. The anti-cheat is lighter because Apple sandboxes everything, but that same sandboxing also means kids can’t install cheat tools as easily. Different platform, same outcome. I’d rather explain all of this upfront than have you wonder later.
Play Protect says “App blocked to protect your device”. Now what?
That only happens if you install the APK file directly instead of getting ScreenOps from Google Play. Google Play Protect distrusts apps it hasn’t seen through its store, and the sideload edition asks for SMS permission (for the SMS nuke), which makes it extra nervous. Tap Details, then Install anyway. No such button? Open the Play Store, tap your profile icon, then Play Protect, the gear icon, and turn off “Scan apps with Play Protect”. Install ScreenOps, then turn scanning back on.
Android won’t let me switch on Accessibility for ScreenOps (“restricted setting”).
Since Android 13, apps installed from a file can’t get Accessibility and a few other sensitive permissions until you unlock them. Try to switch it on once and let Android refuse. Then open Settings, Apps, ScreenOps, tap the three dots in the top right corner, choose Allow restricted settings and confirm with your screen lock. Go back and switch Accessibility on. Apps installed from Google Play don’t get this block.
“Display over other apps” can’t be enabled. Android says it slows down the phone.
That’s Android Go, the lightweight Android on cheap phones with little memory. On these phones the Settings app refuses this permission completely, so it can’t be switched on from the phone itself. The way around it is a computer with ADB (Android’s free developer tool): turn on USB debugging in the phone’s Developer options, connect the phone and run adb shell appops set com.screenops SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW allow. One command, done once. If the permission ever gets reset, run it again.
My kid’s phone is supervised by Google Family Link. Can I still install ScreenOps?
Yes, but Family Link gets in the way. It blocks apps from unknown sources, so installing from a computer fails with “INSTALL_FAILED_USER_RESTRICTED”. What works: copy the APK into the phone’s Download folder, open it in the Files app and install it from there. Family Link may ask you to approve it on your phone, and Play Protect may complain (see above). Be aware that two parental control systems on one phone fight over the same permissions, and Family Link can block some of the ones ScreenOps needs.
Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO: installing from a computer fails with “Install canceled by user”.
Xiaomi phones block app installs over USB by default. In Developer options, turn on Install via USB (Xiaomi wants you signed in to a Mi account for that) and, if your phone has it, USB debugging (Security settings). Then start the install again and tap Install on the confirmation that pops up on the phone. If nobody taps it within a few seconds, it counts as cancelled.
Who makes this?
A frustrated father of four who lost one too many screen time wars. ScreenOps is a product of
Telegis Netzplanung GbR, based in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. One dad. Zero venture capital. Zero BS.