Is there an app that locks your phone until you complete a task?

Is there an app that locks your phone until you complete a task? For your child's iPhone, yes. SimpleSentinel locks it until the chore is checked off, or until you approve it.

Type the chore, pick the child, set when it is due, and choose what happens if it is not done: the phone stays open, goes into downtime until it is done, or locks fully until it is done. You decide whether their check-off counts or only your approval does.

One price, unlimited children and devices. 7-day free trial, billed by Apple.

The short version

✓ Scheduled chores that can lock the phone

Type a chore, pick a child, set when it's due, and decide what happens if it isn't done: their phone stays open, goes into downtime until it is done, or locks fully until it is done. Count it done on their check-off or only on your approval.

✓ Pause their phone with one tap

From your phone, pause a child's device right now: a Downtime pause keeps their usual allowances, a Full pause closes everything. It lands in seconds, even mid-game, and Resume brings it back just as fast.

✓ The clock is locked

A child's phone keeps network time from the moment it's linked, so there's no changing the time to end downtime early or skip a chore. Screen Time has no such lock; SimpleSentinel does, on every child's phone, all the time.

What still works during a lock

Calls to and from you keep working. Apple keeps the Phone app reachable no matter what. Your emergency alarm and a No Ignore message still reach the screen. A pause stays until you lift it, through restarts and through a scheduled downtime window. SimpleSentinel never reads what your child types, watches or browses.

The feature page: app that locks phone until chores are done.

Pricing

Founding Family (First 1,000 Families)

7-day free trial. Unlimited children and devices.

$9.99/mo

or $99.99/yr

  • About 28 cents/day for every device & child.

  • Your price never goes up as long as you stay subscribed.

Regular Price

7-day free trial. Unlimited children and devices.

$16.99/mo

or $149.99/yr

  • About 41 cents/day for every device & child.

  • Compare to A locked-down phone @ $1,000/yr per child.

© 2026 Jubilee Industries LLC. SimpleSentinel™ is a trademark of Jubilee Industries LLC. Patent pending.