Screenable is a screen time management app that reimagines parental controls by empowering kids to safely practice self-control. Designed by parents, psychologists, and technologists, Screenable grows with today’s families through each developmental stage, giving parents confidence and peace of mind.

The app is designed with simple modes for each stage as kids grow, from shared iPads to a kid’s first phone. It’s research-backed and family-tested, making it easy for parents to follow all major screen time advisories, such as those from the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr Becky (Good Inside), and Jonathan Haidt (The Anxious Generation).

To get started, you just install the kid app on each kid’s device, select a mode, and walk through a simple setup. Learn about the modes you can choose, what kids experience with Screenable, or our subscription plans. It's a great replacement for an Apple Watch or other kid phone.

There are various kid phones out there built on Android (generally Samsung phones). But Apple families stand to benefit a lot by keeping their kids on the same platform:

• Facetime

• Messages with blue bubbles and advanced features

• Find My that shows kid / kid's device (rather than needing yet another app)

• Shared services like Apple Music and iCloud storage

• iOS / iPadOS consistency and familiarity, e.g. with features like Airdrop

• Best-in-class privacy and security practices

In Jonathan Haidt's 2024 landmark book The Anxious Generation, he lays out his Four Norms for safe and healthy kids online:

1. No smartphones before high school

2. No social media before 16

3. Phone-free schools

4. More independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world

Screenable handles #1 through its free "Dumb Phone mode", which removes the "smartphone" from any iPhone. It handles #2 by allowing parents to block all Social Media apps with just a tap (coming soon). It handles #3 by easily setting up schooltime schedules that disable phones. And for #4, well, that's on all of us parents. 😊

Converting any device into a dumb phone is totally free! Other modes that send notifications and weekly reports have a reasonable monthly subscription price. See pricing for more details.

Yes! With just a tap you can block web browsers entirely, including Safari and the 40 or so most popular browser apps. (This is the default for Dumb Phone mode.) Or alternatively you can allow browsers but block adult and inappropriate content. (We also automatically block incognito mode and private browsing for you.)

Apple Screen Time is a traditional parental control solution that lets parents set schedules and limits to block device usage. The best things about it are that it’s free and built-in.

However, it has some major shortcomings. Besides just being broken quite often and incredibly hard to use, it doesn't let parents do what they really need to – like for example, easily customize a simple, pared-down "dumb phone" for their kids to get started with. Plus it sends no screen time usage notifications nor regular reports.

Screenable is built on the same underlying technology as Apple Screen Time, so it's as "built-in" to Apple devices as it can get, but it avoids the vast majority of Apple's shortcomings while also providing a rich set of easy-to-use features for parents to raise safe, tech-healthy kids.

(Firstly, note that the Bark Phone is Android-only.)

Bark is a parental controls solution that got its start monitoring kids’ social media to alert parents about posts that could be harmful, which is where it excels. It can be a good tool for kids of certain ages and situations.

Screenable does not monitor kids' text messages or social media posts. Instead, it's about providing more pared-down alternatives to keep device usage limited in the first place. Kids might eventually "graduate" from Screenable into a service like Bark.

For now, kids and parents must have iPhones or iPads (iOS 15+, i.e. from 2014+). We may expand to Macbooks in the future, and possibly even Android/Kindle devices. Let us know your needs, and in the meantime learn more about specific compatibility ➜

As many as you like! (Well hang on – how many kids do you have?? 😉) Contact us if you have any questions.

We use the Apple Screen Time API to manage and measure app and device usage. The platform is built on solid privacy principles, keeping your (and your kids’) data well protected. Due to their limitations, however, we sometimes can’t support everything we’d like – but they are improving the API over time which should open up more capabilities in the future.

Privacy is deep in the ethos of our company. In order to provide the Screenable service, we collect and use device information and app usage data (such as screen time) from your child’s device. We will not disclose this information to third party entities except when required by law or to run our service. We may also disclose anonymized, aggregate data. Please read more in our Privacy Policy, and let us know if you have any questions!