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Common questions

I declined the Screen Time permission. How do I fix it?

Cubi Hands cannot block anything without Screen Time access, because all the blocking is done by iOS itself. Open the app and tap the recovery card on the home screen to ask again, or go to Settings → Screen Time → App & Website Activity and make sure it is on, then reopen Cubi Hands. The permission sheet belongs to Apple and only appears while the app is open.

I forgot my parent PIN.

Face ID or Touch ID unlocks the app too — try that first. If biometrics are unavailable and the PIN is lost, the only way back is to delete and reinstall the app: that clears the PIN along with all local data and removes the restrictions from the device. We cannot reset it for you. The PIN exists only as a salted hash in your device's Keychain, and it never reaches us.

I bought Pro but it shows as locked.

Open the paywall and tap Restore Purchases. The app asks the App Store again and unlocks within a few seconds. Check that you are signed in with the Apple Account that made the purchase and that you are online for that one check. Pro is a one-time, non-consumable purchase — it cannot expire, and Family Sharing is included.

A session will not start, or a shield stays on after the timer ended.

Open Cubi Hands first: it reconciles its state with iOS on every launch and clears a stale shield. If one persists, unlock with Face ID or your PIN and stop the session from the home screen. If Screen Time access was revoked in Settings while a session was running, iOS can keep the last restrictions until the app runs once more — reopening it resolves that.

Can my child bypass it?

Restrictions are enforced by iOS, not by our app, so force-quitting Cubi Hands or restarting the phone does not lift them, and the app cannot be deleted while a session is running. The honest exception is below.

Does it work on my child's own device?

Yes — install it there and use the child-device section for bedtime and school-time schedules, category blocking, adult-web filtering and PIN-locked Settings. Everything runs locally on that device. There is no remote control from your phone: that would need an account and a server, which Cubi Hands deliberately does not have.

The limits we will not hide

Passcode

Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can change Screen Time settings and undo any protection app, including this one. Keep it private — that is the real lock.

Calls

Phone calls keep working during a session, on purpose. A child holding your phone must always be able to reach a person.

No fake power-off

iOS does not allow any app to fake a shutdown or force the device off. When time is up we lock every app behind a friendly screen instead.

Notifications

Most notifications from shielded apps are hidden, but a compact Live Activity or a preview already delivered to the Lock Screen is outside our control. Consider turning off previews in Settings → Notifications.

Shield coverage

A few Apple system apps can stay reachable on some iOS versions even when they are outside your allowlist. Keep sessions short, and tell us what you saw — the coverage matrix is something we actively test.

Settings app

iOS does not let third-party apps shield the Settings app itself. On a child's own device, PIN-lock the Cubi Hands settings and use Screen Time's own passcode for extra depth.

Reporting a bug

Tell us what you expected, what happened, your iOS version and device model. If it involves a session, the time limit you used and whether the phone was locked at the time helps a lot. There is no crash reporter in the app, so your description really is our only signal — thank you for taking the time.

Refunds

Purchases are handled by Apple, so refunds are too. Use reportaproblem.apple.com with the Apple Account that made the purchase. We do not see your payment details and cannot issue a refund ourselves, but tell us what went wrong — we would rather fix it.

Still stuck?

hellohands@cubi.family — one small team, real replies.