Hootkey
ENES
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iPhone & iPad · Kids K–6

Learning first,then play.

Your child's chosen apps stay blocked until they finish a short lesson. Five maths questions or a story — about three minutes — and the apps open for the time you set.

Let's set it upSee how it works
  • The block is free, forever
  • Built on Apple's Screen Time
  • No ads, ever
The block screen: Time to earn 30 minutes
Earn 30 minutes: one story, Start
Unlocked until 16:42The Big Dog and the Little Dog · 3 of 3
How it works

Blocked, earn, unlocked. Then blocked again.

You pick the apps. Your child does a short lesson to open them. When the minutes run out, the block comes back on its own.

  1. 1The block

    They open YouTube. iOS shows the shield.

    Built on Apple's own Screen Time controls, so it holds — no uninstalling, no VPN trick, no arguing.

    Shield over the blocked app
  2. 2The lesson

    Five questions, about three minutes.

    Illustrated maths or a short story, pitched a touch above where they are. A wrong answer shows the working and asks again — it never fails them out.

    A story: The Night the Lights Went Out
  3. 3Unlocked

    Thirty minutes, earned. Then the shield returns.

    You set the minutes, a daily cap and quiet hours. When the window ends, the block is back — nothing for you to do.

    Lesson finished, apps unlocked
3 mina typical lesson
30 minearned per lesson — you choose
K–6maths and reading, to US grade standards
0ads or trackers in your child's app
A story: The Big Dog and the Little Dog, with Read it to me
Illustrated maths: how many ducklings?
Lessons

Illustrated maths. Fresh stories. Spelling. Written for the grade they're actually on.

Placement finds your child's level within a couple of days and eases back on the skill that needs it. Kindergarten and first grade hear every story, question and sum read aloud — and any child can, if you switch it on.

  • Count, add, round, divideEvery question traceable to a grade-level standard.
  • Stories with three questionsLiteral, inference, vocabulary — each labelled by what it asks for.
  • Spelling and wordsHear a word, type it; learn what "enormous" means. Sight words to Greek roots, K–6, spaced so they stick.
  • Never a fail, never a timerA wrong answer shows the working and asks a sibling question. The minutes come either way.
New every monthA fresh pack on the first of the monthAround 30 illustrated maths questions, six new stories and new words to learn, matched to your child's grade. Packs arrive while you subscribe; the free starter set never expires.
For parents

The controls on your phone. The proof every Sunday.

Today

Bonus minutes, a pause for the car, lock it now.

  • Lessons, minutes, accuracyWhat happened today, at a glance.
  • "Can I have more time?"Your child asks; you say yes or no from the lock screen. Or send +15 yourself.
  • Every rule, in one placeMinutes per lesson, daily cap, quiet hours, this week's focus.
Today dashboard on the parent's phone
The Sunday report

Three minutes to read. One thing to watch.

  • What got betterNamed by skill, traceable to a grade-level standard.
  • The one to watchWhat the app is doing about it — or make it next week's focus.
  • Honest about the block"No attempts to get around the block this week" — or exactly what happened.
Weekly report on the parent's phone
What else it does

Built for the evenings that don't go to plan.

A spelling test on Friday. Grandma picking up on Tuesday. A proxy site a friend told them about. Each of these has a screen of its own.

For your child

Spelling, heard and typed

Hootkey says the word and a sentence, and your child types it on letter keys of its own — never the phone's keyboard, which would spell it for them. A miss shows exactly which letters to fix.

Spelling: becuse, with the missing a marked, and Spell it again
For you

This week's spelling list

Type or paste the words from school. Most of the week's spelling practises them, and on Sunday the report says which ones need another go before the test.

This week's spelling list: because, friend, their, said, enough, caught
Setup

Link your phone with one scan

At the end of setup your child's device shows a code. Point your camera at it and your phone is signed in — no email typed twice. It works once, and only for ten minutes.

Link your phone: a QR code on the child's device
For you

Grandma can say yes too

Invite a second parent, a grandparent or a sitter, each on their own phone. A helper can answer requests and give up to 30 minutes a day — nothing more. Your child sees who said yes.

Family: Mum, Dad and Grandma, with an invitation for the sitter
For your child

"Can I have more time?"

Your child picks 15 or 30 minutes and, if they like, one of four reasons — never anything typed. You answer from the lock screen; they see the answer as soon as it lands.

Asking for more time: 15 or 30 minutes, and why
For you

Websites, filtered

One switch turns on Apple's adult-content filter. A second blocks the sites children use to get around a block — YouTube look-alikes and web proxies — from a list we keep up to date.

For you

Told when the block is worked around

A clock moved back, Screen Time switched off, the app list emptied, the PIN guessed: you get a notification as it happens, and the Sunday report counts them.

Alerts: the clock on Mia's device was moved back 2 hours
For your childSoon

Minutes of play, not minutes on the clock

An unlock of 30 minutes can mean 30 minutes in the apps. Stopping for dinner doesn't use it up; it still ends at bedtime.

30 minutes of play: the clock only runs while you're in your apps
For youSoon

En español

The parent's side in Spanish: setup, your phone, the report, the emails. The lessons stay in English — that's what your child is learning.

Hoy: the parent's dashboard in Spanish
Pricing

The block is free. Your rules are the subscription.

Your child earns their apps with a lesson whether you pay or not — 30 minutes at a time, three times a day. What a subscription buys is everything that runs while you are not in the room.

  • Quiet hoursNothing unlocks after bedtime, with later hours on Friday and Saturday nights if you want them.
  • Your own limitsChoose the minutes a lesson buys and how many a day, or switch to daily-goal mode.
  • The Sunday report, and your phoneWhat your child actually did, the week's focus, and bonus minutes, pause and requests for more time from wherever you are.
  • Your family, and the ways around itA second parent, grandparents and sitters on their own phones, this week's spelling list, and the list of sites children use to get around a block.
  • A new pack every monthAround 30 illustrated questions and six new stories, matched to your child's grade.
Free$0foreverThe block, the lessons — maths, reading and spelling — and the timer, on our defaults, plus Apple's adult website filter. No card, no account, no expiry — so nobody is ever locked out of their own iPad.
Start your free week

Cancel any time in Settings. The block and the lessons carry on; your rules go back to ours and packs stop arriving. Nothing is removed from your child's device and nothing gets stuck. Requires iOS 18 or later and a child account in Family Sharing.

FAQ

Straight answers about how it works on iOS

Not on a child account in Family Sharing. The shield is Apple's own Screen Time control, and only you can remove it — from your phone, or with your grown-up PIN on theirs.

Hootkey

Screen time your child earns, three minutes at a time. Built on Apple's Screen Time controls for iPhone and iPad.