The questions people actually ask — answered straight.

When you open an app you've chosen to slow down, Gratitude Lock intercepts it and shows a short journal prompt instead. You write one specific thing you're grateful for, and why. Then the app opens normally.

On iOS this uses Apple's Screen Time framework. On Android it uses Usage Access. Nothing is permanently blocked; the prompt is a moment of intentional pause, not a wall.

Any app on your phone: Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, X, YouTube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, news apps, games, browsers, or anything else.

You choose the list in Settings. We don't restrict or pre-select anything.

The prompt creates friction without being a permanent block. iOS Focus Mode and accessibility shortcuts can bypass it; Android has similar escape hatches. We accept this. The goal is mindful interruption, not lockdown.

If you find yourself bypassing it constantly, that's useful feedback. Try Soft Lock (a gentle reminder without a full prompt) or Journal-Only mode in Settings.

Yes. Writing and saving entries works entirely offline. Everything is stored on your device. An internet connection is only needed to sync your backup to iCloud or Google Drive, and to load the weekly AI reflection in Premium.

iPad: yes, if it runs iPadOS 17 or later. The app is optimised for phone use but works on tablet.

Android tablets: yes, if the device runs Android 13 or later and supports Usage Access. A small number of Android tablets restrict Usage Access — if setup fails, the app will tell you.

To intercept an app launch, we need your phone's own screen-time system to tell us when you open a locked app. On iOS that's the Screen Time (Family Controls) API; on Android it's Usage Access plus an overlay permission.

We request only the permissions the prompt needs, and we explain each one before asking. No advertising SDKs, no behavioural tracking.

Granting Accessibility Service is a significant trust decision: it's the most powerful permission Android offers. Gratitude Lock uses it for one purpose only — detecting when you open a locked app so the prompt can appear. We do not read screen contents, record keystrokes, or access other apps' data.

If you're not comfortable granting it, you can use Journal-Only mode without it. The prompt won't appear, but you can still write daily entries.

Without the screen-time permission, the app drops into Soft Lock (a gentle reminder notification) or Journal-Only mode (write daily entries without any prompt appearing over apps). Both work well. Neither is a fallback.

You can grant the permission later at any time in Settings.

Free: slow down as many apps as you like, one daily prompt, your last 30 journal entries, one small ad on the unlock screen.

Ad-free (€1.99/month or €9.99/year): everything in Free, with no ads anywhere in the app.

Premium (€4.99/month or €29.99/year): everything in Ad-free, plus a private weekly insight, mood tracking and a quarterly PDF keepsake. The app is free to use — Premium is a direct upgrade with no trial, and you can cancel anytime.

No entries are ever deleted when you cancel. You keep access to your last 30 entries (the Free limit). Older entries are preserved on your device and in your backup, but inaccessible in the app until you resubscribe.

Export your journal to PDF or Markdown before cancelling if you want everything in a portable format.

Yes. Go to Settings → Subscription → Switch to annual. The annual plan is €29/year (about €2.40/month, roughly 20% less than monthly). The switch takes effect at the start of your next billing period.

Not yet. We're a small team and manage subscriptions through Apple and Google, which limits the plan types we can offer. A family plan is on our roadmap. If this matters to you, email hello@gratitudelock.app. It shapes what we build.

Apple: Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions → Gratitude Lock → Cancel.

Google: Play Store → Profile → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions → Gratitude Lock → Cancel.

We can't cancel on your behalf — Apple and Google control the subscription lifecycle.

No. Entries are encrypted on your device with a key that never leaves the device. We store ciphertext we have no key to. Your journal is genuinely private.

No. We don't sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for advertising or any commercial purpose. Our only revenue is subscriptions and the single small ad shown to Free users on the unlock screen. No personal data leaves your device to serve it.

On your device, encrypted. If you enable backup, encrypted copies sync to your own cloud storage (iCloud or Google Drive), not ours. We never have access to the plaintext of your entries.

Yes. Gratitude Lock B.V. is registered in the Netherlands and subject to the GDPR. You have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your data at any time, all from inside the app under Settings → Privacy.

In the app: Settings → Privacy → Export my data (we email you a download link within 72 hours) or Delete my account (immediate flag, hard-delete in 7 days, reversible from a confirmation email during that window).

Screen Time and Digital Wellbeing set hard time limits. When the timer runs out, the app is blocked until you override it or the clock resets. They create friction without meaning.

Gratitude Lock replaces the timer with a 30-second writing prompt. You still get into the app, but you arrive with a moment of intentional thought. It's not a blocker. It's a gate.

Other mindful openers like One Sec show a breathing exercise or delay screen. Gratitude Lock asks you to write something specific: one moment, one reason. The act of writing creates a memory trace that a breathing pause or countdown does not.

Both approaches work. The difference is friction (One Sec) versus reflection (Gratitude Lock). Several users run both.

Deleting works until it doesn't. Most people reinstall within days because the apps are genuinely useful — staying in touch, discovering things, passing time. Gratitude Lock assumes you want access; it just asks you to arrive with slightly more intention.

If full deletion is what you need, great — you don't need us. This app is for people who want to keep the apps but want to open them differently.