Let’s get you back to a calmer choice.

An iPhone on iOS 26.5 or later. Pauseway uses Apple Screen Time, so the first time you open it, iOS asks you to allow Screen Time access for Pauseway. No account is needed.

During setup, or later from Edit on Home or Settings → Paused apps, Apple’s picker opens. Use its search to find each app and tick it. Pauseway keeps individual apps only; if you tick a whole category or a website, it is dropped and Pauseway tells you.

For privacy, Apple only lets you choose apps in its own picker and gives Pauseway a sealed token for each one. Pauseway never learns the names — which is also why it can’t pre-select apps for you.

Open Pauseway. If Screen Time access was turned off, it will ask you to allow it again. Then check that the app is still on Home and tap Settings → Check protection now.

If a Social Pass is active, the shield is lifted on purpose until the pass ends.

You pick 10, 20, or 30 minutes on Home or in Settings. Those are minutes of real use inside the apps you paused, added together. Time spent in other apps — or with the phone locked — doesn’t count, so a 20-minute pass can stretch over a longer stretch of the day.

That’s expected. A new length applies to your next pass so a running pass can’t be stretched.

Apple doesn’t let any app open another app from a Screen Time token. After the pass starts, tap the back link in the top-left corner of the screen, or swipe up to the App Switcher.

Open Pauseway and tap End pass and re-shield. Your apps are paused again right away.

Pauseway asks to send notifications when you start your first pass. If you declined, turn them on in iOS Settings → Notifications → Pauseway. The shield returns either way — notifications are only a heads-up.

Apple calculates those numbers inside a private sandbox, for today in your local time zone. They can lag a few minutes behind iOS Settings. A dash means Apple hasn’t supplied a number yet.

A pass starts only when Google confirms the reward, which requires watching the ad to the end. Closing it early, a network drop, or a failed ad leaves your apps paused — that’s by design so a pass is never granted by accident. Try again on a stable connection.

Sometimes Google has no ad to show for your region or time of day. Wait a little and try again. If you’d rather never depend on ads, Pauseway Pro replaces them with a five-second pause.

No. You can decline Apple’s tracking prompt and still watch ads and get passes. Ads may just be less relevant.

In regions where Google requires it, Pauseway shows Settings → Ad privacy choices, which reopens Google’s consent options. Tracking can be changed any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.

Pro removes ads. Instead of an ad, you wait through a full five-second pause before each Social Pass. The shield and the choice stay — that’s the point.

Make sure the iPhone is signed in to the Apple Account that made the purchase, then tap Restore purchases in Settings (or Restore on the Pro screen). If the app couldn’t reach the internet for three days, it falls back to Free until it can check again.

Go to iPhone Settings → [your name] → Subscriptions → Pauseway, and tap Cancel Subscription. Cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date to avoid the next charge. You keep Pro until the paid period ends. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.

Apple handles billing, so refunds are requested from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. We can’t see your payment details or issue refunds directly. See Apple’s billing support for other charge questions.

No. Pauseway never learns which apps you chose, and per-app minutes are drawn by Apple inside a sandbox the app can’t read. See the Privacy Policy.

Everything Pauseway keeps is on your iPhone. Deleting the app erases it. For a subscription record held anonymously by RevenueCat, email us with the purchase date and plan and we’ll ask for it to be deleted.

Delete the app, or remove its Screen Time access in iOS Settings; either removes its shields. If you subscribed, cancel in your Apple Account too.