Screen Time - Media Time Manager App Reviews

Love this. Especially like the incentives feature: listing chores or goals for kids and they earn extra minutes they can add to allotted time. When kids use up the hour allotted for the day. They check their list to see how they can earn more minutes for that day. Before theyd just whine about running out. Would love a built in timer for each time they use it. For now I use a separate app for that.

This app has a really attractive interface and allows a lot of customization for descriptions of what kind of screen time your kids use, as well as tasks for earning extra time (I added tasks named "bonus 5," "bonus 10," etc, for when Im just feeling generous). There are a few areas for development that would make this app absolutely perfect for us (and - I suspect - other parents): 1. Multiple "parents" Right now, if someone with the ios device isnt right there when the kids use the the screen time, its probably not going to be updated. I would love for me, my husband, or our childcare provider to be able to update each childs running total from our own phones. This would be more than just syncing between a single users different devices - it would have to allow distinct users to "subscribe" to the child - I appreciate this would involve a whole new level of server rental and probably cost, but it would be worth it for us. Or even to allow some kind of importing of information from an email/iCal event. 2. The whole idea of a stopwatch interface is great if youre standing right over your child while they are using the computer or watching tv. But if Im honest, I dont always sit with my children diligently helping them process their media. I usually let them watch My Little Pony so I can do things like...cook dinner. The app does allow you to add an event after the fact, but its a little fiddly, requiring entering the hour, minute, etc. It would be great to just be able to choose an amount of time. I think the stopwatch interface is good and certainly useful for some kids, but just make the adding an event backup feature a little more up front (you have to go through several clicks to add things outside the stopwatch). Definitely the best app I found for this purpose!

I love this app. My only wish was that the device would actually turn off when the time was up.

This app definitely makes tracking screen time easier. Easy enough for 9 & 6 yr old to use. Would like to see an option for weekday vs weekend time.

The point of an app like this is to let your kids use their screen time without needing constant supervision. Whats the point if they can just wait til Im gone, stop the timer and play away without it being counted??? Any kid worth half their salt will figure this out in no time! This app desperately needs password protection to access the time start/stop feature as well as the settings. Also needs a feature to count overtime in case they just keep playing after the timer runs out. If your kids are perfect angels maybe this doesnt matter to you, but Im guessing they arent :)

I and my kids really like this. They are eager to do chores now. Its helping us get off to a great start this summer. I like that I can customize chores (I added going places with me for 20 minutes of screen time because I hate going alone). I also allow them ten minutes everyday, as long as the living room is picked up (I dont think they have figured out this is actually a chore for which they get compensated!) I would like to be able to sync the app with my husbands phone, and I sent the suggestion to the developers. They sent a great email telling me they are working on it! So customer service seems to be good, too.

I like the concept but some improvements would be to be able to edit my own chores and time allotments.

Awesome! My kids are on board now with trading their time in. Thanks!

Great app. I can earn time easily and stuff,but how the heck can I take my time BACK out of the time bank?

Great concept but needs to be automated to track app usage on mobile device. Even better if it used iCloud to track across devices. The problem is that due to the manual tracking required, we inevitably get into fights about "I forgot to turn off the timer" or "I forgot to turn it on". Therefore, not very useful.

What a piece of crap. There are no instructions, no support or way to make it work. Also not eligible for refund. Waste of money!!!!!

I thought about developing a web about to do this, then I searched the iTunes App Store! Less than $2 and yes, a reasonable amount of parental involvement (it is my phone and they are my kids after all ;) and this app has changed a tense challenge into a fun, empowering teaching tool. In our case, our kids (7, 9, 13) are earning every bit of screen (or cashed in reward) time and they are loving it! In fact, since we began the T.V. or other devices have only been on a minuscule amount of time - I kid you NOT! The rewards idea has their attention while they have all the power to earn and use or redeem as they wish. Granted: we also instituted negative time rewards for discipline as needed and we only allow a certain amount of screen time to be used per day. We have also opted to log earned time at the end of each day, encouraging our kids to log tasks throughout the day in a journal (also teaching moment). So, for tracking, fun, empowering your kids and and teaching responsibility as well as reward for achievements, THIS APP ROCKS! One request, allow the transfer or syncing of content/database between devices such as an iPhone and iPad tablet via iTunes or WiFi.

Easy accessability and controls.

We like this app but I wish we could share it across phones so my husband and I could both track. I also wish it had different options for tracking the time. We dont allow tv on week nights so we have to work around the daily time thing. They can bank rewards but not daily time.

This app has changed the mood in our house when it comes to dealing with the kids with tv and video games. For the few people who complained the app doesnt lock the device, know that iPhone apps cant do that. Its not a limitation of this app (and it doesnt claim to be). This app is best used with parent involvement. Great response from the developer for questions, too. It sounds like there are quite a few nice updates planned that I hope to see soon.

Just got it, but so far several problems. Label on one screen wont save after I change it. Saving a change to one childs time changed all three kids. I was hoping this would make things easier and it seems like just another rushed app and 2 wasted dollars so far. Bummed. Not sure how many attempts Im willing to undertake hoping things will eventually work.

I dont get it. My kids would just turn it off. There are no passwords, no instructions. No refunds? Waste of money!!

Stupid and I want my money back.

So so easy to bypass. Waste of money.

1. If you cant navigate this app, step away from things with buttons and go back to school. Truly, its easy to figure out. 2. It is completely customizable. Those who said it isnt need to try out basic swiping within the app to edit, delete, etc. duh? 3. This app is for PARENTS TO USE. Dont expect junior to have this on his un-deserved personal electronic device and be responsible for starting/stopping the timer. Thats YOUR job. Be the parent: this app is for YOUR device. 4. Excellent concept of banking minutes and redeeming them for other (sometimes more worthy) rewards of your/their choosing 5. Tip: if you dont want to type in a task for every misc chore around the house, create ". 10" (. 20, etc) as an "earned" category and they will be easy to add. 6. My kids use a cube timer (search amazon) to limit themselves ... So both of us have a timer. I let them decide how much of their earned time they want to use, and when THEIR timer goes off, they find me to report. Then we can --TOGETHER-- discuss the pros/cons of our next action. This is not a nanny. Its a tool. Use it as a tracking device and avenue for communication, not as a substitute for parental attentiveness.