Support

An iPhone for each parent and child, with the children in your Apple Family Sharing group (Settings → your name → Family). Screen Time limits only work on a child’s iPhone in Family Sharing.

1. On a parent’s phone, open Better Answer → Start a family, enter your name and last name.
2. Open Settings (the gear) to see your kid code and parent code.
3. On each child’s phone: Join a family → their name → the kid code.
4. Still on the child’s phone, a parent taps Approve Screen Time and approves with their Apple ID.
5. Pick the apps that stay open during a lock. Include Better Answer, plus Phone, Messages, Maps or anything else you want.
6. Allow notifications on every phone when asked.

The code decides the role. The kid code joins as a child. The parent code joins as a parent, who can send check-ins, approve, and unlock phones, so only give it to the other parent. If a code gets shared by mistake, tap Make new codes in Settings; the old ones stop working. After too many wrong tries, joining pauses for an hour.

Codes are 6 letters and numbers, without spaces. Ask a parent to check Settings for the current codes (they change when someone taps Make new codes). If you see “Too many tries,” wait an hour.

A check-in, task or “call me now” from a parent reached its deadline without an answer. Open Better Answer (it stays available during a lock) and reply. Phone, Messages and the apps your parent chose stay open, and emergency calls always work.

Almost anything a person would really send: “k,” “ok,” “omw,” “at Jake’s,” “5:45,” “hahaha,” or an emoji like 👍. Keyboard mashing (“asdfjkl”), lone punctuation, or a long string of emoji doesn’t count. Parents can add family words in Settings.

The app can’t see your calls. Tap I called on the item; a parent confirms it, and you’re unlocked.

On your phone, find the child’s card and tap Unlock phone. This clears their open check-ins and unlocks the phone, even if Better Answer is closed on it. You can also approve an “I called” or a finished task from the Needs your OK list.

• Make sure notifications are on for Better Answer on the child’s phone (Settings → Notifications → Better Answer).
• Make sure Screen Time access is still approved (Settings → Screen Time on the child’s phone).
• Check the child’s card on the parent’s phone for a warning; it shows if a lock couldn’t be scheduled.
• Open Better Answer on the child’s phone once; it re-syncs right away.

It wasn’t included in the apps that stay open. A parent can tap Unlock phone from their own phone, then on the child’s phone open Settings (gear) → enter the parent code → Change apps that stay open and check Better Answer.

It uses Apple’s Screen Time tools (Family Controls) to limit apps after a deadline. Apple requires a parent to approve it with their Apple ID on the child’s phone. Better Answer doesn’t see which apps your child uses or for how long; the apps you pick stay on that phone.

Once a parent approves Screen Time for a child in Family Sharing, iOS doesn’t let the child remove the app or the permission without the parent. Parents can turn it off in Settings → Screen Time on the child’s phone.

On a parent’s phone, they open Uber or Lyft; DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub; or Venmo, Cash App, Apple Cash (in Messages), PayPal or Zelle (through your bank’s app). If the app isn’t installed, its website opens. You can save a default for each in Settings, and optionally send your child a note like “Uber ride is on the way.” Better Answer doesn’t see or handle any ride, order or payment.

• Parent: Settings → Delete my account. If you’re the only parent, this deletes the whole family.
• Parent: Settings → Delete family and all data deletes everyone’s accounts, messages and photos, and unlocks children’s phones.
• Parent: Settings → Members → Remove deletes one member and their data.
• Child: Settings → Ask to delete my account; a parent approves it.

Or email support@betteranswer.app. See the privacy policy for details.

Accounts are tied to the phone (there’s no password), so on the new phone just join again with the right code from a parent’s Settings. A parent can remove the old phone’s entry under Settings → Members.