Lock TikTok, Instagram or any app until you've done your Duolingo

Where the lesson goes

The streak survives.
The lesson doesn't.

You do the one-minute lesson that keeps the flame alive and call it Spanish. The other twenty minutes went to the feed you opened first. Tonic puts the lesson in front of the feed, so the scroll comes after the practice.

Tonight, at 7:40

Fifteen minutes of practice. Then the feed.

Here is the whole rule, at the times it happens.

7:41 PM

You reach for TikTok

The lock screen says how much practice is left tonight and offers Duolingo instead. One tap opens it.

TikTok, locked

15 min of Duolingo left

Open Duolingo instead

Not yet

7:41 to 7:56 PM

You practice

Nothing to start, log or claim. Screen Time counts the minutes Duolingo is open, the same way your phone already counts every app, and Tonic watches that number.

Practice 15 min in Duolingo

counted while the lesson is on screen

12 of 15 min

counting

then they open: TikTok

7:56 PM

The feed opens on its own

One notification, and TikTok and Instagram are open when you reach for them. You never open Tonic to claim it. Very rarely iOS runs a few minutes late; tapping the notification unlocks them right away.

Your rules

Two ways learners set it up.

The practice always comes first. You pick the shape of the deal.

The daily gate

Practice first

Until tonight's fifteen minutes are in, the scroll apps stay locked. Practice, and they open on their own for the rest of the day. Tomorrow the lesson comes first again, streak freeze or not.

15 min → Apps open all day

The bank

Earn & spend

Minutes of practice become minutes of scroll, at a rate you choose, from three for one to one for three. Spend them tonight or let them roll over. A long Sunday session can pay for a week of quick checks.

20 min → 20 min banked

How locked is "locked"? Either way, you pick.

A pauseA short wait before it opens, and about 15 minutes inside if you push through. Then the lock is back.

A pause that growsYou can push through, but it pushes back harder with every visit that day.

Full lockNo way in until the practice is done.

What counts

Minutes on screen in the language app you pick: Duolingo, Babbel, Pimsleur, Busuu, or any other.
Two apps add up: ten minutes of Duolingo and ten of Anki is twenty.
Practice on your iPad too, when Screen Time's Share Across Devices is on.

What doesn't

Lessons, XP or the streak. Tonic counts minutes on screen, not what happened inside the app.
Audio with the screen locked. A lesson you only listen to earns nothing until the screen is back on.
A laptop session. Tonic lives on your iPhone and iPad and locks nothing on a Mac.

A companion, not another language app

Keep the app you learn in.

Your phone already counts how long each app is on screen. Tonic reads that number for the language app you choose and opens your other apps on its own. Nothing to wire up, no check-in, nothing to log.

Works with the language apps on your phone, including

and any language app you pick

Screen Time

Tonic

One-time setup: pick the language app, pick the apps it unlocks. An app cannot be on both lists. Tonic sees how long the app was open, never which lesson you were on.

Learners set up things like this.

Fifteen minutes of Duolingo before Instagram opens, every day. No freeze.
When I reach for TikTok, send me to Duolingo instead.
Duolingo or Anki, either one opens my apps. Lessons on weekdays, flashcards on the train.
Every minute in Babbel is a minute of YouTube later, and it rolls over to the weekend.

"The fact that I have to do 30 minutes gets me in the groove and I almost always end up doing even more. But my favorite thing is tonic makes me comfortable with how much control I have over getting into the locked apps." App Store review, July 2026

Quick answers

Does Tonic know when my lesson is done?

No. Tonic counts the minutes Duolingo is on screen, not lessons, XP or your streak. Apple's design keeps what happens inside an app private. Pick a minute goal that matches a real session, ten or fifteen minutes for most people, and change it whenever you like.

What about Babbel, Pimsleur or Busuu?

Any language app counts: you pick the one that earns. Minutes count while the app is on screen, so a Pimsleur lesson counts while you follow it on the phone and stops if you lock the screen and only listen.

I do Duolingo on my laptop.

Tonic lives on your iPhone and iPad and locks nothing on a Mac, so a laptop session has no lock to lift. People who study at a desk keep a small daily goal on the phone for the days they never sit down.

Does it work on my iPad?

Yes. Tonic runs on iPad, and app minutes and locks work there on their own. With Screen Time's Share Across Devices on for your Apple ID, iOS pools app minutes, so a lesson on the iPad can unlock the phone.

What does it cost?

Free to start: lock two apps and earn from one language app, for as long as you like. Tonic Unlimited covers your whole phone for $29.99 a year or $9.99 a month, with the first 7 days free.

How earning works, step by step → · Why Tonic asks you to name your apps

Checked against the app on September 28, 2026.

Start with two apps and tonight's lesson.

Pick the apps that eat the eveningTikTok, Instagram, the one you open without deciding to.

Pick the app you learn inDuolingo, Babbel, whichever holds your language. Fifteen minutes a day, or a bank that rolls over.

The lesson first, then the feedThe practice happens first, and the apps are simply open when you look up.

Get Tonic free Free to start · no account needed · iPhone and iPad, iOS 17.4 or later

Tonic is an independent companion and isn't affiliated with Duolingo, Babbel, Pimsleur or Busuu.

Other ways to earn: do your Anki reviews first · any productive app · all of them