How does Tonic work?

Lock Instagram
until you've
earned it.

Tonic locks Instagram, TikTok or any app you choose until you've earned them, with minutes in Kindle or Duolingo, or with your steps, a workout, a meditation or time outside. There's nothing to log, and the lock lifts on its own when you hit your goal, usually within a minute.

Kindle
Read 20 min in Kindle
Screen Time counts it while Kindle is on screen
13 of 20 min
then they open: Instagram TikTok
DuolingoStrava
A lesson or a run fills one balance
1 min earned → 1 min of reward time
23 min banked
15 min lesson + 8 min run today
YouTube
YouTube Daily cap
30 min / day · 18 min left

You reach for it, you do the habit, it opens.

Pages before feedsOpen KindlePlease let me in

The lock comes up first. The big button opens your reading app. The small one is a pause: 15 taps by default, then about 15 minutes inside.

Kindle
Read 20 min in Kindle
counted while Kindle is on screen
14 of 20 min
then they open:InstagramTikTok

Your phone keeps the count. Screen Time counts minutes in an app. A walk, a workout or a meditation comes from Apple Health. There's no timer to start.

InstagramReading done.Instagram is unlocked. You earned it.now

The lock lifts by itself. Usually within a minute of your goal, with Tonic closed.

At your daily reset, 5 AM unless you change it, the count goes back to zero and the apps lock again.

Hit your daily goal, or build a balance.

Hit your daily goal

More challenging

Hit the goal and the apps stay open until the reset, when the count starts again at zero. Want less than the whole day? Add a time budget or a visit limit for after you've earned. A rule can also take a second way to earn, steps on the days you skip the book: either one opens the apps, or you can require both.

Kindle 20 min → Apps open all day

Build a balance

Earn & spend

A minute earned buys as much as three minutes of scroll or as little as twenty seconds, at the rate you set, and every way to earn fills the same balance. A locked app shows the balance and an Unlock button. The balance counts down while you scroll, and at zero the lock comes back until you earn more; anything unspent can roll over, or clear each morning, or clear each Monday.

DuolingoStrava A lesson + a run → 23 min banked

Some apps only need a limit.

No habit required. Tonic asks what bothers you about the app: "I lose track of time in there", "I pick it up without thinking" or "It eats hours of my day". Your answer sets up a time limit per visit, a cap on opens or a daily allowance.

YouTube
YouTube Daily cap
30 min / day · 18 min left
Reddit
Reddit Visit cap
5 visits / day, 10 min each · 2 used
X
X Start gentle
10 more taps each time · 3rd open today

How strict can it be? Up to a lock you can't tap through.

A pause you tap through15 taps. Push through and you get about 15 minutes, or on a limit, that one visit.
A pause that growsEach reopen that day adds taps: 5 more, or 10 more on a limit. Back to the first number at your reset.
A wallNo way in until you've earned it. On a limit, once the time or visits are gone, no way in until your reset.

Tonic locks only the apps you chose. It can't lock you out of your phone.

Weekdays 9 to 5. Or only at work.

Any rule can run only in set hours, only at a saved place, or both. Earning never depends on either: a walk in the park counts toward a rule that only runs at the office.

Schedule

MTWTFSS
9 AM5 PM

Location

Work
Home

Go deeper.

Ways to earn

All of themA productive appStepsA workoutMeditationSunlight

By habit

ReadingDuolingoAnkiRunning

Limits and price

Opens per daySet hoursA saved placeWhat it costs

Quick answers

Do I have to log anything, check in, or take proof photos?

No. Tonic reads what your devices already record: Screen Time for minutes in an app, and Apple Health for a walk, a workout, a meditation or time outside. An app like Strava or Headspace needs its Apple Health sharing switched on once. If Apple Health missed a walk, you can log it from the rule.

Do I need an Apple Watch?

No. Your iPhone counts your steps, a workout counts from any app that saves it to Apple Health, and app minutes come from Screen Time. Two things need a Watch: time in daylight and brisk minutes.

Is Tonic a parental control?

No. Tonic is for adults setting rules for their own phone. The Screen Time permission box iOS shows can read like a parental control, but you pick the apps, you set the rules, and you can withdraw that access any time in iPhone Settings, Screen Time.

How strict can it be? Is there a lock I can't bypass?

The firmest setting has nothing to tap through: "Make it impossible" keeps the app shut until you've earned it, and on a limit, "Cut me off" keeps it shut until your reset once the time or visits are gone. You can still edit, pause or delete any rule, and you can delete Tonic.

Will I miss notifications from apps Tonic locks?

You won't see them while the app is locked; they arrive the moment it unlocks. iOS holds back an app's notifications along with the app, and no app can change that. Apps you didn't lock, like Messages and Phone, are untouched.

What does it cost?

Free to start: lock two apps in total and earn one way, with limits, schedules and place rules included, for as long as you like. Tonic Unlimited lifts the limits on apps and ways to earn, for $39.99 a year or $9.99 a month, with the first 7 days free.

No check-ins, in detail → · Can Tonic lock me out of my phone? · The Screen Time permission, explained

Checked against the app on November 1, 2026.

Start with two apps and one habit.

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 Apple, Amazon, Duolingo, Strava or Headspace.

Next: what it costs