PauseOwlPause your child's apps from your phone.
One tap stops the apps you choose on their iPad. A calm screen explains why, in words that suit their age.
No dashboards. No activity reports. No subscription.
PauseOwl can pause apps. It cannot watch them.
What it does
One tap to stop
Pick the apps once. After that it is a single button on your phone, and the apps close on their device within seconds.
A reason, not a wall
Dinner, bedtime, resting eyes, going outside — or your own message. The pause screen says why, so it feels like a parent rather than a lock.
Words that fit their age
The same pause reads differently to a six-year-old and a fifteen-year-old. You choose the age band; PauseOwl chooses the wording.
Works when they are asleep
A pause arrives even if the iPad is locked and PauseOwl was never opened. It does not need the child to do anything.
What it deliberately does not do
Most parental-control apps are monitoring tools. PauseOwl is not one, and that is a design decision rather than a missing feature.
- It does not record which apps your child opens, or for how long.
- It does not report activity, screen time, or location to you or to us.
- It has no analytics, no advertising and no third-party code of any kind.
- It has no account to create, no password, and nothing tying a pause to your name.
A child who knows they are being watched learns to hide. A child who is told dinner is ready learns that dinner is ready. PauseOwl is built for the second conversation.
What you need
- An iPhone for the parent and an iPad or iPhone for the child, both on iOS 17 or later.
- The child's device signed in to a child's Apple Account in your Family Sharing group. An adult account cannot be managed this way.
- A grown-up's Apple Account password, once, to turn on Screen Time.
- Notifications left on for PauseOwl on the child's device — that is how a pause arrives.
- Both devices signed in to iCloud, with an internet connection.
Price
PauseOwl is free for one child and one app. PauseOwl Family unlocks unlimited apps, every pause reason, custom messages and more than one child — for a single payment, kept for good.