App Minutes

Your time in apps on the Lock Screen — without counting the charging clock or the Home Screen. Set a limit and it becomes a ring.

App Minutes shows how much time you have spent in apps today, right on your Lock Screen. One glance — you never have to open the app.

It counts only what you actually use: time in apps and on websites. Time when the screen is on but no app is in the foreground — the charging clock, StandBy, the Home Screen, Settings — is left out. On the test device that was almost a fifth. This is why Settings › Screen Time shows a higher number. That is not a bug; it is the difference between "screen on" and "used".

THE DAILY LIMIT

Set a limit between 15 minutes and 12 hours. The number on your Lock Screen turns into a ring that fills up over the day — full means you have reached your limit. You can see the time you have left without opening the app.

The daily limit is a one-time in-app purchase. No subscription, no recurring cost. The number on the Lock Screen stays free — if that is all you want, you pay nothing.

YOUR DATA STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE

App Minutes has no server and no account. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is analysed. The app does not even learn which apps you use: iOS hands it nothing but the total.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

The time is an approximation. iOS reports it in steps rather than to the second, and refreshes widgets when it sees fit. Measured against the right baseline, the value trailed by 0 to 5 minutes in testing.

The app needs one-time access to Screen Time in order to measure. You can revoke that permission in Settings at any time.

iPhone only.