Dominate — Support

Almost always this is the Screen Time permission. Dominate blocks apps through Apple's Screen Time system, and until you grant that permission iOS quietly ignores every block — the app looks like it is working and nothing is restricted. The home screen shows a banner when it detects this. To fix it, open the iPhone Settings app, go to Screen Time, and allow Dominate.

iOS only asks for that permission once per install, and a refusal cannot be undone from inside the app, which is why it has to be changed in Settings.

At the first moment you do something that needs it: starting a block, choosing apps, or adding a schedule. It is deliberately not asked during setup, on a blank screen with nothing explaining it — Apple's own wording for that prompt says the app will be able to restrict the device, and it deserves context.

No, and this is not a policy choice — it is not technically possible. You pick the apps in a picker that belongs to Apple, and what comes back to the app is a set of sealed tokens that only Apple's system can resolve. The app hands them back to iOS and says "shield these". It never learns a single app name, and it cannot read your Screen Time reports or your usage history.

A schedule blocks by the clock: your apps lock at the hours you set, on the days you choose, and unlock when the window closes. A daily limit blocks by usage: your apps work until you have spent the allowance for that day, then lock until tomorrow. They run independently, and you can use both.

Schedules are run by a background component that iOS wakes at the hours you set, so they work whether or not Dominate is open. If one starts late, check that the schedule is switched on, that it repeats on today's weekday, and that it has apps selected — a schedule with no apps chosen sits in the list waiting rather than blocking. Also check that no other block is already running, since only one runs at a time.

Start focus, on the front screen. While it runs you'll see it on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island with the time counting up.

Open Dominate and stop it there. The lock screen you meet when you open a blocked app has only a Close button on purpose — unlocking happens inside Dominate, so that the decision takes a moment rather than a reflex.

No. Dominate is a self-control aid. Anyone holding the phone can end a block, turn the permission off in Settings, or delete the app. It is built to add friction to a habit, not to stop a determined person. For real parental controls, use Apple's own Screen Time with a passcode.

Use your judgement, and please do not block anything you might need in an emergency — phone, messages, maps, medical or banking apps. A block can be ended, but that takes a moment you may not have. This is set out in section 6 of the Terms of Use.

Yes — you choose websites in the same Apple picker where you choose apps, and they are shielded the same way.

The time you have reclaimed. It reads a small snapshot the app writes on your device and makes no network connections at all.

No. They're only used to tell you when a scheduled block starts or ends, or when a daily limit runs out, and everything works without them. They are scheduled on your device by iOS — there is no push server and we cannot send you anything remotely.

Yes — Profile → Appearance, where you can pick System, Light or Dark.

No. Dominate is a subscription, and the subscription covers everything in the app — there are no separate purchases and nothing else to buy. The plans and any free trial are shown before you pay.

In the iPhone Settings app, under your name → Subscriptions. Cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends, or it renews. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription.

Tap Restore purchases on the subscription screen, while signed in to the Apple Account you originally bought with. If it still doesn't find anything, email us and tell us roughly when you subscribed.

Apple processes all purchases, so refunds go through Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. We cannot issue them ourselves.

Your subscription does — restore it with the same Apple Account. Your schedules, limits and statistics do not: they live on the device and there is no account or sync behind them. App selections in particular cannot transfer, because the tokens Apple gives us are only meaningful on the device that made them, so you'll pick your apps again.

Deleting the app removes everything held on your device and stops anything further being sent. For the anonymous usage records and the setup answers held by our providers, email us with roughly when you used the app and we will delete what we can identify. The full detail is in the Privacy Policy.

Email abeto.studio@gmail.com. Tell us your iOS version and the app version from the bottom of Profile, and what you expected to happen — it usually saves a couple of back-and-forths.