Hold Me To It

Support

Help with Apple's app picker, Screen Time authorization, private shields, check-ins, and local data.

Quick Setup

Hold Me To It has no account or sign-in. Required setup is:

  1. Tap I’m 18 or Older — Choose Apps after reviewing the privacy and terms links.
  2. Approve Apple's individual Screen Time request.
  3. Use Apple's system picker to search for and select one or more individual apps.
  4. Tap Done. HMTI applies its private pause and opens Today.

A goal, notification permission, recording, reminder, and App Shortcut are optional after activation. You may defer protection and use voluntary manual check-ins.

Setup belongs to this iPhone. Apple's authorization and opaque app selections do not synchronize. A new, replacement, or separately used device must approve Screen Time access and select apps again.

Choosing apps in Apple's picker

Apple controls the picker, including search, app labels, selection controls, Done, and Cancel. HMTI does not receive your general installed-app list or picker search terms. Apple returns opaque tokens for what you select.

Version 1.0 supports individual apps only. HMTI ignores category and website tokens and commits only the individual apps in your draft. A selection with no individual app does not turn on protection.

  • To add or remove apps later, open HMTI Settings and choose Protected Apps.
  • Changing the selection cancels any temporary app pass before applying the replacement.
  • HMTI may show an Apple-rendered app label to you, but it does not persist the app name, icon, or bundle identifier.

The shield and check-in

When you try to open a selected app, iOS displays a reversible HMTI shield. HMTI's shield copy is generic: it does not show gambling, shopping, social media, your goal, a recording, reflection, history, or urge score.

A shield-triggered check-in puts the access decision first:

  • Stay With My Goal keeps the app shielded.
  • Continue for 15 Minutes temporarily releases only the app that triggered the shield. Other selected apps remain shielded.

HMTI arms Apple's recovery schedule before releasing the shield. iOS controls background scheduling, so exact re-shield timing must be validated on supported physical devices. HMTI cannot reopen or deep-link back into the selected app; return to it yourself.

Why the transition differs by iOS version

iOS 26.5 or later

The shield's Check In action can use Apple's supported response to open Hold Me To It. HMTI consumes a short-lived local handoff and opens one current check-in.

iOS 17 through iOS 26.4

Apple provides no equivalent shield response. The primary action closes the selected app and tells you to open Hold Me To It manually. If you open HMTI while the local handoff is still current, it opens the check-in. This is an iOS limitation, not a missing automation.

Screen Time and shield troubleshooting

I denied Screen Time access

HMTI will not repeatedly show Apple's prompt. Use the explicit Reconnect Screen Time or system-settings action when you are ready. Manual check-ins, local content, safety, export, and deletion remain available.

The picker selection will not save

Choose at least one individual app. Category and website selections do not count. Tap Done again. If Apple's picker becomes blank or unavailable, close it, reopen HMTI, and retry without deleting the app.

A selected app is not shielded

Open HMTI and review Protection Health. Confirm Screen Time authorization is approved, protection is not paused, and the app remains selected. If authorization was revoked or the app was reinstalled, reconnect and select it again.

The shield did not open HMTI

Direct opening is supported only on iOS 26.5 or later. On iOS 17 through iOS 26.4, close the selected app and open HMTI manually. On newer iOS, confirm HMTI is current and retry; do not reinstall before exporting any local content you want to keep.

A 15-minute pass did not end exactly on time

Apple controls Device Activity callbacks and may deliver recovery when the device is next active. Open HMTI to reconcile immediately. If protection remains unhealthy, pause it and use the repair control. Report the HMTI/iOS versions without naming the selected app.

I want protection off

Use Global Pause, remove all protected apps, or revoke HMTI's Screen Time authorization in iPhone settings. HMTI must not trap you behind a stale shield.

Notifications

Notifications are optional after native protection setup. HMTI does not request badges, critical alerts, time-sensitive alerts, or remote push access.

  • If permission was denied, HMTI will not repeat Apple's permission prompt automatically.
  • Focus and Scheduled Summary can delay or hide a local reminder.
  • Risk-related notification copy, when used, is generic and never shows a selected app, goal, recording, or behavior label.
  • Native shields and manual check-ins do not depend on notification permission.

Microphone and recordings

A personal recording is optional after activation or from Settings. Microphone permission is requested only after you choose to record.

  • Personal check-in recordings are limited to 20 seconds; audio reflections are limited to 60 seconds.
  • A recording shorter than one second or an unreadable partial file is not saved.
  • A call, alarm, Siri interaction, route change, or background transition can stop recording so the microphone is not left active.
  • If microphone access is denied or a file is missing, deterministic text and all access decisions remain available.
  • HMTI never autoplays a recording from a shield, notification, launch, or app selection.

Export and delete local data

Settings provides controls to export selected local content, delete individual content, or delete all HMTI data. A readable export can contain sensitive information. Review it and choose a trusted destination in the iOS share sheet. Opaque app tokens, authorization, shield actions, and temporary passes are never included.

Delete All clears HMTI's shields and Device Activity monitoring before removing selected-app tokens, pending shield actions, temporary passes, recordings, exports, history, settings, and setup state. It then returns HMTI to first launch. Version 1.0 has no HMTI account or cloud-recovery service.

Contact

Email admin@holdmetoit.info with the HMTI version, iOS version, feature, and a brief description. Do not send a goal, reflection, recording, selected-app name, app token, or other sensitive content.

Support is handled by email. No guaranteed response time is published. Email is not monitored as an emergency service; use the Safety resources for immediate support.