Help

Blocked apps open without requiring rotations, or shields aren't appearing.

1. 1Open Rotato and go to the Settings tab. Under Permissions, make sure Screen Time shows a green checkmark. If it doesn't, tap it to grant access.
2. 2Go to Settings → Troubleshooting and tap the Refresh button to re-sync all blocking rules.
3. 3Force-close Rotato by swiping it away in the App Switcher, then reopen it.
4. 4Restart your iPhone. This clears any stale Screen Time state that may be preventing shields from appearing.

Usage stats aren't appearing on the Home or History tabs.

1. 1Make sure Screen Time access is enabled. Go to the Settings tab → Permissions and check that Screen Time has a green checkmark.
2. 2Tap the Refresh button in Settings → Troubleshooting to re-sync your data.
3. 3Force-close and reopen Rotato.
4. 4Restart your iPhone. Screen Time data is managed by the system and occasionally needs a device restart to refresh.

Numbers in Rotato don't exactly match what you see in the iOS Screen Time settings.

1. 1This is normal. Apple's Screen Time APIs report usage in rounded intervals and may update with a short delay. Small differences (a few minutes) between Rotato and the iOS Settings app are expected.
2. 2If the difference is large (30+ minutes), try tapping the Refresh button in Settings → Troubleshooting.
3. 3Restart your iPhone to force the system to reconcile its usage data.

Tapping "Unlock" on a shield doesn't open the rotation screen.

1. 1Go to the Settings tab → Permissions and make sure Notifications are enabled. Rotato uses notifications to open the rotation screen from the shield.
2. 2If the toggle is missing, open the iOS Settings app → Rotato → Notifications and turn them on.
3. 3Force-close and reopen Rotato, then try again.

Rotato uses Apple's Screen Time APIs to place shields over apps you choose to block. When you try to open a blocked app, you'll see a shield that requires you to physically rotate your phone a set number of times before the app unlocks. This small friction helps you pause and decide if you really want to use that app.

Rotato offers two subscription plans: Weekly at $1.99/week and Yearlyat $19.99/year. Both include a 3-day free trial. You won't be charged until the trial ends. After that, your subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period.

Open the Settingsapp on your iPhone → tap your name at the top → Subscriptions→ select Rotato → tap Cancel Subscription. You'll keep access to premium features until the end of your current billing period.

Rotato requires a subscription to use its full blocking and tracking features. Every new user gets a 3-day free trial to try everything out before being charged.

Not yet. Rotato is currently available only on iOS. Android does not offer the same Screen Time APIs that Rotato relies on, so an Android version would require a fundamentally different approach. We're exploring options but don't have a timeline to share.

No. All of your data — blocking rules, screen time history, and settings — stays entirely on your device. Rotato has no servers, no analytics, no tracking, and no third-party SDKs. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Rotato requires iOS 18.1 or later. The Screen Time APIs that Rotato uses are only available on newer versions of iOS.

There are two sides to this: screen time data and blocking rules.

Screen time datacan be shared across your Apple devices. If you enable "Share Across Devices" in your iPhone's Settings → Screen Time, usage from your iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices is combined into a single total. Rotato reads whatever total iOS reports, so if cross-device sharing is on, the numbers you see in Rotato will include usage from all your devices.

To enable this, go to Settings → Screen Time → scroll down and turn on Share Across Devices. All devices must be signed into the same Apple ID with two-factor authentication enabled.

Blocking rules are per-device.If you create a blocking rule on your iPhone, it will only apply on that iPhone — it won't block the same app on your iPad or other devices. This is a limitation of Apple's Screen Time APIs: the restrictions Rotato sets through ManagedSettings only affect the device the app is installed on. If you want blocking on multiple devices, you'd need to install Rotato and set up rules on each one separately.

Rotato is designed for individual use — you set it up on your own device to manage your own screen time. It is not a parental control tool and does not support managing another person's device remotely.